Hockey: Teen talent went on to 14 years at top

When 6-year-old Northlander Suzie Pearce first picked up a hockey stick, she couldn't have known the impact she'd have on the national game.

When the 31-year-old retired as Suzie Muirhead in 2006, it was as New Zealand's most-capped women's hockey player.

She played at the top level for an incredible 14 years, in a record 238 games while scoring 41 goals, making her the Black Sticks' top scorer.

She made her debut for the Black Sticks in 1993 in a World Cup qualifier in Philadelphia as an 18-year-old. She went on to compete in two Olympic Games and three Commonwealth Games, as well as World Cups and both Champions and Challenge Trophy tournaments.

Not bad for a girl from Whatitiri.

The Poroti School, Maungakahia Area School and Pompallier College old girl first played for Northland's senior team as a 15-year-old.

Her greatest Black Sticks success was a Commonwealth Games bronze medal at Kuala Lumpur in 1998 but competing at the Athens Olympics must surely have been another highlight.

She married Hurricanes physiotherapist Glenn Muirhead and now lives in Wellington, working as a project manager, but she still has family in Northland and is a frequent visitor to the North.

She added a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to women's hockey to an already impressive sporting CV in 2007.