Schoolgirl star in like Flynn

Kevin Towns is as wily as they come in international sport but the affable hockey coach might be about to meet his biggest challenge head-on - convincing star striker-in-the-making Gemma Flynn she has the ability to perform at the very highest level.
Flynn spent much of yesterday and Thursday in a daze of congratulatory back-slaps and breathless text messages after her shock inclusion in a 28-strong Black Sticks squad for seven practice matches against Korea, the first part of the side's build-up to next year's Beijing Olympics.
The 17-year-old Tauranga schoolgirl has also been included in a 24-strong junior squad to begin preparations for the 2009 Junior World Cup, with Tauranga Boys' College keeper Tom Lysaght picked in the junior men's squad.
Flynn admits nothing could have prepared her for this week, although she's concerned how her low-key reaction has been perceived by parents Rob and Michelle.
"Mum and dad are probably a bit annoyed at me because I refuse to get too excited. Everyone seems to be thinking two steps ahead - I've had girls at school squealing and saying 'you're going to the Beijing Olympics!' - but that's so far off the mark right now it's not funny.
"All I'm in is a training squad. I'm only 17, it's my first time and I'm probably at the bottom of the heap as far as experience goes.
"That's not to say I won't be giving it heaps (in the games against Korea) and grabbing every opportunity but hopefully people aren't getting ahead of themselves."
Flynn is a bubbly, talented Year 13 student at Tauranga Girls' College, although scratch beneath the effervescent exterior and the goal-scoring dynamo at times second-guesses her talent.
"I do doubt myself sometimes, thinking I'm not good enough to be there and I'm pretty nervous already (about the Black Sticks). I'd really love to be confident all the time. I tell myself if the selectors have chosen me they must have seen something and I want to be positive about what's ahead because I play better when I think I should be there."
Towns has no doubt Flynn deserves a shot, telling the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday the Midlands hot-shot wasn't picked to make up the numbers.
"Gemma is a player with tremendous athleticism, a good feel for the game and hockey intelligence from what we've seen, plus she knows how to score goals."
Towns would have liked to have seen more of Flynn in the National Hockey League, where she was used sparingly at times, despite potting six goals.
"She had a good NHL. Some games Gemma didn't give us as much as she had in others, although she was outstanding in some, doing the things she'd shown at age-group level, which is the sign of a very good player."
Towns' dropping of established Black Sticks Honor Dillon and Frances Kreft, who have played more than 100 tests between them, was proof the veteran coach would pick on form. "The games against Korea are an opportunity to benchmark. I have an open mind and if a player turns up and shows us they can cope at that level then I'm prepared to take a gamble.
"Gemma only needs to look at (midfielder) Emily Naylor, who turned up as a schoolgirl at a 2004 qualifying tournament prior to Athens and went to the Olympics. Things can happen rapidly."
Flynn has already changed her PE teacher training plans for next year, dropping Christchurch in favour of Auckland to be in the same city as the Black Sticks' pre-Olympic programme.
She knows how fickle top-level sport can be - she wasn't even in the New Zealand team for the Youth Olympics in Sydney earlier in the year but was called in when one of the team got injured.
Celebrations planned for this weekend are typically low-key - Flynn will have a few friends around tonight but then it's back to business, with a special one-on-one with Black Sticks veteran Di Weavers tomorrow.
Black Sticks squad: Stacey Carr (Canterbury), Jaimee Claxton (North Harbour), Laura Douglas (Northland), Tara Drysdale (Central), Kelsey Dunn (Northland), Gemma Flynn (Midlands), Krystal Forgesson (Auckland), Jo Galletly (Canterbury), Katie Glynn (Auckland), Kimberley Green (North Harbour), Charlotte Harrison (Northland), Lizzy Igasan (North Harbour), Beth Jurgeleit (Wellington), Kate Mahon (Midlands), Jasmine McQuinn (Northland), Stacey Michelsen (North Harbour), Alana Millington (North Harbour), Emily Naylor (Central), Kim Noakes (Auckland), Meredith Orr (Canterbury), Caryn Paewai (Central), Sheree Phillips (Wellington), Niniwa Roberts (Wellington), Melody Rowe (Central), Kate Saunders (Canterbury), Kayla Sharland (Central), Anna Thorpe (Northland), Anita Wawatai (Central).