The 16-year-old is lapping up All In Elusive coach Charissa Barham's sermons from the netball pulpit and isn't sitting on her laurels of a blessed stature.
"I guess you have to have good work ethics, be driven to do well," says Kitchin, who is making her Super 8 debut this season after playing for just her school and the Hawke's Bay under-15 team.
Barham has watched Kitchin grow from a tot because she was teaching at HNHS where the player's father, Jamie Kitchin, is deputy principal.
"When I saw her and knew who her dad was, I thought, 'Oh my gosh, how much has she grown from then," says the Woodford House PE teacher, who reiterates the shooter is on the National Hunt For Height Programme, which was spawned last year to groom tall timber for the global stage.
"She's the tallest in the programme and went to trials for it in December last year," says the New Zealand Secondary Schools assistant coach but emphasises height isn't the only prerequisite for selection, as recruits have to display all-round abilities to match that potential.
A late bloomer, Kitchin attended the NZSS trials in January and, although she missed the cut, she left an indelible impression on the mentors. Ditto NZSS Maori trials.
"Her whole attitude was great. She wasn't fazed by anything and had such a positive resonance about her because she could have been quite intimidated going into that environment," says Barham of her dunking baptism into high-performance netball.
Kitchin was a goal keep but when she made her HNHS team, teacher-coach Jade Waldin disclosed the position was taken.
"She said she might as well try me at shooting, so I had a go, and it turned out pretty well," says the year 12 pupil.
While standing under the post and popping the ball into the net as a goal shoot was a breeze, it's quickly dawned on her that at Super 8 level, she needs to keep evolving so that the attacking circle turns into a hive of activity and not just a pot plant.
"I've just got to drive and have more movement," she says, mindful the likes of battle-hardened Outkast captain/defender Amanda Palmer will be stealing her oxygen in the circle.
She started taking the country's No1 female sport seriously only three years ago. She relishes the high-octane competitiveness and kinship that goes with the team code.
A former age-group indoor rowing record holder, Kitchin has been keeping up with the demands of fitness to quench her desire for anything sporty.
"Before netball, I did everything. I did basketball, volleyball, swimming."
She's grappled with her share of growing pains, nursing her shins and joints, but she welcomes Barham's help with the recovery.
Kitchin has been following the career of Central Hawke's Bay goal shoot Ellie Bird leading the charge for Mainland Tactix in the ANZ Premiership.
"I've been watching her and she really inspires me," says the teenager of the 23-year-old former Hastings High School Old Girls' Huias player, who stood at 195cm four years ago here.
Kitchin, who spends 30 minutes daily honing her shooting skills, relates to Bird's style of play and also appreciates how she has paved the path to the elite grades from the Bay for others to follow.
The HNHS senior A team captain helps umpire and coach her house school netball team. Barham sees the characteristics between them.
Kitchin stands and delivers adroitly but now Barham is intently, but tactfully, adding minor variations into her constitution towards attaining versatility.
"She's a smart girl," she says, saluting her sense of awareness for her age.
It hasn't missed Barham's attention that All In Elusive pack some oomph in the attacking circle Outkast have the fire hydrants handy in their defensive circle for tonight's undefeated sides.
All In Elusive's 68-25 flogging of newly promoted Hastings Girls' High School Old Girls' Spicers Keas in the opening round was an aberration and it's back to trading on a bearish market today against player/coach Jade Bartlett's Outkast who scraped past Hastings Girls High School Senior A 34-31.
"I think we're actually looking forward to it. It's testing grounds fairly early in the season and we've got a full team so for what we're doing it's a challenge," says Barham who echoed Kitchin's sentiments of thriving in a great collective culture of accountability.
She stresses for All In Elusive last season's primary goal remains in tact: "No 1, we want to win so there's no negotiations on it."
In a nutshell, it becomes part of their performance and how they intend to incrementally grow in a promising blend of players.
Taranki's Brigette Hollander, a junior doctor in the emergency department of Hawke's Bay Hospital in Hastings, is a former NZSS trailist who has played for her hometown and Otago in the NPC.
Captain Timms, whose daughter turned 1-year-old yesterday, sets the tone for fitness after returning as a member of the New Zealand women's touch team.
TODAY'S GAMES
For the second shield round of the Super 8 competition today:
Pool A
6.15pm: All In Elusive v Outkast Optimise Physio on PGA 2.
Umpires: T Gardiner, N Corbett.
7.45pm: Hastings High School Old Girls' Spicers Keas v Hastings Girls' High School Senior A on PGA 1.
Umpires: A Williams, N Walker.
Pool B
6.15pm: Havelock North House Of Travel Kauri v Otane Thirsty Whale on PGA 1.
Umpires: K Jones, J Varcoe.
7.45pm: Central Sports Vet Services HB v Napier Girls' High School Senior A on PGA 2.
Umpires: H Lewis, K Ives.
Reserve officials: 6.15pm, A Williams; 7.45pm, K Jones.
