Rapid progress by hockey player

Press, 17 June 1983, Page 15

Rapid progress by hockey player

By

JANE DAVIDSON

For someone who has barely turned 21, Kathy Paterson, the Carlton back, has gone a long way in women’s hockey in Canterbury and her future in the sport looks bright. Paterson has the distinction of having played in six national under 21 tournaments; the first at the age of 15 for Wellington, the same year in which she played in the Australian under 23 competition as a member of the Wellington team.

After another season in Wellington, Paterson came to Christchurch and has represented Canterbury in the under 21 side for the last four years, captaining the side this season.

Last year, she played her first K Cup tournament for Canterbury and her fine displays in club and agegroup matches this season, ensured that she remained in the Canterbury squad. Encouraged by her family to play as many sports as possible, Paterson played netball until high school where the challenge of competition hockey beckoned. It was a natural progression; her brother, John, had played representative schoolboy hockey in Wanganui. With other sports on her list, notably basketball and, in the summer, cricket and tennis, she had to decide on which to concentrate. By the fifth form she had chosen hockey in preference to tennis, another sport in which she had shown ability. In spite of having played for a school team in open hockey competition in Wellington, Paterson confessed to being a “nervous wreck” in her first few games for Carlton in club matches in Christchurch. Carlton boasts several national and provincial representatives, and Paterson found it a challenge to play regularly at such a high level For Paterson, a physical education teacher at Hillmorton High School, the

choice of a career was not difficult. “I was always going to be a teacher and I loved sport at school. I almost spent more time playing sport than studying,” she said of her last two years at high school. Apart from taking physical education classes in school time, Paterson also coaches the school’s top hockey side, which she describes as “really fun," and an eighth grade side for her club, Carlton. However, with her own commitments on a Saturday, she is sometimes unable to see her teams play. Paterson thinks Canterbury will have ample good young players developing in the future, thanks mainly to the work of two coaches, Ann McKenna and Pat Barwick, both former top players. They are involved at secondary and primary levels, respectively. “There is a big input from coaches here and we are spoilt to have those two working at these levels,” Paterson said. She described their work as “tremendous” because the results would filter through the grades in later years, maintaining Canterbury’s tradition of strong age-group teams. Paterson is also confident about Canterbury’s chances at the K Cup tournament in Whangarei at the end of August. “There is plenty of depth with the majority of the established Canterbury A players likely to be there again,” she said. Although slightly disappointed that Canterbury failed to retain its under 21 title this year, Paterson described the team as skilful, especially in the forwards. “The ground conditions upset us, which they shouldn’t have. Muddy grounds tend to brinfc teams more to the same wvel, but I suppose that’s part of the game.” A hard running, hard-hit-

ting player herself, Paterson believes that the emphasis on fitness in women’s sports has increased. “Fitness is now a major part of the game, but you still need to have skills with speed.”

She added that the advent of astroturf had made the game faster, with the ball being hit harder, but that it was impossible to hit the ball with great force in the muddy conditions with which many New Zealand players had to contend. Umpiring is a subject which, on occasions, causes heated debate among players. According to Paterson, it is an important matter which, until now, has not had the attention it deserves from both players and officials.

“This is the first year that umpires have tried to impress on players the importance of having umpires coming through the grades,” she said.

A programme has started in schools, appealing to young players to try umpiring. “It is probably senior players who complain the most about decisions. Players must be prepared to get out and umpire and see what it’s like. “It needs more.commitment and its a two way thing,” she said. “Players must learn and umpires must learn to develop too. It’s probably been only one way in the past with players complaining.” To prove she is serious about her views, Paterson passed the theory paper for her New Zealand umpire’s badge, and has a certificate that entitles her to umpire to senior B level — “which is a start.”

Having played and enjoyed a variety of sports, Paterson has a word, of warning for young children making decisions to concentrate on just one sport. “A

lot of kids specialise early, often because of parent pressure. There is a danger of them being pushed out of sport altogether,” she said. Paterson is looking for-

ward to the rest of the hockey season and expects club matches to be exciting, now that the senior competition has been divided into two sections.

And when the winter season has ended, she will probably be back on the cricket field in the senior B grade in which she enjoyed playing last year.