WAGGA hockey star Dylan Martin is off to the Tokyo Olympics.
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Martin's childhood dream became a reality on Monday when he was named in the 16-man Kookaburras squad for the Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old Cavaliers product said it was a dream come true to get confirmation he will represent Australia at an Olympic Games.
"It's a lifelong dream, it's something I've always wanted to do," Martin told The Daily Advertiser on Monday night.
"I think, especially for me, I'm pretty honoured to represent my country and represent it in a sport that I absolutely love.
"I think it's also something that I'm very, very proud of. Not many people get to do this and it's something that I can take credit for and be very, very proud of."
While the squad was made public on Monday, Martin learned of his selection on Friday.
It was a moment he will never forget.
"You had the option to be called or via email and I got the email," he recalled.
"It came out at 10am on Friday. It was a bit of a nervous one, opening stuff like that but I opened it up and Dylan Martin, two first names, it stands out a bit. I saw it straight away and it caught me off guard a bit.
"I put myself in a good place for it. I've been playing well and I've had a pretty good start to my career here, but there's a lot of people who haven't gone to an Olympics and a lot of people that have missed out on spots so I was going to take it as is, but pretty good that I got the ticket I guess."
It was a special moment for the former Mount Austin Public and Wagga High School student. So too was informing his parents, Ross and Lesley, of his selection.
"The first one I called were my mother and sister, they were together," he said.
"Telling them was pretty emotional, a fair few tears were shed. My father is a farmer so it took me a bit to get ahold of him. He's pretty useless with the old phone, it took a fair bit but when I did get ahold of him, he was quite emotional as well.
"I was just as excited to make the team as I was to tell them. They've always looked after me so to be able to tell them that I was going, was pretty good as well."
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Martin's selection capped off a whirlwind period for the young defender.
He only last month made his Australian debut for the Kookaburras, in New Zealand, and did enough to win his way into the squad for the Olympic Games.
Martin is one of nine Olympic debutants named in the squad for the Kookaburras, who will head into the Games as the world number one ranked team.
The Australian squad will fly to Darwin on Wednesday for a six-day training camp then return to Perth for two final hit-outs against the Kiwis.
It will then be off to Tokyo, via Darwin and Cairns, where the Australians will open their campaign against the hosts, Japan, on July 24.
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