Double delight for Featherston hockey family

Bragging rights are being shared in the van Woerkom family in Featherston with two members being selected in national age group hockey sides.

Benedict van Woerkom is part of the New Zealand Junior Blacks Stick team, which will contest the Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia from November 11-18, and his sister, Katherine, has been included in the New Zealand under-18 girls Tiger Turf Academy squad.

The two van Woerkoms earned their national stripes after attending four-day camps/trials in Auckland and other Wairarapa players to attend received similar recognition.

Also named in the Junior Black Sticks were Nick Finlayson and Trent Lett while Megan Hull and Morgan Percy got into the under-18 girls line-up.

The Malaysian tournament will be a testing assignment for the Junior Black Sticks - their opening game is against Pakistan followed by matches against Malaysia, Germany, India and Australia.

There was more good news for Wairarapa hockey with the naming of the New Zealand under-18 men's Tiger Turf squad late last week after a four-day training camp at North Harbour.

Wairarapa's Joseph Robertson was one of 16 players to make the cut while Alex Sumenko-Bucknell was named as a non-travelling reserve.

Robertson is one of the youngest members in the line-up and was singled out by head coach Bryce Collins as being among the most impressive performers at the training camp. "Joseph has just turned 16 and has some good raw natural talent," Collins said.

The Tiger Turf Academy is part of Hockey New Zealand's Owen G. Glenn Black Sticks programme, which is about developing the next generation of Black Sticks.

Meanwhile, Wairarapa's Jenna Anderson was one of six hockey players awarded blues at a dinner recently held by Massey University.