Emma Rainey continues on winning run

FAB FOUR: Whanganui hockey stars (from left) Ben Pilet, Reid Atkinson, Lee Moir, Emma Rainey have made the Central Under-21 rep teams to compete at the national regional tournament in Dunedin in May.PHOTO/MEGHAN PRICE

FOUR Whanganui hockey players and two from Rangitikei have been selected for under-21 representative duties for the Central region.

Whanganui 18-year-olds Lee Moir (Tech) and Ben Pilet (College Palmerston North) will debut for the team, while 20-year-old Reid Atkinson (Tech) is in his second season with the side.

He is also the younger brother of Marty Atkinson who played for New Zealand in the NZ Futures Under-23 tour of Australia in November.

Classy Whanganui 16-year-old Emma Rainey, while young and debuting for Central's U21 women's team, has the experience needed after representing New Zealand in the unbeaten national U19 team that prevailed over Australia and Japan on the Gold Coast in January.

Pippa and Beth Norman from Rangitikei have also been selected for the women's side, while Whanganui's Jan Dixon is assistant coach of the men's team.

Central split the 18-strong U21 men's squad into two teams for the Lightning 5 tournament in Stratford at the weekend and the Green team, that included the Whanganui lads, won silver after losing to Northern United from Wellington in the final.

All will now head to a training camp in Taupo where selectors will get another chance to assess the players before deciding on final line-ups.

The first duties for both the men and women's U21 side is the national regional tournament in Dunedin starting May 1.