She flew out yesterday, bound for Ontario, Canada, where she’ll spend the next two years finishing her secondary schooling — and playing hockey — at the Fort Erie International Academy (FEIA) — the first Kiwi to ever do so.
Polly, 16, who’s in her third season with the Wakatipu Wild women’s ice hockey team, and has represented the New Zealand under-18s for the past two years, including making history by bringing home a gold medal this year, says she’s "so excited" to get over there.
But it’ll be a different kettle of fish in Canada.
"They play so many games a season — week in, week out — compared to us playing here.
"We’ve just had, what, a six-week break between games.
"It’s going to be very intense."
The FEIA Falcon girls’ hockey programme just finished its second full season as a member of the US-based National Girls’ Hockey League, which comprises 42 teams across the States and Canada.
This past season they played 45 games, with a similar schedule this year, starting with their first game next Friday.
Along with training about four times a week, Polly will have to attend a weekly ‘hockey lab’, which includes video, strategy, motivation and philosophy, and strength and conditioning training every weekday.
Polly says she’s been looking at options to finish high school in North America for the past couple of years, and had reached out to "so many schools", before Fort Erie’s girls’ coach/recruiter Pete Montana contacted her last November, having been sent some footage of her playing.
After a Zoom chat, and her performance at this year’s U18 world champs, they offered her a place.
"It’s actually unreal — I still can’t believe it."
But, she says, were it not for Wild coach Colin McIntosh and his partner, captain Kellye Nelson, "I would not be doing this".
"They’re the only reason I’m still playing.
"[Colin] has just been such an incredible coach, helping me and pushing me — I can’t even explain it."
She’ll still be available to represent NZ, should she get the call-up, and plans to come back to Queenstown next June, during the Canadian summer break, where she’s hoping she can play a couple of games for the Wild.
- Meantime, the Wild, who lost against Auckland 4-2 and 3-0 at the weekend, play their first home games of the season this weekend against Canterbury — puck drop at the Queenstown Ice Arena’s 6.45pm tomorrow and 6.15pm Saturday; tickets are available via Eventfinda, or on the door.
