Going to Albury High School and completing his HSC often played second fiddle to sporting commitments, with the teenager travelling south with his family almost every weekend.

With his high school studies now behind him, Hooppell has been able to concentrate on his hockey aspirations.

A move to Melbourne has seen him flourish in recent months, culminating in him being named in the Hockey Australia National Junior Squad for this year.

Hooppell’s place in the squad is a chance for him to cement himself as one of the young stars of Australian hockey.

One of four goalkeepers in the squad, his selection comes on the back of two years in the Hockey Australia national futures program.

The talkative Hooppell is facing what might be his first real setback at the moment, with a medium-grade hamstring tear disrupting his preparation for the upcoming season.

“It’s certainly not ideal, but I am lucky it’s happened now and not later in the year when I’m pushing for selection in the under-21 side again,” he said.

“I’ve been pretty fortunate in my career so far that I haven’t had any breaks or dislocations, so this is just a challenge that I’ll have to deal with for now.

“It was pretty hard in the few days after it happened, but I’m feeling alright now, back to running, so I’m feeling positive.

“I’ll be back and ready to go before the season starts in around a months time.” 

Hooppell is facing another busy year after a “hectic” 2014.

Entering his second year of a science degree at the University of Melbourne, the rising goalkeeper is loving the challenges of life in the city.

“I’m really enjoying it down here, I really love uni life,” Hooppell said.

“My studies are really starting to go to the next level, and so is my hockey.” 

Living at the Victorian Institute of Sport was a huge advantage, Hooppell said, one which made the transition from Albury to Melbourne far easier.

“It’s obviously a lot different here compared to back home,” he said.

“But I’m really lucky in that I have access to a lot of things I need through the institute.

“From a training perspective it’s an enormous opportunity.”

That opportunity is being seized with both hands, with Hooppell putting in some serious training hours before he tore his hamstring.

“During the off-season we’d do three training sessions a week with the VIS, plus I’d train with my local club down here, Altona,” he said.

“As the season approaches I’ll start to do some more personalised stuff, lots of practice with the ball-throwing machine and gym sessions as well.” 

Hooppell said being able to spend quality time with former Olympic goalkeepers George Bazely and Lachy Dreher in the Victorian Premier League was proving invaluable.

“I’m learning so much from them, their experience and understanding of what I need to be working on is incredible,” he said.

Opportunities to gain experience at the top level have been abundant for Hooppell, having taken part in a number of trial games against junior teams from Japan, India and New Zealand in December.

“Playing those teams was brilliant, coming up against the best from a few other countries was a really unique ­opportunity,” he said.

“The highlight for me in the past year though was definitely getting selected in the national junior squad.

“To travel and train at the Gold Coast was a lot of fun, but coming back here and waiting on the selectors to name the squad was nerve-wracking.

“Now I can look forward to the Junior World Cup next year, and use this year as a base for that.” 

While Hooppell might have been sweating on his selection in the junior squad, his hockey resume did a lot of the talking.

He was a significant part of a number of team successes at the under-21 Australian Hockey Championships, the Attack Sports Hockey Eights, which were held in Albury, the Australian University Championships and the inaugural City vs Country Championships.

It’s all a far cry from the Wombats Hockey Club where he started out, but Hooppell is hopeful he can make his mark on a much bigger stage.