Isobella Ng (Year 12, Taylor) first picked up a picked up a hockey stick at eight years old because her friend convinced her to try her hand at the sport.
She had previously tried football and netball but didn’t feel they were the right sport for her. She joined a Hockey club so she could join in with all her friends and her love from the sport grew from there.
Now in the Premiere First XI Girls Hockey team at King’s, and with the help of her coach she has picked up a “heap of new skills”.
“For example I now pull out in penalty corners, something I previously didn't do in teams as someone already knew how to do that.”
She says that because King’s has an extremely high quality turf to play on which is always open for students to use, she finds herself now spending more time turf practicing and learning new skills and tricks.
During summer, she plays summer hockey socially once a week and takes part in some “light” pre-season or strength and conditioning practice which can be one or two times a week.
During the peak season Isobella plays school, club and representative Hockey which works out to be two trainings on a Monday, three on a Tuesday, two on a Wednesday, a game on a Thursday, sometimes a game on Saturday and a game on Sunday!
Despite all the training requirements she says she has never considered giving up and still has time to play in a school band and complete her school work.
“I've definitely gone through patches where I've been absolutely physically and mentally exhausted from early mornings and late nights but I've gotten through them eventually and King’s has a great support system to help me manage those tough times,” says Isobella.
“Over the summer break I often can't wait to get back onto the turf and I am never sick of the sport.”
“King’s has been such a change from my previous school. I've found a whole lot of new challenges and opportunities. I’ve also met people who I wouldn't have got to know without moving schools and I've been pushed out of my comfort zone in order to achieve highly.”
Isobella Ng features in our 2017 “Find yourself at King’s” marketing campaign. Keep an eye out for Isobella’s billboard across Auckland, on ads on Facebook and in a variety of key publications.
