They established trust, respect and unity as the tenet of fulfilling their ambition.
"We worked together and in training every single girl worked hard," says the Napier Girls' High School year 10 pupil.
That a lion's share of the team had come through the ranks from the time they were under-11 age-group representatives meant the element of trust, respect and unity was quite entrenched and the risk of cliques within the collective didn't arise.
"We knew each other so those things were already there and as the season went on we got stronger and stronger," says Knapp. "We had no little groups of people and we knew we had to push hard to stay together."
The edict, she says, was simple - if you train well, you'll play well for the girls mustered from Iona College, Woodford House, NGHS, Havelock North High and Taradale High School.
The signs were encouraging when they beat their Bay association under-18 girls' team 2-0 in their first outing this year.
In Tauranga last week, the Bay U15s beat Southland 5-1, thrashed Taranaki 9-0 and drew 1-all with Canterbury.
In the quarterfinals, the Bay defeated Waikato 3-1 before overwhelming North Harbour 4-1.
They didn't lack incentives in the final.
"Todd had to leave after the semifinal for family reasons so we wanted to win it for him as well because of how hard he had worked and how much he had put in for us," she says, revealing how proud Astill was on finding out they had been crowned champions.
Because she had captained most of the players to the losing Collier Cup final against Auckland in 2014, Knapp says it was easy leading "the most amazing bunch of girls".
Midfielder/vice-captain Olivia Shannon was the top goal scorer at the nationals with nine and declared one of two MVPs. Striker/midfielder Kaitlin Cotter was second equal top scorer with six.
Goalkeeper Gabriella Luscombe, of Iona College, was outstanding in conceding five goals at the nationals.
The team accrued 48 goals this season and conceded a dozen.
"The number of goals scored and the quality of some were made possible with the support and skill of a side who understood the importance of playing a brand of unselfish intelligent hockey while the defence worked tirelessly to shut down opposition attacks," says Jones.
The co-coach says it's imperative to emphasise the girls' success is the progressive input of numerous coaches throughout the year, including club, representative ones and those in schools.
Many of the players were part of an HB Invitational U15 side who toured Queensland and NSW in April to return undefeated after eight games against regional sides under coaches Jono Heaphey and Dominie Cresswell.
"Throughout the season the team built a level of self-belief that they were capable of playing a brand of hockey that was skilful, showed flair and speed in player movement and the ball and a strong determination to never back away from challenges," says Jones, also stressing the players' sportsmanship and humility.
He lauds the Bay association and its board for their foresight in developing youngsters.
The captain thanks the co-coaches as well as manager Rachel Shannon and assistant manager Conrad Knapp.
The team are indebted to main sponsor Promotem and other Bay backers Luscombe Legal, The Puketapu, First NZ Capital, Metroglass, Lowe Corporation, Stihl Shop Napier, IMS NZ, Thai Chef, Reilly Joinery, BJ's Bakery, Ngati Kahungunu, The Clearance Shed, Sainsbury Logan & Williams, and PickMee Fruit Company.
