Hawke’s Bay will have a stake in the men’s Black Sticks at the Olympic Games in Paris, with two players named in the 16-man squad on Tuesday.
Goalie and former Napier Boys’ High School player Dominic Dixon, 27, and former Taradale High pupil Sean Findlay, 22 – established Black Sticks with Olympic Games squad experience behind them – were strongly favoured to keep their places in a squad culled from that which won the second-tier Nations Cup in Poland earlier this month.
There is, however, disappointment for Sam Hiha, 26, a travelling reserve in Poland, and 19-year-old Jonty Elmes, the Black Sticks’ only regulation-time goal-scorer in a Nations Cup final decided on a penalty shootout. Both were named among seven non-travelling reserves, but there are also three travelling reserves.
They could be called up at any time, including during the July 26-August 11 Games, for which the Black Sticks’ preparation includes a training camp in Hastings next week.
The coach is Hawke’s Bay-based former South African hockey international Greg Nicol.
After a meteoric rise of 12 games and seven goals in just a few weeks after being elevated from the 2023 Junior World Cup quad to the senior side for a tournament in Kuala Lumpur in May and then the Nations Cup, Elmes, also a Napier Boys’ High School old boy, was aware of the possibilities, despite his success.
“I was obviously a bit disappointed when I wasn’t named in the team,” he told Hawke’s Bay Today. “However, at the same time, after a little bit of reflection, I’m very happy with myself and how the past three months have gone. I think if you told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the position I am in now I would have called you crazy.
“I didn’t look at who I was up against positionally,” he said. “I tried to not think about Olympic selection. I believe I play my best hockey when I’m just trying to win, and play what’s in front of me and not look too far into the future.
“Growing up, I definitely looked up to the likes of Simon Child and Hugo Inglis [who is in the squad], but after meetings with Greg [Nicol] and my T.A.P [team accountability partner] being Jake Smith [also in the squad], it was more about focusing on what I bring to the team and what I do well, and trying not to be someone I’m not.
“Now I’ve got to stay fit and healthy, as you never know what could happen,” he said, as the squad started to knuckle down in Auckland in the early stages of a dream to get New Zealand men’s hockey back to the Olympic Games podium, after an absence of 48 years since the gold medal triumph in Montreal in 1976.
With many New Zealand Olympics hopefuls having to leave town to get the best opportunities, 2024 in Paris could see the greatest-ever gathering of athletes, and more potential medal-winners in the history of the modern Olympiad and since the first Games in 1896.
Already named by their sports are rowers and single sculls gold medal prospects Emma Twigg and Tom Mackintosh, and canoe sprinter Aimee Fisher and runner George (Geordie) Beamish, also strong medal hopes.
The Black Sticks begin their Olympic campaign against India on July 28. In the pool stage they also face defending champions Belgium and Australia, Argentina and Ireland.
Nicol said the team are peaking at the right time, with a lot of work having been done to get Games-ready.
“We have worked exceptionally hard to get ourselves to the physical level we need to be at, but we have also worked hard on supporting each other on and off the pitch,” he said.
“One of our themes is kotahitanga – unity – and the notion that we are all climbing this mountain together and are helping each other become the best versions of ourselves.”
Captain Nic Woods said: “We’re coming into Paris with belief in our abilities as a team. We will definitely be the underdogs but we relish the challenge and opportunity to try and do something truly special.”
Team members were today presented with their playing kit by members of the 1976 team, the names of those in the triumph featuring inside the shirt.
The team: Nic Woods (captain), Dom Dixon, Charlie Morrison, Kane Russell, Blair Tarrant, Simon Yorston, Sean Findlay, Isaac Houlbrooke, Joe Morrison, Hayden Phillips, Scott Boyde, Simon Child, Sam Lane, Jake Smith, Hugo Inglis, Dane Lett.
Reserves: Travelling – Leon Hayward, Brad Read, Malachi Buschl; Non-travelling – George Enersen, Benji Culhane, David Brydon, Aidan Sarikaya, George Baker, Jonty Elmes, Sam Hiha.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.