From the time they put a racquet in their hand and learnt the rudiments of the game at the age of five, they had the training and horses few young people have the advantage of experiencing.

Representing NSW in the Australian Junior Championships held in Albury two weeks ago, Lucy, 16, was named best No 3 player, the best girl player and astride Berragoon Ravers, won the best Australian Stockhorse (ASH) girl rider.

Jim was best No 1 player, best boy player and riding Berragoon Laney, best boy ASH.

What’s so good about polocrosse? “I like the excitement and there’s always the challenge to do better,” Lucy said. Jim goes for the ball skills and throwing the racquet around. “That’s fun,” he said.

Ask the brother and sister team what their main reason for success is, they will say in unison, “our horses.”

Jim and Lucy know their horses are the smartest and have a heart - they actually love playing polocrosse. During a game, it’s extraordinary to see their horses put the skids on without being told because the ball has reversed its direction and they are trained to follow the ball.

At Easter, Lucy and Jim played for Australia in three tests against South Africa. The South African juniors defeated their Australian counterparts two to one in extremely close contests.

Despite being on the losing side, Lucy was declared best girl player and best horse and rider combination overall.

This accolade made Lucy the best junior in the world as the South African juniors were the world champions at the time.

At that event, Jim was the best number 1 rider and the Grill’s horse Berragoon Laney was the champion horse although ridden by a South African.

When playing on the same side, there is an eerie telepathy between them. They know each other’s game and have a sense of where the ball will go. Lucy defends with a strong swing and Jim has daring and balance when reaching for the ball and slamming it between the goal posts.

Lucy and Jim are from a well known polocrosse family in Albury and Holbrook. Their parents Charlie and Sara Grills have represented Australia and NSW. The family breed and train Australian Stock Horses on their Holbrook property Mandaring. The stud was started by Sara’s mother Pam Mills 36 years ago.

Sara is the NSW development officer for junior polocrosse. Her role is to get juniors into the game and to develop their skills in horsemanship. She works at state and federal level, determining strategies and pathways for juniors who wish to reach a high level in the sport or just play for the fun of it.