THE GRAND Duchess of Gonville Domain has thoroughly enjoyed her first international tour with the New Zealand Under 19's, who made a real statement on the Gold Coast last week.
Emma Rainey, 16, who has her own set of keys to train at Gonville, was the youngest member of the two New Zealand teams sent to play their Australian and Japanese counterparts in a week-long competition in temperatures which ranged from 27C at the coolest and a sweltering 34C at the hottest.
Her side was undefeated against their U19 counterparts, beating the other New Zealand team 6-1, Australia 5-0, Japan 2-1 and Australia again 4-3.
For their last game, it was arranged at short notice to play the Australian Futures squad - the national Under 21 side - and after being tied 2-2 at halftime, the New Zealanders ran out of puff against the older girls and lost 7-2.
"They had fresh legs because it was their first game and our fifth," said Rainey. "They kept running and we couldn't keep up."
In the stifling conditions, Rainey estimated she lost 2-3kg per game - the team management would test them after every match to get their personal water intake correct and make up for the lost fluids.
"I got lots of game time because I was playing midfield. There was three of us and we would rotate these two positions - three-minute rotations.
"Six minutes on, three off. Go off, get your breath, and a drink. It went very fast when you go off."
Rainey rated her personal highlights as being against Australia - one hard shot she made deflected slightly off a team-mate for a goal, and she also made an excellent dive tackle in the shooting circle to prevent an Aussie forward taking a shot.
"The level of hockey is just so fast," Rainey said. "It was really fun and amazing to play at that level."
The Japanese team gave the toughest test, although this was helped by them requesting to play each match in 17-minute quarters, rather than the 35-minute halves of the Anzac clashes.
"They like to play in quarters. We prefer the halves. The first quarter they were all over us, we had no possession.
"Had to get back into it in the second quarter and scored a couple of goals."
Rainey will receive a written report from her coaches next week, which could cover areas of praise or specific things she needs to improve.
"[I'm expecting] a bit of both - there's always something to work on, hopefully I did something right over there."
Rainey will also train in Palmerston North, and has a development camp coming up in Tauranga.
Her first national call-up came after a dream season where she was named player of the year by the Wanganui Hockey Association, most valuable player for her Wanganui High School team, best attacker by the Collegians club and the most improved female for the Central Districts association.