Sound play wins hockey place

Press, 11 September 1989, Page 9

Sound play wins hockey place

By KEVIN TUTTY Consistently sound play in the Canterbury left-side defence has won Gill Kane a place in the New Zealand women s hockey squad from which the team to play in the World Cup next year will be chosen. j . Kane was the best-performed bury defender in the final of the ANZ national women’s tournament at Pomtt Park a week ago and that display would have sealed her place in the squad. The selectors, Pat Barwick (convener), Ann McKenna and Jenny McDonald have named 28 players in the squad and the final team of 16 will be announced in January. The World Cup will be played at Homebush, Sydney, from May 2 to 13. New Zealand's place in the tournament is already secured because it finished fourth at the last World Cup in Amsterdam in 1986.

There are five other players new to national squads including the Canterbury teenager, Maia Lewis. Lewis, surprisingly, was not chosen in the New Zealand junior team for the World Cup in Ottawa in July, but her goal-scoring ability at the national tournament perhaps earned her a place. J . Playing for Canterbury B in \the 7 second section of tjg tournament Lewis

scored four hat-tricks during the week. The selectors, obviously with an eye to the future, have included a number of young players. They include Anna Lawrence of Auckland, one of the top performers in the New Zealand junior team in Ottawa and Helen Shearer, the Auckland goal-keeper at the national tournament.

Another youngster who has made a rapid rise to national status, is the Dunedin schoolgirl, Amanda Smith, aged 17. She played her first big game for Otago against Canterbury in June and since then has developed with remarkable speed. Jenny Duck (Auckland) and Louise Taylor (Hawkes Bay) are other newcomers to the national squad. The selectors have perservered with the players they have been developing for the last two seasons. Mrs Barwick said the work those players had put in showed at the national tournament. Their fitness and skills made them stand out.

The squad will split into North Island and South Island camps for the first part of its preparation. There will be two camps for each island group this year, and the finals trials will be in Wellington on Januarvj'2o and 21. There wjll be a further camp over

Waitangi Day week-end and another at the end of February. The tentative assembly date for the team is April 7. It will have two weeks training in Wellington, before leaving for Australia. Part of that preparation will be against the Canadian team which is expected to be in Wellington for two weeks. Mrs Barwick said the preparation time was not enough, but it was all New Zealand could afford. "We don’t get paid to play hockey like other countries. Most of the players in the squad have already made huge sacrifices in the last two years and many of them have mortgages to pay and jobs to protect We can't ask them to make any further sacrifices.” As expected the majority of the squad is from Canterbury (12) and Auckland (nine). The full squad is: Mary Clinton, Chris Arthur, Sue Duggan, Kieren O’Grady, Kate Trolove, Cindy Reriti, Elaine Jensen, Maree Flannery, Sharon Amos, Maia Lewis, Lisa Sutherland, Gill Kane (Canterbury); Anna Lawrence, Sue Furmage, Leanne Birkenhead, Margaret / Edge, Robin Toomey, Chris Madill, Jenny Duck, Lois Simpson, Helen Shearer (Auckland); Lisa Korrell, Tina Bell, Amanda Smith (Otago); Anna Symes (Wanganui); Louise Taylot Trudy Kilkolly (Hawke’s Bay); Heath< Galbraith (North Shore).