Players in Black Sticks squad
Taranaki’s Anna Crowley was trying to hold back tears when she told her family about her Black Sticks call-up.
The Southern Alpiners defender was cooking dinner when she was phoned by coach Graham Show to join the squad of 25 in preparation for the Olympics in Tokyo next year.
She was not expecting it - her goal had been to make the Junior World Cup team for 2021.
Dinner plans were halted and she Facetimed her parents, Alan and Sue, and brothers, Daniel and Logan.
‘‘Mum thought something bad had happened to me, but I then told them the news and they were so stoked for me.’’
Mum and dad both shed a few tears.
‘‘It was a pretty special moment.’’
Crowley, 20, said she doesn’t remember much of the conversation because she was in total shock.
She puts her selection down to the coaches she’s had throughout her hockey career in Taranaki, Central Districts and in Christchurch, where she is based.
‘‘They each have challenged me in different ways and pushed me outside my comfort zone to make sure that I’m getting the best out of myself.’’
She also credited her family and friends for backing her 100 per cent.
Crowley joins Hope Ralph and Holly Pearson in the squad, who have all played at Sacred Heart Girls’ College.
‘‘To think that one sleepover at Hope’s house when I was about nine or so, led me to filling in and playing my first ever game. To now both of us being named in the Black Sticks is very surreal.
‘‘To be honest, if it wasn’t for that sleepover, who knows, I might have never got into playing hockey,’’ she said.
The trio could potentially join swimmer Zac Reid as the next Taranaki Olympians after he qualified this month.
Crowley comes from strong sporting pedigree.
Her father, Alan, played 82 rugby games for Taranaki between 1984-1995 and represented the New Zealand
Colts and sevens teams. Her brothers Daniel and Logan play premier rugby for Coastal.
Logan also represented Taranaki 14 times before moving to Southland last year.
Sue Crowley, a former Taranaki netballer, said she was blown away when Anna called to tell her the news.
‘‘We are very proud. Still very surreal.’’
She said it was crazy to have three girls from Sacred Heart, who have played together since they were 11 years old, in the Black Sticks together.
Out of the current squad, 19 will be chosen for the Olympics.
Crowley said it will be hard work being a new player trying to earn an Olympic spot, but she will put her best foot forward.
The squad assembles in January to begin preparations for the Oceania Cup and Tokyo.