Olympics: Hockey club churning out stars

Dean Couzins is a product of the Southern Districts Hockey Club in Papatoetoe. Photo / AP.

When a hockey club set in a South Auckland suburb produces four Olympians in one campaign you can't help but wonder what goes on behind its gates.

Southern Districts Hockey Club in Papatoetoe is the home of five Black Sticks: Dean Couzins, Simon Child, sisters Samantha Harrison and Charlotte Harrison, all of whom are in the Olympic squads heading for London, and Marcus Child.

Couzins captains the men's national team, which is the most experienced hockey squad New Zealand has ever fielded.

Couzins himself has almost 300 caps under his belt, while Simon Child and Charlotte Harrison head towards 200.

Rick Child, chairman of Southern Districts club, which is celebrating its 85th jubilee this year, says there are several key ingredients to the club's secret formula for producing star players.

One of these is a special high-performance development plan which has taken decades to evolve.

"Sometimes you don't see the results for years, but some boys coming through now will probably make their mark in years to come," he said.

The crux of the plan is focusing on the basics of hockey training, mixing up the players and running hockey tournaments at local schools.

"I'm a firm believer in the idea that if you teach them the basics properly, and as long as they have some athletic ability, they will go a long way.

"In our lower grade teams we have a really good mix of younger and older players - the older ones act like mentors.

"We also work quite closely with Counties-Manukau Sport and with primary schools in Papatoetoe and Otara."

He says the club's success has come with its own hurdles, which members are now working to overcome.

"Hockey doesn't have a huge support base, unlike rugby, which a lot of the parents have played.

"It is also challenging to get coaches and managers - it's nice to grow the game but it can also be a struggle."

Overall he said club members were very pleased with their success this year and not just with the Olympics - the men's and women's teams won premier titles.