![Newcastle's Ky Willott. Picture by Getty Images Newcastle's Ky Willott. Picture by Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/gNecaFSpqFSLkittedmeiY/48ed2b39-be5f-4316-ad2a-d011ffec5daf.jpg/r0_0_4000_2667_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
KY Willott had his first Olympic experience before he was even born and recalls watching every minute of Australia's campaign in London in 2012.
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Now the Newcastle hockey player will get his own slice of the Games.
Willott, 23, was one of three debutants named for the Kookaburras on Monday with Paris less than a month away.
"I'm absolutely stoked," Willott told the Newcastle Herald.
"I don't know if it's really sunk in too much yet and I don't know when it will. Maybe on the plane over?"
Dawson, 30, and Williams, 29, are both approaching their third Olympics.
Willott, who relocated to Perth at the start of 2022, feels like he cemented selection in the 16-player group during the Kookaburras' most recent tour of Europe.
Mainly used as a striker or attacking midfielder, Games rookie Willott scored a double against Great Britain and brought up his 50th Test cap with Australia sealing the Pro League title.
"I don't think I'm the finished product of what I can be, but I'm getting there," he said.
"During those Pro League matches I was able to showcase that and help make the decision favourable for me with the way I played."
Willott says relaying the Olympic news to his partner, parents and grandparents was special.
"I told Angel first, mum and dad were stoked and pop was in tears. It was the best reaction you could have wished for," he said.
Willott has fond memories of the Games.
"I went to my first Olympics in 2000, I was still in mum's belly watching the hockey in Sydney," he said.
"I don't remember 2004 or 2008 but I tuned into every match in London [2012]. I was away playing PSSA [junior tournament] somewhere and getting up at 2am. That's my memory of wanting to be there, thinking that's definitely what I want to do."
Preparations roll over in the WA capital before heading to France on July 17. Nathan Czinner, a former Souths player who hails from Armidale, has been one of the development players in camp.
"We're in Perth now and not Paris yet, so we've got to stay with our training and get the most out of these last few weeks," Willott said.
"There's probably 30 of us training at the moment and every one of us is obviously pushing for the gold."
The Kookaburras were silver medallists in Tokyo in 2021 while the Hockeyroos missed the podium.
Olympic competition in Paris runs from July 27 to August 9.
KOOKABURRAS: Joshua Beltz, Tim Brand, Andrew Charter, Tom Craig, Matthew Dawson, Blake Govers, Jake Harvie, Jeremy Hayward, Eddie Ockenden, Flynn Ogilvie, Lachlan Sharp, Corey Weyer, Jake Whetton, Tom Wickham, Ky Willott, Aran Zalewski.
HOCKEYROOS: Alice Arnott, Jocelyn Bartram, Jane Claxton, Claire Colwill, Rebecca Greiner, Stephanie Kershaw, Amy Lawton, Kaitlin Nobbs, Brooke Peris, Karri Somerville, Penny Squibb, Grace Stewart, Tatum Stewart, Renee Taylor, Mariah Williams, Grace Young.