Olivia Shannon during the Pro League Hockey match between the Black Sticks and the United States, in Christchurch last year. Photo / Simon Watts / Hockey NZ
Olivia Shannon during the Pro League Hockey match between the Black Sticks and the United States, in Christchurch last year. Photo / Simon Watts / Hockey NZ
Olivia Shannon has an anxious wait to find out if she will be selected for the Black Sticks team for the Tokyo Olympics.
The 20-year-old, who grew up on a sheep and beef farm at Waituna West, near Feilding, is part of the 25-strong Black Sticks squad for the Trans-Tasman series.
The women's and men's series starts in Palmerston North on May 27. They will be the first international games in New Zealand since March 2020, and the first internationals in Manawatū since 2014.
The Olympic team will be named early next month. Going to the Olympics has been a dream for Shannon since she was young. She says a "massive motivator" for her is her family, friends, and people who have always supported her. Becoming an Olympian would be special not only for her, but for them.
"There's a lot to hockey, it's a really challenging game so I really enjoy that side of it."
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Shannon started playing rugby when she was 4 and continued until she was 13. Her brother, Ben, joined Feilding Saturday morning rugby and the plan was Olivia would watch, but she was so eager to get on the turf her mother, Rachel, signed her up.
"Everything used to be a bit of a competition between me and him," Shannon says.
She was 12 when she started playing hockey - a family friend "dragged" her along to hockey training. She enjoyed it so much she made the decision to choose hockey over rugby.
"I've always been so competitive. I'm still very competitive today. Everything used to be a race for my life."
Black Sticks striker Olivia Shannon grew up on a sheep and beef farm at Waituna West. Photo / Simon Watts / Hockey NZ
Shannon comes from a sporting family but not a hockey family.
"I think they are still trying to pick up on the rules and everything that goes on with it."
Rachel is a keen runner and father Greg a rugby player. Shannon's grandfather, Merlin Shannon, was an NZRU councillor and Manawatū Rugby Union life member and president. He died last October and Shannon says his death was a "massive motivator" for her to push on past the Covid-affected times of 2020.
Last year was certainly different to Shannon's "whirlwind" 2018: "Everything just kept happening, it was a pretty hectic year for myself but a lot was achieved in one year."
She was part of the Central team that won back-to-back under-18 national titles; she was also the top goal-scorer and was named most valuable player of the competition.
Also in 2018, she won the Federation Cup with her Havelock North school Iona College and was named the tournament MVP for that year's national hockey league.
To cap the year off, in November 2018 she was the youngest player named in the Black Sticks squad for 2019.
The awards have kept coming since her selection for the national team - she has won the Black Sticks Women's Under-21 Player of the Year award two years in a row.
"It's been a pretty quick but long journey; a lot has happened in the last three years."
Shannon says Hawke's Bay head coach Greg Nicol used to say "you have to feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable". His advice has stuck with her.
She says if you are not challenged or pushed you are not going to get anywhere; if you are always feeling comfortable in a space you are not going to get better. If she is being pushed, she knows she is going to grow and be not just a better hockey player but also a better person.
Black Sticks head coach Graham Shaw says Shannon has "a mindset and a work ethic way beyond her years, and an exceptional attitude to get better every day".
Shannon is in her second year of a Bachelor of Business at Massey University. The distance student's major is marketing.
The Details What: Trans-Tasman Series, Black Sticks men and women against the Australian Hockeyroos and Kookaburras When: May 27, 28, 30, June 1 Where: Massey University Hockey Turf Tickets: blacksticksnz.co.nz
