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New Zealand Black Sticks Player Kirsten Pearce Answers Hockey Fans Questions

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Fiona Kelso | 2 comments

Olympic athlete & NZ Black Stick Kirsten Pearce

First Published 15 February 2016: Recruitment4hockey.com

Recruitment 4 Hockey fielded 10 questions from their global hockey followers to ask Black Sticks player #18 Kirsten Pearce. The answers are both helpful & funny – read on and enjoy:

Amauri Amat Which shoe do you always put on first and do you have any other pre-match rituals?

Before every match I always put everything on my right side before my left and alternate (i.e. right inner, left inner, right sock, left sock etc.). I have a couple of pre-match rituals I guess you could say, those being listening to some tunes whilst I walk onto the pitch and a couple of other little things that when you watch me play I do every time before a match, one has something to do with my hair, and, the other is something I do before I head out for anthems on the field.

Louise Guest What moment are you most proud of in your hockey career?


There are definitely a few that come to mind but I would have to say every chance I get to step out onto the pitch and represent New Zealand as well as knowing that perseverance and hard work got me to where I am today.

Mollie Kavanagh What’s your favourite drill when training?

Anything that involves shooting at the goal!

Jeni Gale Do you miss living in Australia?

There are definitely some aspects of living in Australia that I miss with the most prominent being my family and friends, however, I have been extremely lucky with the amount of support I have received from my family friends over here, the staff at Hockey NZ as well as the Black Sticks girls, all of which has made my transition over to New Zealand a lot easier!

Recruitment 4 Hockey What EDGE hockey stick do you use & why? My hockey stick of choice is the Pink Diamond (just in case it isn’t obvious enough already) and I switch up from time to time by using both the light and medium weighted 36.5”. For me, it really just comes down to the feel of it when I’m playing and I guess using a hockey stick that is my favourite colour is an added bonus.

tristankearns16 In your opinion, what’s the best place in the world to play a hockey match? Are there any specific fans you remember and why?

Such a great question and I think after I get a bit more experience with playing at different venues around the world then I will be able to answer it. However, I have to say that when we have headed to smaller towns in New Zealand we have some amazing fans who are always happy to have a bit of a chat, grab some signatures and a picture with us.

edgehockeysticks How is the Olympic preparation going? What’s in store for the Black Stick’s in the road to Rio?

Olympic preparations are going great! We have been back into Full-Time training for the past few weeks and are about to go on our first tour of the year to Argentina from the 21st February – 4 March. Although our Olympic squad hasn’t been announced just yet we are continuing to build on from our performances last year with some hard training sessions including pitch, gym, conditioning along with some yoga and a bunch of team building activities on our road to Rio. We also have a number of tournaments before Rio so if you’re keen on where we will be playing check out www.hockeynz.co.nz for more details and follow us on instagram @nzblacksticks and on Facebook.

sophiejayne200 Which sports person did you look up to when you were little @kirst_pearce18

My idol has always been Mandy Smith who is an ex NZ Black Stick striker.

kara.irwin What advice would you give to young hockey players and aspiring black sticks? @kirst_pearce18 Good luck for Rio

Trust in the belief that you have in yourself, don’t be afraid to ask for help, surround yourself with people who can make a positive influence on you, control the controllables and do more than the bare minimum because if it was easy then everyone would be doing it.

Morganblamey What’s the single most important attribute you feel allows you to be a goal scorer

I think it definitely comes down to a few things but mainly not over thinking things and using your instinct.

Thanks Kirsten!

Kirsten Pearce, New Zealand Black Sticks #18

Kirsten was born in South Africa, and, with her family then lived in both New Zealand & Australia. She started playing hockey at the age of 7 in New Zealand, representing North Harbour prior to moving to Australia with her family. In Australia, Kirsten began playing in the Junior competition and progressed her way through the ranks at Club, State and National level. She has been a part of State and National squads including being a NSWIS scholarship holder and NSW AHL (Australian Hockey League) Arrows team member.  Kirsten was selected into the Australian under 21’s hockey squad. In addition to outdoor hockey, Kirsten was also chosen as an Australian Indoor Women’s World Cup squad member. In January 2015 she was given the opportunity to attend a Super Camp in Auckland with the NZ National Team and was selected into the NZ Black Sticks 2015 squad. Kirsten debuted for the Black Sticks in February 2015 against Canada. She has now accumulated 42 caps for the Black Sticks and we envisage many more to come.

A big Thank You to Kirsten for her help. To follow her on the Road to RIO follow @kirst_pearce18 on Instagram, /kirstpearce18 on Facebook, and at EDGE Hockey


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2 Responses

It fan
It fan

August 17, 2016

When did u start hockey??? It the best hockey player I know !!!!

Renee
Renee

August 01, 2016

I love you black sticks!!!!!!❤️??❣?????

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