Megan Hull in action on the hockey field. Photo / Supplied
If there was one word Megan Hull would use to describe herself, it's "lucky".
The Pongaroa-raised athlete, who now lives in Auckland, feels incredibly privileged to have been named co-captain of the Black Sticks - the women's side of the national hockey team.
"To be alongside Olivia [Merry], she's a pretty incredible person."
She says while sometimes it's a bit of a rollercoaster, she still feels lucky to be surrounded by her "wonderful family and support systems and my partner and obviously incredible teammates."
Hull developed an interest in hockey when she was four years old.
The family were living in Eketahuna then, and her mother was coaching a team, but it was her elder sister who was playing at the time.
"I think I wanted to be just like her."
She credits her family, her parents and three older siblings, with being instrumental in her journey toward becoming a member of the team.
"Mum and Dad have really set us up so well. Being the youngest of the family, I'm pretty lucky to have some role models to look up to."
Hull debuted in 2016, then was able to play for a club in Melbourne for a year.
"I had such a ball, I just enjoying playing and then came back and was sort of selected back into development for the year and made the team.
"Hockey's brought me so many wonderful opportunities."
Hull says she loves the team sport aspect of the game and has met some of her closest friends through it.
"Those are the things I treasure the most - the people and my teammates.
"You go through a really great day and celebrate with your teammates.
"You might go through a really terrible day, and you get to go through that with each other, so I think that's a pretty special thing."
Hull says one of the things she enjoys about hockey is that it's quite a free-flowing fast sport.
"And you can have strengths in one thing that would totally complement another person and strengths that they might have.
"It's quite nice for me that it incorporates a lot of different strengths. It's great that everybody isn't the same because it wouldn't make a good team if we were all identical."
She says she has learnt a lot on the hockey field that has translated into life experience.
Such as "the ability to be resilient and keep going and push yourself."
The Black Sticks competed at the Tokyo Olympics last year, and were disappointed with the end result, but they still see it as a learning experience.
"I think after a bit of reflection you realise how awesome it was to just go ahead. We left what we could out there. It doesn't always go your way."
Coming from a rural town like Pongaroa has also helped teach her about resilience.
"Everything that gets thrown into these small places, like droughts and floods, it's all about banding together. There's something so special about that community feeling."
Hull says she's grateful for the support from the Pongaroa community but is even more grateful for the support from her parents and siblings.
"I feel so lucky to come from a rural community. I just feel like watching my parents, watching our neighbours, watching everyone around me, they've instilled traits I wouldn't have otherwise."
As for others in rural communities who are looking to do great things, she says "it's absolutely possible to follow your dream."
"From my own experience, I'm from a small place and I'm such a small fish, not that I've made it or anything. I just think that [it's] having a bit of belief in yourself."
At 25, she still has a long career ahead of her and intends to keep going while she's still enjoying it.
"I think it's pretty cool in sport in general that there's been quite a few women paving the way in having babies and coming back to high-performance sport. That's pretty inspirational."
The Black Sticks are focusing on working toward the World Cup in July, which will be followed by the Commonwealth Games.