"There were 16 boys and 16 girls, so it was a big group of us. We played some tournaments over there because it is the worlds next year, so the selectors are really watching us and looking for selections," Coughlin said.
"I had a lot of fun over there but it was hard because we switched partners each tournament.
"We had had training camps as a group but we hadn't had heaps of experience specifically with the one partner. It was good to be able to adapt and learn."
Western Bay athletes Emily Johnston, Georgia Coughlin, Emma Flynn, Perry Preston, Thomas Reid, Daniel Kilpatrick, Daniel Michael, Ryan Forlong, Luke Carter, Cameron Hunter, plus Tyran Gillespie and Kahurangi Robinson from Rotorua, were also in the mix of 32.
Coughlin has just a few short weeks to catch up on her schoolwork and change from a beach volleyball mindset to underwater hockey.
New Zealand is sending four teams to compete at the 2015 World Age Group Championships in Castellon de la Plana, Spain, from August 6-15. The under-19 women, under-23 men and under-23 women are defending world champions.
Coughlan is part of the under-19 women's team that has been training for the last eight months in preparation for Spain. The team have won the last five world titles.
She has her sister, and last year's winning captain Courtney, to thank for encouraging her to get into underwater hockey.
Coughlin says underwater hockey is more complex than people think.
"Lots of people think you just have to be able to hold your breath for ages but there is lots more to it than that. There are six in the pool at a time on each team so it is lots about knowing where to pass to each other, and giving lots of support to make sure it works."
Other Tauranga residents competing in Spain next month are Kirsty Burrows (Under-19 women), Letitia Jackson (Under-19 women's coach), Keegan Thomson and Ben Richards (under-19 men), Megan Burrows (under-23 women) and Anton Williams (under-23 men).
