Meet Charlotte Harrison, NZ's latest hockey hottie

ROBYN EDIE/Southland Times

HANDLE ON IT: Mandy Smith's look-alike Charlotte Harrison tries to control the ball during yesterday's match against Samoa in Invercargill. Harrison scored two goals in New Zealand's 17-nil rout.

Charlotte Harrison has all the ingredients to be New Zealand hockey's next Mandy Smith.

She's a quick, agile, blonde bombshell with a thunderous strike that sends shivers up the spine of opposition goalies.

Three years ago, Harrison became the youngest player to suit up for the Black Sticks women's hockey team when she made her debut against Australia, while she was only 16 years and at Whangarei Girls' High School. Last year, however, she learnt the harsh lessons of life at the top in sport when she missed out on New Zealand's squad for the Beijing Olympics.

Harrison said she was gutted not to be included. "I was pretty disappointed. I trained really hard for it. It was quite tough when they said 'you're not going'."

The confident 19-year-old refused to let the news get her down and headed to Belgium to play for first- division side Braxgata, along with her Northland team-mate Rhonda Rowsell. She said the break had done her a world of good.

"It was good fun just to get out of it and go travelling. I had an awesome time. We finished mid-table and stayed in the top division."

Harrison's spell in Belgium has obviously been a good thing. She shone for the Black Sticks in their recent series against China and Argentina, and has been a constant menace for New Zealand up front in their Oceania Cup games against Australia and Samoa this week in Invercargill scoring three goals.

Despite her age, Harrison already has 62 international caps to her name. She was part of New Zealand's squad when they stunned Australia in the Oceania Cup final in Buderim, Queensland, two years ago, and hopes to repeat the feat in tomorrow's final.

"It was awesome feeling over there when we did that. Hopefully we can do it again."

New Zealand got off to a horror start against the Hockeyroos in Wednesday's game, conceding two goals in the first four minutes. They eventually fought back, but lost 2-1. Harrison said her side could not afford that kind of meltdown in the final. "Our warmup was pretty slack. Everyone was a bit flat really. We want to focus on our warmup (tomorrow) so everyone is raring to go."

Harrison said growing up she modelled her game on former New Zealand women's star Mandy Smith. Her playing style shares many similarities to Smith's and the youngster admitted she got the Smith comparisons on a regular basis.

"I do get that a little bit. It's quite funny ... I've always liked Mandy Smith. She was one of my idols."

Harrison looks set to be a cornerstone of the New Zealand side for many years to come and could end up forming a long-term striking combination in the Black Sticks with her youngster sister Samantha. The younger Harrison was impressive in her Black Sticks debut earlier this year, but narrowly missed out on selection for the Oceania Cup.

- © Fairfax NZ News