Hockey: Black Stick Douglas retires from international arena

New Zealand Black Sticks player Laura Douglas(R). Photo / Brett Phibbs

Black Stick Laura Douglas has decided to step down from international hockey, despite an offer from national coach Mark Hager for a spot in the 2012 national squad.

After 41 international test caps and six years of playing for the Black Sticks, Douglas said she had lost the passion and with the 2012 London Olympics just around the corner, she would rather give her spot to someone who really wanted to be there.

"This year I made the squad and that is the hardest thing about the decision. It is not the training or travel, because we will be centralising next year. If I was going to do it I would have to be 100 per cent committed and for me I felt like I wasn't being fair to the team, I don't have the passion and I would prefer to be doing something else," she said today.

Hager said Douglas would be be sorely missed.

"I think Laura undervalued the contribution she made to the group, from a leadership point of view and also the experience she offered. She was a committed player who trained hard and she helped engrain a strong culture and work ethic in the team," he said.

This year Douglas was in the team for the Korea, Argentina and Japan home test series. She also travelled to Japan as part of the development squad and competed in the warm-up games in Europe prior to the Champions Trophy series.