Olivia grew up in Waituna West, Manawatu. When her family moved to Hawke's Bay in Year 7, she picked up a hockey stick and, somewhere along the way, realised she was pretty good at it. Not because the path was easy. Because she put in the hard work and loved what she did.

When Olivia first walked through the doors of the athlete development programme, it wasn’t flashy. What it had was the right environment - people who understood high performance, a space that took training seriously, and a culture that expected you to show up. For a kid transitioning out of high school sport and into something bigger, that was everything.

“10 years ago it was a shed in the car park, and that's where my journey started.”

“It gave me that stepping stone to actually being in a high performance environment, which was really good for me, because that jump wasn't so big when I took on the next step in my career.”

That transition from promising junior to professional athlete is where a lot of young players get lost. Olivia didn't. She credits the facility's role in bridging that gap, giving her the physical foundation and the mindset to hold her own when she eventually moved to Auckland's high-performance environment.

The mental load of being in a high-performance environment young, the doubt, the comparison, the injuries, the sacrifices your family makes on your behalf, that's the part you don’t get prepared for enough.

“I was 17, moving to a big city, not knowing anyone, and moving into an adult environment, and that was something that I mentally, really struggled with - The good thing I had was actually talking about it.”

The journey of an athlete can be challenging. Olivia’s advice to young athletes is to build a good support network. Family. Friends. Like-minded athletes. A facility that understands your needs.

What serious athletes need, that doesn't always make it into the conversation is a home base that holds. Not just when you're performing well, but when you're rebuilding or you're finding your feet. When you need to do the boring, necessary, unglamorous training that international competition actually requires.

“It's not going to be easy, but I think if you stick with it and have confidence doing it – that’s a big thing”

For younger athletes in the region still figuring out whether they're good enough, she's straightforward: Have confidence in yourself even when you don't feel it. Surround yourself with good people and actually talk to them when things get hard. And enjoy it – “you've got to enjoy it. You've got to love it”.

Olivia and the Black Sticks will be ready for the World Cup this year. And somewhere in Hawke's Bay, there's probably a kid who has no idea yet that the same pathway is available to them – starting right here, if they want it to.

Article added: Thursday 16 April 2026