ASB YSPOTY winners 1991-2014: Frances Kreft

Frances Kreft. Photo / Photosport

Each week from now until the annual ASB YSPOTY awards dinner in November, we will profile past winners as we count down to the 25th annual event which honours the top young college sportspeople in the region.

Frances Kreft (Diocesan) 2003

Hockey player Frances Kreft was another ASB supreme award winner to represent her country while still at school.

She was the second of three Diocesan winners. Sarah Ulmer was the first, for cycling, in 1994. The third was Samantha Harrison in 2009, another top hockey player out of the school.

"That [2003] was such an exciting and successful year for me. I loved my time with the Dio team - we won Federation Cup (the premier schoolgirls' tournament) and the Auckland and intercity comps too. It was around the time of Fed Cup that I was selected in the Black Sticks to travel to Japan. I was ecstatic about that. It was my childhood dream to be a Black Stick, and the selection came quite out of the blue!" says Kreft, who also won U-21 and U-18 national tournaments with Auckland that year.

"I don't recall a lot of the detail but I remember having a lot of fun. Winning makes anything more enjoyable. I was pretty fit, playing a lot of hockey. I had great coaches, my teammates were my best friends, and the standard of hockey was really high. I was in my element!"

Valerie Adams was the guest speaker at the 2003 awards night, just two years after claiming the gong herself. "I do remember being in awe of the calibre of people in the room and being completely gobsmacked when I was named overall winner. I'd not been to a multi-code awards ceremony before so it was pretty special to be in the room with people who have gone on to achieve amazing things on the world stage," Kreft says.

Hers was a solid Black Sticks career, winning the 2005 Champions Challenge, going to the 2006 Commonwealth Games and playing at the Champions Trophy that year. She amassed 59 caps.

"After the Black Sticks, I went travelling and ended up playing a season in Northern Ireland while studying a Masters at Ulster University. I made some wonderful friends there and have very fond memories both on and off the pitch."

Since returning home, she has played a number of years for the Auckland women's side, racking up around 150 caps in 11 seasons. Kreft is also into her fifth year on the Auckland Hockey board and works in communications.