Jessi Scott heads to world cup in Italy

There isn't much difference between taking a tumble on ice or concrete, so new national ice hockey rep Jessi Scott says.

After 10-15 years of inline hockey, Kerikeri's Scott is in for a new challenge after being selected for the national women's ice hockey side which left for Prague yesterday for a 10-day training camp. The side then goes to Asiago, Italy, for the Division II group A section of the World Cup.

The chirpy third-year occupational-therapy student at Auckland University of Technology played down the difference between the two sports, although admitted she has spent some time on the floor in adapting to the ice.

"I'm still adjusting," she said of the sport she took up midway through 2012. "The general skating is the same but it's different turning. I'd be on the ground a lot [at the start], ice is probably a little bit harder if you fall, but you slide, which is the difference."

Gaining national selection came as a surprise to Scott, who only got into the sport because a former coach said he'd pay her first year's game fees.

"It was just a new challenge, I'd played inline for that long where I was at the stage where I was like, 'Oh, is there more I can and do and try' but playing [ice hockey] has made my inline better. Basically, once I moved to Auckland a couple of my friends played [ice hockey] and their coach said we need more defence players and he said that he'd pay for my first year. I had friends who made the team before but I was like, 'Nah, that's not going to be me."'

But, it was to be for Scott. Now, she can call herself an Ice Fern and a dual international - albeit in two lesser-known sports, something the Northlander found frustrating.

"Little sports need to be supported," she said of having to self-fund a lot of her sport. "It's all good having our big, fancy sports but there's a lot of people who are doing lesser sports and winning."

As a squad rookie, Scott faces higher costs than her more experienced teammates, including the requiring of $700 worth of uniform. She is seeking support for these costs and has a Give a Little page running for anyone willing to support her: www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/jessiscotticefernz The Ice Fernz sit 25th in the world. They battled up from the division below in 2011 and have crept up the ranks in the current division to sit just behind Australia. - By Cameron Leslie

Northern Advocate