KEY POINTS:
Gemma Flynn hopes a friendship will survive her surprise selection in the Black Sticks hockey team for Beijing, though flatmates have fallen out over less.
Flynn, the bolter in the women's squad for China, was almost apologetic that she was chosen ahead of fellow teenage striker Charlotte Harrison.
The 18-year-olds flatted together in Auckland during the squad's consolidation phase, before the 16-strong team was finalised on June 30.
"I guess it was difficult, but I think we'll still remain really good friends," Flynn said before the Black Sticks headed to a final pre-Games hit-out against Great Britain in Hong Kong.
"Everyone's made such a huge sacrifice. They've put in just as much effort. I really do feel for all of them [who missed out]."
Flynn, who made her debut against Korea in February, gained the nod over Harrison, who has had 55 caps since picked as a 16-year-old under the previous coach, Australian Ian Rutledge.
A surprise call from Rutledge's successor, Kevin Towns, capped a meteoric rise for Tauranga student Flynn, who hoped to one day qualify as a physical education teacher.
Flynn's pathway to Beijing started when she found herself in the right place at an opportune time. "We had New Zealand under-18 trials the end of 2006 - the under-21s were training next to us and there was an injury.
"They said they were going to pick one of us to go to the Youth Olympics in Sydney. A couple of days later they picked me."
A call-up to the senior side followed a solid season for Midlands in the National Hockey League. From there her contribution during June's Four Nations tournament in Beijing saw the 16-cap forward relegate Harrison to a league season in Belgium.
"She's a pretty exciting player and had to be to bump Lotte [Harrison] out of her position," Towns said.
For Beijing, Flynn was more compatible with Towns' gameplan.
"We found her a lot more prominent. She was linking far more frequently than Lotte," he said.
"Gemma hasn't had the exposure Lotte's got but she gave us a little bit of a new dimension and in the screens and presses we use she gives us a lot of energy and power."
Flynn had no inkling she had made such an impression and deliberately kept her emotions in check when the squad visited the Olympic venue. "I had a real quiet approach as I thought maybe I wouldn't be lucky enough to play here."
Instead she could be involved in the Black Sticks' opening pool game against Japan on August 10, two days after the opening ceremony.
"I'm so lucky to be in this position at such a young age - but there's still so much to learn," she admitted.
Fortunately she has two experienced campaigners alongside at the sharp end of New Zealand's attack - veterans Niniwa Roberts and Caryn Paewai, who have accumulated 275 caps between them.
With Beijing possibly the end of Robert's and Paewai's Olympic career, it's a position Flynn - and Harrison - might well find themselves sharing at London in 2012.
- NZPA
