But it has not always been that way. The midfielder joined the Storm in 2000 as a sprightly 18-year-old and, ironically, used to joke with a 27-year-old team-mate she liked to call "Grandma".
Fate can be cruel.
But the fact Watson, a doctor at Dunedin Public Hospital, is the second-oldest player in the squad is a sad reflection on the state of southern hockey. The region has difficulty retaining and recruiting quality players.
The University of Otago's proximity ensures there is a group of young, promising players coming through. But it is a transient population, leaving the team in a constant state of rebuilding.
To bolster the ranks, Southern has had to rely heavily on the draft. But that has its drawbacks. Seven members of this year's 18-strong squad are based in a different region. Getting the full squad together for practice is not a realistic proposition.
It is not surprising then that the Storm went into the National Hockey League as firm underdogs. Its 0-6 drubbing at the hands of Canterbury during its opening match in Dunedin last weekend underlined how difficult it will be for the team to compete.
Watson, a former New Zealand under-18 triallist, is aware how tough it will be but remains confident the team will give a better account of itself during the rest of the campaign.
"We were hoping to do a lot better against Canterbury than we did," she said.
"I don't think it was as bad as the scoreline indicated. I do think we have a challenge ahead of us, though. But I think we've got quite a committed and balanced team. It just comes down to playing well on the day."
The remaining round-robin matches will all be played in Christchurch on September 19-26, with the finals on September 27.
Southern faces a tough weekend, with matches against Midlands on Saturday and Wellington on Sunday. But coach Mark Smithells is optimistic his side can cause the odd upset.
"In the Canterbury game we had two simple chances in the first 15 minutes and, if we had sunk those, it would have been a totally different game.
"If we can play as well as we did during the first 25 minutes [against Canterbury], we can beat any team. Last year, only one team dominated us and that was Auckland. Every other game was winnable."
Southern will target the likes of Midlands and Northland for wins and hope for an upset against the likes of Wellington.
Midlands, though, started its campaign brightly with a shock 2-0 win over pre-tournament favourite Auckland.
