Hockey: Captain feels great spirit in women's team

By SUZANNE MCFADDEN

Kylie Foy's backyard was a breeding ground for champions.

The Foys lived next door to the McCahills in the Auckland suburb of Epsom, and the 11 kids would run wild on the sprawling back lawn, playing almost every ball sport known to man.

Out of that backyard sprouted four New Zealand internationals: Bernie McCahill became an All Black, and his sister Terry played for the Swanz, the national women's soccer side.

Mark Foy played for the All Whites, and Kylie became captain of the New Zealand women's hockey team for the 2000 Olympics.

"We played absolutely everything that had a ball in it on that lawn - everything but hockey," Foy laughed.

Even though Foy was one of the youngest of the tribe, she was the one who grew up to be an Olympic captain.

Two days ago, the 28-year-old Auckland solicitor led the New Zealand team for the first time in her new role, beating the higher-ranked Argentina side. The two Olympic teams will meet again tonight, in Albany, and tomorrow night at Pakuranga, before flying to Sydney this weekend.

Foy is, in her own words, fizzing right now, but a week ago she was as bubbly as flat lemonade. After 10 weeks living, working, training and playing away from home in Wellington, the gutsy forward was exhausted.

Known for her power-napping - she can nod off under her desk - Foy spent most of last week asleep. Her bosses at law firm Bell Gully sent her home to bed.

"I guess I tend to work hard and play hard," she said. "Our camp in Wellington was the toughest thing I've ever done."

As well as training twice a day, Foy was working 25 hours a week with her law firm's Wellington office. But the job has had to take a back seat to hockey in the last year.

"With all the hockey I haven't been able to get on the bigger commercial cases I would have liked to. But when the Olympics are over, I'll be straight back into it - getting my brain working again," she said.

The camp also meant she was away from her husband, Michael, an investment banker. But he and most of the Foy family are going to Sydney as part of a large Kiwi supporters contingent heading to the hockey venue at Homebush.

Foy has been to an Olympics before - she was the bolter who broke into the 1992 New Zealand team for the disappointing Barcelona Games. She became a key member of the New Zealand team who fought back for Olympic status again for 2000.

In 1998, she withdrew from the team for the Commonwealth Games through exhaustion.

"It was really hard watching the girls on TV get their bronze medals, but I needed the break," she said.

Then she struggled to get back in the team, overlooked for a home series against Argentina, followed by a hamstring injury.

"I thought I had lost it. I thought it was over," she said. "But I managed to play my way back in again. It's so good to be back. There's an amazing feeling in the team because we've all been together so long and we're really good friends. We've worked a long time for this."

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