Limited preparation time and only one trial game is less than ideal leading up to a World Cup. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, it was the predicament the New Zealand Under-21 women's hockey side faced ahead of the Junior World Cup in Boston in August. In Whangarei for their only trainingcamp over Easter, New Zealand faced a Northland invitational team at Rosvall ITM Stadium on Saturday and won decisively, 4-1. Under-21's coach Chris Leslie said it would be a tough ask of the girls to go to the Junior World Cup with the amount of time they had trained together. But if Saturday's performance was anything to go by, they would have a good crack at claiming victories in their allocated matches against China, the Netherlands and Spain. "I'm very pleased with their application and compliance," the coach said. "The test is now to continue that. "We're relying on players to work hard with their regions, and I guess we are lucky there is such a big group from the Northern region training together at North Harbour under national coach Mark Hager." Six Northland products were named in this year's New Zealand line-up, including Jacinda McLeod, Nicky Howes, Ella Gunson, Alana Millington, Stacey and Carli Michelsen, and they will join the Northern region side at the national under-21 tournament in Whangarei during May. The remaining players in the New Zealand side will compete for their respective regions at the tournament, which will aid in their Junior World Cup preparation Leslie said. "The fact the JWC is in our hockey season is a bonus - I would be concerned if we were going to the tournament in our summer." New Zealand Under-21s depart Auckland for Boston on July 30 and play their first match on August 4, and Leslie said he hoped they would get a hit-out in Boston or Auckland prior to the tournament.
