Determination has no age

Whangarei's Colleen Prendergast does not let anything stand in the way of achieving her goals and that includes age.
The lawyer took time out from her busy schedule to contest the recent Senior Hockey Tri-Series between New Zealand and Australia, and returned with a gold medal thanks to her efforts with the New Zealand Women's 55-plus side.
"I was absolutely wrapped to get in the side this year - I was by far the oldest player in the team," she said.
The team ranged from players aged 54 going on 55, up to Prendergast, who is 62.
Prendergast plays club hockey for Maungaturoto's division one side "for the enjoyment of the game", but still gets a kick out of playing higher-level hockey as it appeals to her competitive nature.
Prendergast first picked up a hockey stick at 13 and the game has been her love ever since. So to stay playing for masters as she got older was a natural progression.
Masters is a growing phenomenon in hockey and the tournament was a trial to see whether the women's 55s, along with the women's 50s and men's 60s age-groups, would be competitive enough to contest the biannual transtasman Masters Series - to be staged next year in Newcastle, Australia.
"The tournament was very competitive with really close games.
"From nine games, three or four were decided on stroke-counts as a result was always needed. You couldn't have draws," Prendergast said.
NZ women's 55s won two and lost one of their three matches, while the women's 50s side, featuring Northland's Peggy Shepherd and Julie Jenkins, and men's 60s, including Bob Best and Ken Isaac from Northland, lost to the Aussies.
Whether these age-groups would be included in the next transtasman Masters Series is yet to be decided.
Hockey is not the only  success Prendergast has enjoyed later in life.
It was only two years ago that she started practising law, after being admitted to the bar in 2004.
A solo mum with one child, Prendergast was working in Auckland as a planner when she decided to do a law degree on top of an already full life.
"It was because I wanted to do it that I managed it all," she said.
Over 11 years, she worked as a planner and lectured at Auckland University while studying part-time, completing one or two papers a year.
In 2007, Prendergast started working at Henderson Reeves law firm in Whangarei as a litigation lawyer, specialising in resource management.
Always a goal-orientated person, whether it was for sport or her education, Prendergast said it was stubborness gained from her Irish-Scottish heritage, along with sheer determination that saw her achieving plenty at this stage of her life.
After the club hockey season, Prendergast will focus on the National Masters Tournament at Nelson in March, competing for North Harbour, as she has played the last 30 years with the association.
"Northland are pretty understanding about it," she said.