Six past or present Wairarapa players were named in the Junior Black Sticks hockey training squads at the conclusion of the national under-21 men's and women's hockey tournaments in Hamilton at the weekend.
In a stunning recognition of the strength of the sport at age group levels in this partof the country, Jenna Anderson, Megan Hull and Felicity Reidy were included in the JBS women's squad and Nick Finlayson, Trent Lett and Benedict van Woerkom in the men's squad.
Anderson and Hull still play their hockey locally, Anderson for St Matthew's Collegiate and Hull for Wairarapa College, while Reidy, Finlayson, Lett and van Woerkom currently play for Wellington-based clubs.
All six of those mentioned represented Capital at the national under-21 tourney, with the men's side going down 2-1 to North Harbour in an extremely tense final and the women losing their playoff for third and fourth to Midlands by the same scoreline.
The Capital men had finished top of their preliminary pool, where their successes included a 4-1 win over North Harbour and a penalty shoot out victory over Auckland. That latter win saw them qualify for the final with a game in hand but a 3-2 loss to Canterbury in the "non counter" turned out to be an omen for the decider, where they were again unable to recapture their winning form.
North Harbour went out to a 2-0 lead after 19 minutes and held that advantage until two minutes into the second spell when drag flick specialist Ryan Cosgrove got one back for Capital. It was now on for young and old but try as Capital might they could not penetrate a tenacious and well organised North Harbour defence.
The young Capital women's team went into their third and fourth playoff match after holding eventual champions Auckland to just the one goal.
