Hockey: Starlet Harrison won't take too much stick

HNZ bosses will ensure 16-year-old Charlotte Harrison won't suffer burnout.

When it comes to hockey's wunderkind Charlotte Harrison, Black Sticks coach Ian Rutledge and Hockey New Zealand [HNZ] bosses need no reminding of her potential value to the sport. It's why they have no intention of piling unnecessary burdens upon her shoulders.

"We've got a Ferrari and I have no intention of turning her into a Land Rover," Rutledge said when asked whether international hockey might be too much, too soon for the 16-year-old Northlander.

The issue of player burnout has exercised the mind of HNZ chief Ramesh Patel, who was in Australia last week with the Black Sticks.

He told the Herald on Sunday he had read a draft report on the issue conducted last season that threw up some surprise findings.

"It's only a draft but the indications are that volume of hockey wasn't so much a factor. Burnout was found to be a mental phenomenon rather than a physical one," he said.

Patel admitted to raising his eyebrows when Harrison took a full part in the National Hockey League last season for Northland and had immediate concerns for her long-term welfare.

Hockey has led the way in New Zealand in thrusting talented youngsters in at the deep end. Simon Child played in the NHL this year while still at school and Ryan Archibald was selected for New Zealand at 17. Perhaps the biggest success story was Alan McIntyre, who first played for New Zealand aged 15 and was a part of the gold medal-winning squad at the Montreal Olympics.

Those that weren't so lucky provide a cautionary tale. Karlie Maloney was brought into the squad as an 18-year-old North Harbour schoolgirl last season but disappeared from the scene as she battled injury and, in the words of others, lost her hunger for the sport.

"It's comparing apples and oranges," Rutledge said of the potential similarities between Maloney's situation and Harrison's.

"She [Maloney] was burnt out before she came into the Black Sticks programme," he said. "We inherited damaged goods because every team she'd been involved with had got their pound of flesh from her."

That is one of the reasons why he was very keen to have Harrison in his environment and came close to selecting her last year as a 15-year-old; so he can keep a close eye on her progress and slacken the reins if he thinks she is getting too physically or mentally tired.

Another advantage, Rutledge said, was the fact they are not having to bring Harrison quickly up to speed with a modified training programme.

"She already had fantastic aerobic fitness, fantastic speed and a fantastic skill base."

Rutledge was at pains to point out that with such a busy programme next year - the Commonwealth Games, the Champions' Trophy and the World Cup - player welfare was of utmost importance.

"With so much hockey we need to keep them sane, allow them to keep their jobs and their relationships," he said.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY