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New Zealand

where is she nowPat Berwick

Olympic

In his final story written for the locker room, the late David Leggatt told former Black Sticks captain and coach Pat Berwick.

Pat Berwick claims to New Zealand sporting fame that there are few captains of the country’s code.

Since his first international hockey appearance in 1971, Berwick was New Zealand’s captain, a job he held until the last few games until retiring nine years later after the Moscow Olympics were boycotted.

I would be happy to detail the exact number of international players Berwick has played for. Sadly, hockey his New Zealand lacks detailed records over the past 25 years. But Berwick suspects she was racking up caps competing internationally until her mid-90s. “Honestly, I’m not a statistician.”

Being captain of the national team on debut is very rare. Berwick, who was awarded his MNZM in 2013 and this year’s prestigious Pakistani Trophy for his excellent service to hockey, has spoken about how and why he got the skipper job from the start. I have one theory.

“I’m 24 and I’ve only captained a New Zealand university team once. I’ve played centre-half or a bit right-half, but personally I think it’s mostly positioning.” she says.

“You get the chance to be in the middle of the pitch and talk to everyone. Maybe you showed leadership skills or maybe you were just intimidating,” Berwick laughs.

But perhaps there’s another factor worth putting in the mix.

Pat Berwick was made a member of the NZ Order of Merit by then-Governor Sir Jerry Mateparae. Photo: Government House.

Berwick was born and raised on a family farm in Brunswick, 11km northwest of Whanganui. She was one of her six siblings and, as she says, her children were all expected to work together and be self-sufficient to some extent.

Also, it seems that it was a lifestyle like “roll up your sleeves and get it done”. please do not worry.

“You were expected to work on the farm, so our parents let us do it and trusted us to be responsible,” Berwick said. increase.

“I liked people and enjoyed working with them. After I started teaching PE, I was quite used to running around with people in a sports environment.

“Maybe I was lucky to have a personality that suits a lot of people.

There are 32 children at Brunswick School, where Berwick first learned tennis and netball.

“I had never seen hockey until I went to see an Indian game at Cook’s Gardens in Wanganui with my dad,” she says. On that day in 1955, the Indians her Wanderers beat Wanganui her 12-2.

“We were lucky to be athletic kids. There were many PE games and activities that helped develop body, agility, balance and coordination. I rode my pony to school and did gymnastics on the lawn. There were no inter-school or club games, only one day during the winter and summer sports festivals where we played against schools from other countries.”

One of the few grainy photos of Pat Berwick running to defend a penalty corner is from her playing days. Photo: We deliver.

Berwick was a freshman at Whanganui Girls’ College and played netball, but had a friend who played hockey. She tried it in a late-season game, which she found difficult at first because she was left-handed.

“I didn’t know where I was going, but when I got home from running around, I think I commented that it was much more fun because I could run anywhere.”

Progress was rapid and Barwick was in the Wanganui Senior National Team by Form Six (Year 12). After that she went to Otago for 3 years to get her university diploma in physical education (when she made her NZ university team).

From there he made his way to Hawke’s Bay, where he took his first teaching position at William Corenzo College and took another important step in hockey.

She met hockey legend Tom Tervitt, who was a Hawke’s Bay coach. Sounding like an innovator, Tervitt was the first coach Berwick incorporated cardio training into.

“He was the first to incorporate fitness as an important aspect of women’s hockey in New Zealand. she says.

After four years in Hawke’s Bay, she moved to Christchurch in 1971 and has remained there ever since. “She ended up with one red and black eye,” she laughs.

It was her first year with the New Zealand team.

The New Zealand team and Pat Berwick (second from right) on their way to the 1973 IFWHA World Cup in Amsterdam. Photo: TheNZTeam.com

It was an era of long overseas tours, and New Zealand was the perfect team for a first-class international team. It’s strange to think about it now, but Berwick hadn’t lost until the last year… either to Holland or Australia – now among the powerhouses of the women’s game.

That says something about the strength of the New Zealand game at the time. “We’ve been in the top three for most of the decade,” says Barwick.

Her 1-0 win over England at Wembley in 1977 in front of more than 60,000 fans was without a doubt the playing highlight of her career.

