New Zealand Star, Stacey Carr, retires from International Hockey
Stacey Carr, the star woman player of New Zealand, has announced her retirement from International hockey to fully concentrate on her professional career. The Kiwi player, who was born on April 06, 1984 in Christchurch, has had 127 international caps to
her credit.
She started playing hockey at the age of ten and made her international appearance for the Black Sticks in the Three-Nation tournament, held in Japan back in 2003.
Since then the Cantabrian player proved herself to be a rock-solid and precious midfielder in the Kiwi squad. She was part of the Black Sticks women team that contested many international fixtures, including 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament played in Auckland,
2004 Athens Summer Olympics, Rosario Champions Trophy in 2004, Champions Challenge held in Virginia Beach in 2005, 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, World Cup Qualifiers held in 2006 in Rome, Amstelveen Champions Trophy in 2006, Beijing Olympic Games in 2008,
World Cup and Commonwealth Games in 2010.
She was not part of the squad since the 2010 Commonwealth Games in which the Black Sticks lifted the first ever silver medal. After a comparatively long break, the Kiwi midfielder announced her retirement saying that it is right time to leave the sport and
pursue with a professional career.
While speaking to the media after announcing her retirement, the star player stated that she took the decision after a detailed consultation. It is worth mentioning here that Carr is working as an Administrator in Harvest Centre, Canterbury.
She is quite pleased after taking a break from hockey. She will don the colours for High School Old Boys and may be in the National Hockey League (NHL) representing Canterbury. She expressed her feeling saying, “I will really miss the international games
and playing at that competitive level. Also, the team environment and the people, you get to know everyone so well and I will miss being part of that.”
Commenting on team performance in the just-concluded Champions Trophy, the midfield was of the opinion that the Blacks Sticks showed an improved game and earned the record third position in the eight-nation tournament.
The lowest point of her international career was when she faced an injury back in 2007 and completely recovered it after two years. However, the participation in the Athens Olympics soon after her promotion in the national squad was a highest achievement
in her professional career. The second major success in her credit was first ever silver medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She will definitely feel please when put a look in the history of her professional career.
She also appraised the work of Mark Hager saying that his experiences and knowledge would definitely take the Black Sticks at the top. She also expressed gratifications for Chris Leslie, the Assistant Coach of New Zealand’s women, who trained her in the
beginning stages.
Mark Hager, the Chief Coach of the Black Sticks Women’s team while commenting on the announcement of Stacey Carr, stated that everyone will miss her. She would be remembered eternally for hard-nosed game approaches.
The trainer continued, “She is a gritty, determined player who is skilful in the midfield and hard to get the ball past. With the Black Sticks being a young side she added a lot of experience, and was especially supportive of the younger members in the team.”
In the concluding words, the 27-year-old Kiwi midfielder advised the youngsters to train hard so that it becomes difficult for the opponents to defeat you.
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