A host of Queenstowners have earned national ice hockey honours.
Four members of the resort’s Wakatipu Wild women’s team have been named in the Ice Fernz, New Zealand’s senior women’s national team.
They are defencewomen Caitlin Hollyer and Kimberley Helmersson and forwards Gabby Mills and Tallulah Bryant, while Aoife Orr and Jordan Wichman have also been named as reserves.
The women will compete in the IIHF Division 2, Group B tournament, being held in Istanbul, Turkey, from April 1 to 7.
And five SkyCity Stampede players — defencemen Lachlan Boniface and Ollie Ruski-Jones, forwards Joel Paterson and Will Speakman, and goalie Jake Thompson — have been selected for the NZ under-18 men’s team to compete in the IIHF Division 3, Group A tournament, also being held in Istanbul, from March 4 to 10.
Meantime, Orr, Gracie Helmrich, Lucy Boniface, Inge Kemp, Jessie Strain, Manuella Pedrosa and Polly Bennetts, all Wild players named in the NZ U18 women’s team, jet off to Sofia, Bulgaria, on New Year’s Eve to play in the IIHF Division 2, Group B tournament, being held from January 8 to 14, while young Stampede players Logan Campbell and Joel Gerard will leave later in the month to play for the NZ U20 men’s team in the IIHF Division 3, Group A tournament, at the same venue, from January 22 to 28.
