Kayla Whitelock and team mates wear the new formal wear after the women's team announcement today. Photo / Greg Bowker
Momentum gained at the Hockey World Cup is expected to build for the New Zealand Commonwealth Games women's hockey team named today ahead of Glasgow 2014, underway next month.
Coach Mark Hager said the team is confident they have what it takes to bring home a medal from Glasgow.
"All
the teams will turn up well prepared to the Commonwealth Games and we won't be taking any game lightly, but if we can build on our performance from the World Cup and perform to our best we hope to be standing on the podium," said Hager.
Senior players Kayla Whitelock, Emily Naylor, Krystal Forgesson, Gemma Flynn and Anita Punt have all played over 150 games pulling the team test cap average up to 108, but despite the teams international experience only seven players have competed at a Commonwealth Games before.
"One of the pleasing things is that even though there are a lot of new players in the team since London Olympics, we have higher expectations of ourselves than we did say four or five years ago and I think it highlights that the group has come a long way."
