Five NZ reps a Wairarapa first

The selection of five Wairarapa players in the New Zealand under-18 women's hockey squad is unprecedented for sport in this region.
Records indicate that Wairarapa has never had more than three players in the same national line-up at the same time.
And it continues a notable trend in 2011 with Dane Lett and three ex-Wairarapa players being included in the Junior Black Sticks and another part Wairarapa rep in Nick Finlayson making the national under-18 men's squad.
Initially the New Zealand under-18 women's squad contains 30 players, with Wairarapa's Jenna Anderson, Megan Hull, Morgan Percy, Felicity Reidy and Katherine Van Woerkom being among them.
It was named after selectors had watched both the national under-18 premier and development tourneys (Wairarapa finishing an unlucky third in the premier division) and will assemble for a training camp in October from which a final team of 20 will be picked to go to Australia.
Players will be given a strength and conditioning programme by Hockey New Zealand and they have also been asked to add in some extra training sessions of their own in addition to their normal club and school commitments.
Hockey Wairarapa regional development officer Jesse Workman said all five Wairarapa players thoroughly deserved their places in the extended New Zealand team and he is backing all of them to make the cut for the Australian tour.
"They all had outstanding national tourneys and were easily among the best players in their positions in the country this year," Workman said.
"They've all got a great work ethic and a lot of drive and are always looking to improve their knowledge of the game, their fitness and their technical skills."
Brief bios of the five are:
Jenna Anderson: A lot of Wairarapa's play at national tourney revolved around their strikers manipulating where the opposition played the ball and then robbing them off possession.
Anderson was the key to this aspect of the game and was a constant threat to opposing defenders. She is fast with the ball and has the stick skills and aggressive intent to force her way past any defence structure. She was Wairarapa's top goal scorer of the year with 15 goals from only 12 appearances.
Megan Hull: Megan is only 15 and is the youngest player in the national squad, a superb achievement on its own. She plays mainly in midfield but Wairarapa took advantage of her versatility by also playing her in defence and even at striker.
An astute reader of the game, Hull has good ball carrying skills and excellent vision, especially for one of her age.
Morgan Percy: Morgan played in the vital centre half role for Wairarapa and is a natural in that role, with her vision, distribution skills and ability to pick up intercepts and set up dangerous counter-attacks.
Her form at the nationals was so consistently good, she couldn't be left out of the national squad. Like Hull, she also has another year in this age group.
Felicity Reidy: Reidy is very quick over the ground and has remarkable stick skills.
She is also quick to pull the trigger in the attacking circle and because of that gets a lot of shots on goal that others wouldn't. She scored some fine goals for Wairarapa for whom she regularly played at striker.
Her combination there with the Andersons, Jenny and Kristy, probably gave Wairarapa the most potent attacking force at national tourney.
Katherine Van Woerkom: In the opinion of Jesse Workman, there was no better defender at national tourney than Van Woerkom.
She made numerous tackles and intercepts when the opposition were threatening and her distribution was generally of the highest standard.
She captained Wairarapa and was the second highest scorer for them, most of her success in that area coming from penalty corners.
Of the chosen five from Wairarapa all but Jenna Anderson play their school hockey for Wairarapa College and it is understood that no other college in the country has higher numbers selected in national age group teams in 2011.