Hockey: Buddies live the Olympic dream

By DAVID LEGGAT

A year ago, Emily Naylor was at high school in Palmerston North.

To paraphrase an old song, what a difference a year makes. Now the 18-year-old is at the Olympics. What's more she's becoming, in coach Ian Rutledge's view, one of the best players in the Black Sticks.

But wait, there's more. She's rooming with striker Kayla Sharland, who is also 18, her best friend and a team-mate since they were aged 9.

"You're talking about two of our better players, and they're only 18," says Rutledge. "They have been a breath of fresh air."

Naylor, a versatile defender or midfielder, admitted the athletes' village in Athens was a giant step away from the school ground at Palmerston North Girls High.

She caught the eye as a rare talent with a smart marking job on Black Sticks captain Suzie Muirhead during the national league this year, was pulled into the squad and had more game time than any other outfield player during the Olympic qualifying tournament at Lloyd Elsmore Park in March.

"It's happened really fast," Naylor said. "It's been one thing then another and suddenly I'm here at the Olympics.

"It's cool having someone my age here. It's pretty awesome really."

Sharland, another product of Palmerston North Girls High, made the New Zealand team ahead of her friend, debuting against Canada last year as a 17-year-old.

She remembers the pair of them - Sharland is 54 days older - playing in an under-13 Manawatu representative team when they were 9.

A fast, talented front-runner with a strong shot, she described the atmosphere in the Olympic village as "pretty wicked".

And sharing a room with someone she has, in hockey terms, grown up with?

"We're living a dream together," she said.

Sharland, not a stickler for statistics, reckons she's played "about 40 internationals".

Goals? "About six or seven."

Both players insist they don't cop any pranks or extra duties as the whippersnappers of the Black Sticks.

The team culture is not like that, they say.

But while they are treated as equals, talk to them for long and it's hard to disguise their youth.

Consider that they were 6 when team-mate Helen Clarke was keeping goal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Now listen to Naylor, with a smidgen of awe in her voice, talking about who she has seen round the athletes' village.

"There's definitely some pretty famous people here - Mark Philippoussis, Venus Williams and [sprint star] Frankie Fredericks. That's pretty cool.

"We even sat with Ben Lummis the other day at breakfast."

Without question, that's the first time the New Zealand Idol winner has been grouped in such company.

But both teens have a maturity to their game that has Rutledge enthused. "Besides all their fantastic skills, speed and tenacity, they actually play to win. It's an important attribute to have, and they hold their own at 18. They're tough enough."

Naylor admitted she was "pretty nervous" ahead of the opening Olympic group game against China, a 0-2 loss this week.

"It wasn't too bad. I think I'm improving all the time, learning so much, and I'm just hoping to step up each game."

She also showed a bit of that bottle Rutledge was talking about, gaining a decent-sized egg on her forehead courtesy of a Chinese stick.

Expect the pair to be providing strength for the Black Sticks at both ends of the field for years to come.