U21 W-Hockey NZ

New Zealand U21 Women’s side named for Tri-Series in Canberra

The New Zealand U21 Women’s team will travel to Canberra to play a Tri-Series against Australia and India at the beginning of December. 18 players have been selected in the squad as they aim to back up the impressive performance from 2018 when the New Zealand side defeated Australia in their series in Napier.

New Zealand U21 Women’s Coach Katie Glynn stated on the series “It is a great opportunity for the girls to be exposed to International Hockey and what a touring environment is like. The key focus for the series is around development. We will be focusing on a couple of key area’s of the game we have identified that we want to improve at this age group, as well as building on areas we believe are our “Kiwi strengths”.

Glynn further commented on the importance for the athletes “We will also be spending a lot of time with the individual athletes to help progress them on their journey as young and up and coming hockey players and looking at ways we can support them with their varying goals and needs. Our preparation for the series will start with creating some training environments around the regions before coming together for a couple of days in Auckland and then heading off to Australia”.

“Australia and India will provide some challenging matches for the group – but it will be a special time for some athletes to put on the black jersey for the first time, we are lucky to have several players who have recently played in the Vantage Black Sticks team, the experience and knowledge that they will bring to the rest of the group”.

The New Zealand team will have an experienced coaching set up with Verity Sharland and Reiner Vellinga being named as the assistant coaches to Katie Glynn, both Sharland and Vellinga have been involved in the New Zealand development set up for a long time and will bring a wealth of experience to the side.

The New Zealand U21 side have been able to name four players who have made their debut for the Vantage Black Sticks Women as well as several others who have been in the National Squad set up over the past few seasons. Being able to bring in this amount of experience will mean the New Zealand team head into the series with an opportunity to produce some outstanding hockey.

New Zealand U21 Women’s Team 2019

Jessie Anderson – Midfielder – Canterbury
Millie Calder – Defender – Canterbury
Kelly Carline – Goalkeeper – Central
Kaitlin Cotter – Striker – Central
Hayley Cox – Striker / Midfielder – Canterbury
Anna Crowley – Defender – Central
Casey Crowley – Midfielder / Defender – Central
Katie Doar – Defender – North Harbour
Maddie Doar – Midfielder – Auckland
Kate Ivory – Defender – North Harbour
Amelia Marlow – Midfielder / Defender – Auckland
Saasha Marsters – Goalkeeper – Canterbury
Clodagh McCullough – Midfielder / Defender – Central
Holly Pearson – Midfielder / Striker – Central
Hope Ralph – Striker – Central
Olivia Shannon – Striker – Central
Emily Wium – Striker – Canterbury
Eva Zylstra – Midfielder / Defender – Midlands
New Zealand U21 Women Staff
Katie Glynn – Head Coach
Verity Sharland – Assisstant Coach
Reiner Vellinga – Assisstant Coach
Robyn Neil – Manager

New Zealand Women Schedule
New Zealand vs Australia – Tuesday 3rd December at 6pm
New Zealand vs India – Wednesday 4th December at 6pm
New Zealand vs Australia – Friday 6th December at 6pm
New Zealand vs India – Saturday 7th December at 2pm