The goal was scored by her best friend, Jenny Macdonald, who, along with the 1976 men’s Olympic champion, is the only individual hockey player still in the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.

‘The best player I’ve played with,’ Berwick reflects on McDonald, who took over as New Zealand captain after her. “Fantastic, very skilful and an absolute instinct for goalscoring. She always seemed to know where her goals were. She could play at any age and was a great player. Let’s go

The rock bottom of Berwick’s career was just around the corner. The uniform was in the cupboard, and plans were being made to leave in three weeks, gearing up for the 1980 Moscow Olympics…and a US-led Western boycott ensued over Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. .

“It was a pretty disappointing time. “We had a very good team,” she says.

A reunion of the NZ women’s hockey team, who failed to play in the boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics.Photo: NZOC/Getty

As it was revealed at a reunion organized by the New Zealand Olympic Committee a few years ago, Berwick has had a long run now.

“I can’t be bitter about it forever, and I certainly haven’t been, but I know a few people who have. I don’t think you can live with it for the rest of your life.” I did,” she says.

So Berwick retired and went straight to Canterbury coaching. Leading Canterbury to his fifth consecutive domestic title and his two Top 6 Championships.

After assisting Wayne Boyd as a national coaching assistant in leading the New Zealand team to a fourth-place finish in the 1986 World Cup, he became head coach in 1987, a role he held for five years.

The transition from New Zealand player and captain to coach was easier than she expected. Boyd’s guidance was helpful. In addition, Barwick says, “My background experience and teaching physical education gave me the confidence to coach at that level.”

Berwick experienced another Olympic disappointment when the FIH did not invite New Zealand to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

She took the New Zealand team to the 1990 World Cup where they finished 7th and then qualified for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Black’s sticks had high hopes for her medal win at Barcelona, ​​as she finished second in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in her home Auckland.

However, the New Zealand team was underprepared, and while the rest of the world played many lead-up matches, the Kiwis fell behind. We realized we weren’t doing it,” says Berwick. They didn’t win the game and finished 8 out of 8.

“It was a nightmare heat.

Black Sticks coach Pat Berwick on the cover of Coaching Magazine in 1992. Photo: TheNZTeam.com

Berwick walked away after Barcelona. “It was a big responsibility, and I had to quit teaching at Papanui High School because of it,” she says.

When she started working in New Zealand, she had two full-time jobs (only one was paid, of course). Almost every weekend she traveled to keep in touch with the players. “I loved it, but it was a whole other world back then.”

Hockey—and coaching—never let go of her grip on her.

When she was awarded the prestigious Pakistan Trophy this year, her certificate read:

Berwick, working with Hockey NZ’s Canterbury and her club Carlton Redcliffes, continues to attract more young coaches and thus players. She enjoys working with her Sport NZ to develop new approaches to coaching through their Coach Developer programme.

“It’s about mentoring and helping people become better at being themselves. I like to see people grow as coaches instead of you becoming a clone of me,” he said. “And that goes for the entire Sports Code,” says Berwick.

“It’s my passion. The whole area of ​​coaching people and the psychology of interaction and leadership.”

Three Hawke’s Bay women who played and coached for the Black Sticks: (left to right) Pat Berwick, Shirley Eddy and Margaret Hiha. Photo: NZME.

After becoming the only female head coach of the entire New Zealand Olympic team in 1992, Berwick was a strong advocate for the development of female coaches, supporting women in Hockey NZ’s coaching program and also creating a national community coaching programme. I’ve been supporting you.

“I love being useful. I’m sort of retired, but I call it a restructuring,” says Berwick, now 75. She also enjoys spending her odd days in the garden. “I do what I can and want to do as much as I can, but I can’t say no.”

Looking back on what she enjoyed most about her career, it was meeting people she played with and coached with and talking about her fun on the team.

“They say they had a good time, but also a hard, competitive and challenging time. says, “That’s what makes me happy.”

* Respected sports journalist David Leggat nearly finished this article. he died suddenly in Italy last monthWith his exceptional note-taking, transcription and bullet point help, and the help of Pat Berwick, we were able to complete the story for him. We are grateful to the Leggat family for helping ensure the publication of

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/lockerroom/where-is-she-now-pat-barwick where is she nowPat Berwick

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