Inexperienced team has tough encounter first up
THE Southern Storm has been combining well and making improvements but will get a tough examination first up when the National Hockey League starts at Wellington today.
The side is coached by former New Zealand international Tina BellKake, who said although the side was light on experience it had been working hard on the training paddock.
Games against top boys’ school sides in Dunedin had benefits for the side, BellKake said.
‘‘Boys are good to play against as they use their speed a lot more. So for us, we haven’t got as much time on the ball and we have to get rid of it quicker,’’ she said.
‘‘We have to pass the ball faster, do things quicker, show some strength on the ball. I think we lacked that experience at the beginning, not played like that before. But in the last couple of games we were playing better and managed to win a couple.
BellKake said the games were played at the speed and intensity the team was expecting at the tournament in Wellington.
The Storm was absent last year, as it was decided to not send a side to the national tournament. But Southern Hockey, along with New Zealand Hockey, has committed to going to tournaments for the foreseeable future.
BellKake said the side was light on experience
Goalkeeper Ginny Wilson and Black Sticks international Tessa Jopp, along with the experienced Erin Smyth are all based in Auckland but hail from the south originally, so are players of origin.
North Harbour’s Hannah Duley has been brought in by BellKake.
Duley is a versatile player, who can play up front as well as in the midfield. BellKake knew of her when she was based in Hong Kong and Duley played for a year in the former British colony.
She had NHL experience which was a plus for the squad, BellKake said.
Many of the team were young, having played under21 and under18 hockey for Southern, but this would be another step up. Youngster Jessica Faulks has had to drop out of the squad because of a knee injury.
National under21 representa tive Maddi McLean is another key player for the side.
Like many sports, putting the ball in the back of the net is a key and something Southern must do better if it wants to make an impact.
The league is set up to have two pools of four, with all going through to quarterfinals on Thursday, so teams can upset the tournament in one day. Finals are on next Sunday.
Southern had a warmup game against a Southland side last week and had a comfortable 81 win.
First match up today is against Canterbury, which is the defending champion.
‘‘They have five or six Black Sticks and they’ll come out hard and strong. But we’ll look forward to playing some girls teams for a change. The big advantage for us is we are unknown. Other teams will know a few of our girls but won’t know the rest of them.’’