Drive kept stalwart at top for 9 years

IT SEEMS apt to acknowledge Sandra Hitchcock (nee Bennett) as a New Zealand hockey great on the back of an incredible year for the women's game where the Black Sticks brought home silver from the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Over the years Northland has produced far more than it's fair share of talented hockey players and Hitchcock was one of the very best to come off the local hockey production line.
During a nine-year international career, starting in 1994, Hitchcock, known as Bennett during her playing days, earned 154 caps for New Zealand and in doing so, became an influential role model for young hockey players in Northland.
Highlights for Hitchcock during that time was competing at two Commonwealth Games - 1998 in Kuala Lumpur where the Black Sticks won bronze, and Manchester in 2002 where the Kiwi women placed fourth. Hitchcock was also part of two world cups, and played at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, where New Zealand finished sixth. During her Black Sticks campaign, she had a stint at the captaincy and later become a national selector.
Enthusiasm was never a problem for Hitchcock, who was born in Dargaville in 1972.
As an 8-year-old she could be found munching her breakfast on cold winter Saturday mornings, already wearing her shin pads and impatiently waiting for mum or dad to drive her to her hockey match.
The family home was in Purua, a small farming settlement 30km to the west of Whangarei, and the match venue was a 22km drive away in Ruatangata, so a passion for the game and motivation to play was vital.
A determined Hitchcock set her mind on representing New Zealand even before hitting her teens.
She decided she wanted to play for her country at an under-14 North Island tournament, representing Northland, aged 11 or 12.
Hitchcock played right midfield before having a crack at centre half, but in her first senior year for Northland the coach put her at right back, and that is where she stayed.
Hitchcock rattled her way through New Zealand age group teams, represented Northland at senior level for the first time at 15-years-old and played 122 games for the province before moving down to Auckland nine years later and into the big time.
After her international career concluded in 2002, Hitchcock's "retirement" was typically active, with further games for Northland in 2003 after coach Vicki Gribble asked her to captain the side in their crucial promotion/relegation series against Waikato. Hitchcock answered the call, and her experience and organisational skills played a key role in Northland's 2-0 series victory.