Experience helps steer the boat

Shane Hurndell It's fair to say Kirsten Wilson has a fair bit to say with the running of Hawke's Bay's Hurrikets canoe polo side.
That's not surprising as the "oldie" in the team at 34 isn't short on international experience. The Taradale Intermediate School teacher and mother of two played for New Zealand in 1994 and '96.
Wilson coached New Zealand from 2003-2005 and in 2007 was the player-coach of the New Zealand B team at the Oceania tournament. As a teacher she also knows how to get the message across to the younger members of the Hurrikets side.
Consistency will be the theme of Wilson's next team talk in the wake of the Hurrikets second placing in the women's A grade section of the annual 21-team Art Deco tournament played at the Frimley Pools in Hastings during the weekend.
"We have good pockets of play and then drift off. We have to build on our consistency," said Wilson after their 4-3 loss to Valkyries Gold of Palmerston North in their final.
Her side led 2-1 at halftime. Tamara Whitehead scored the Hurrikets other first half goal and former New Zealand representative Emma Hubbard scored their only second half goal.
The Hurrikets missed several attempts at goal in the final seconds but at least two of the misses could be blamed on some freaky wind gusts which threatened to put the officials gazebo into the pool throughout the final.
This was the Hurrikets second tournament of the year and they finished third in a Palmerston North-hosted event earlier this month. Like most of the teams which included several of the North Island's top clubs, the Hurrikets, used the event as part of their buildup to the national league which starts in April.
"We finished fifth in the A grade last year and second the year before. We're like a lot of Hawke's Bay sports ... we develop young players and then they head off to university," said Wilson.
"This year we're lucky we've got a player who is at uni in Palmy but still playing for us," said Wilson pointing to Hubbard's sister Katie.
Wilson intends to retire from playing after she plays in the October World Masters in Sydney for a New Zealand Veterans team. This will give her more time to focus on coaching. "I also want to do the individual section of the Coast to Coast in 2011," added Wilson. An all Hawke's Bay women's B grade final saw Karamu High School beat Taradale High School 5-1. The men's A grade final saw Vikings Black of Palmerston North beat Wellington's Knights 4-2. The men's B grade final saw the combined Wellington-Auckland team Mixups beat Vikings Blue of Palmerston North 3-2.