PADDLE FERNS PLAYER PROFILE...Julie Bolton #8.

Julie Bolton burst onto the scene in 2010 debuting for the Paddle Ferns at the World Champs in Milan. She joined her twin sister Erin Bolton to create a formidable force within the team. In 20

11 Julie was handed the honor of Captain. She has taken this role in her stride and led New Zealand to fourth place at the 2012 World Championships.

Julie, like both her sisters in the team, is one hell of a passionate and determined player. She is a danger on the 45 with a bullet of a shot and her defense is rock solid.

Julie lives in Palmerston North where she has just finished Uni. She's devoted her life to Polo for the past few months and is now looking to set herself up with a successful career, oh and more polo! Having qualified for the World Games in Colombia next year Julie already has her eyes focused on this goal. Bring on 2013! Shot Julie!

 

 

Day Five

The 2012 World Champs is done and dusted! We started the day with an epic game against GB. We gave it everything and sooo very nearly took them down. They were freaking out! Their coach even said after the Grand Final (which Germany beat GB 4-1) that they had had to use everything to beat us and they had nothing left in the tank for the final. Unfortunately we had also had to use everything in the tank to nearly take them down and meant that we lost to the Aussies in the Bronze medal playoff and came fourth. A disappointing result for a team that had come soooo far in the space of a few months. On the bright side we've qualified for the World Games which are in Colombia in early August next year. We're excited to see how our new team and grow and become stronger and stronger. Kia Kaha Kiwis. Thanks everyone for the awesome support! It meant a lot to all of us!

PADDLE FERNS PLAYER PROFILE...Olivia Spencer-Bower #6.

Liv, aka Georgie, first appeared in a silver fern in the NZ U18 team in a Trans Tasman battle in 2004, alongside fellow Paddle Ferns Emma Hubbard and Emma Matheson.

In 2006 she stepped it up and traveled with the Paddle Ferns to Amsterdam where they achieved NZ's best placing to date of silver. Since then, Liv has graduated to be one of the senior players, competing at Worlds in 2008 and 2010 as well as World Games in 2009.

Liv may be the size of a cat but has the heart and fight of a tiger. She is a force to be reckoned with on the inside on offense and holds up her side on defense with brute force and brilliant technique.

Her dedication to the Paddle Ferns and all things polo related is admirable and inspires her fellow Ferns. Her fitness, work ethic and attitude has been shown not only on the polo pitch but in the realm of multisport as well with regular appearances on the leadersboard at the Coast to Coast and other events.

Liv currently lives in shaky Christchurch and works as a graphic designer and photographer. It is thanks to Liv that our ferns page and blog are regularly updated.

Liv aspires to be the best that she can be in all aspects of her game and is looking forward to competing in her fourth World Championships and taking it all the way to the podium!

Go hard Liv!!!

 

 

Day Three

NEWS FLASH...the PADDLE FERNS are into the semis!!

We had an awesome game against the French in the morning beating them 3-2. Next up we had Germany. We started strongly leading 1-2 into the break. Unfortunately the wind was horrible and as we went into the second half we had to play into the wind and the Germans managed to pull past us and take a win. Going into the Italian game it was a must win game for us. The team spirit was immense and we won 3-2. Guaranteeing us a spot in the semis.

Today is a rest day. We've been cheering on the NZ U21 Mens and Women's teams. Both played France in their semis. Both took it to the opposition but unfortunately didn't quite make it. They both play off for Bronze this afternoon.

It's possible our semi will be screened live on the internet, if it is it will be on at 8.20pm NZ time.
Love from the Paddle Ferns

Day One

Yesterday was a great start to our world champs. We convincingly beat the USA 15-0 in what was a great team game. Everyone got a goal!

In the evening we had the opening ceremony. Our very own Paddle Fern Olivia Spencer-Bower was bestowed the honor of being the flag bearer. It was a cracker of a show with an incredible acrobatics/circus display! It finished with an outstanding fireworks show done to music!

Today we play Denmark at 12.30pm followed by Australia at 4.30pm. Our game against aus is being streamed live on the Internet. It will show at 2.30am NZ time.

Thanks for all your support!!!

Love the Paddle Ferns 

LIVE RESULTS AND VIDEO FEED

Visit this website for live results and video:
http://www.kayakpl.com/2012/POLO/

PADDLE FERNS PLAYER PROFILE...Emma Matheson #5.

Emma, aka Elmo, first debuted for NZ in the winning NZ U21 Team at the Oceania Champs in 2003. She then captained the NZ U18 team in a Trans Tasman battle in 2004, alongside fellow Paddle Ferns Emma Hubbard and Olivia Spencer-Bower. In 2005 she took some time off NZ rep teams while she focused on her study to become a lawyer. With that finally ticked off the list she came back to NZ rep polo debuting for the Paddle Ferns as Vice Captain at the 2011 Oceania Championships.

Emma is the beating heart of the Paddle Ferns. She's the one everyone loves! Her determined work ethic in defense and inside on offense is inspiring. She sure knows how to hold her own any where on the court. Emma's got the goods and more, and we can't wait to see her burst onto the scene at her first World Champs.

In Emma's spare time she is an environmental Lawyer in Wellington and Chairperson of the New Zealand Canoe Polo Assn. She loves Canoe Polo and can't wait to join the rest of the Paddle Ferns on the dias on Sunday!

 

 

Tomorrow's the big day

It all heats up tomorrow! The past two years of training has boiled down to this point!

Day One of the World Championships is upon us. The Paddle Ferns kick start the show with a game against the USA at 2.30pm. Following this game the Opening Ceremony will take place at 8pm. Thursday we play Denmark at 12.30pm and Australia at 4.30pm.

The team is amped and so ready to take on the rest of the world. Let the games begin!

Love the Paddle Ferns.

Poznan Poland

NEWS FLASH!....The team has arrived in Poland!

We all piled into the van early this morning and departed Berlin headed for Poznan, Poland. The team was really excited to visit a new country. Poland was a country that none of us had visited before, so it was completely new territory.

Crossing the border lots of cheers went up in the van! Arriving in Poznan we headed to the venue and unloaded the boats. The venue looks pretty awesome. We are all really excited about going for a paddle tomorrow to test out the courts.

Once we had all our boats unloaded into the sheds we headed into town to find our accommodation, which is about 5km from the venue. We are staying in apartments with two in each apartment. They're really nice and they have free wifi which is great for being able to keep in touch with you all.

This evening we headed out to the main town centre and found a nice restaurant for dinner. The food was very tasty and even better...the menu was in English!

Tomorrow we will take it easy and then cruise to the venue about midday. We will scrutineer our boats, get ourselves accredited and then go for a paddle on the pitches. The excitement is starting to build and the team is itching to get Worlds under way!

 The U21's boats came loose! Liv and Jordan style their own high vis!

 Trying to squeeze the vans in with the boats on...not going to happen!

 Taking the boats in and out of the carpark

 Unloading the boats at the Worlds Venue

Looking at the courts from the team sheds

 WORLD CHAMPS!!

 Sunset in Poznan while we have dinner in the main square

Nicks dinner! Looks YUM! Tasted even better!

PADDLE FERNS PLAYER PROFILE...Emma Hubbard #7.

Emma has finally returned to the Paddle Ferns after spending the past five years focusing on her career. She made her debut into the team in 2005 when she competed at the World Games in Germany. In 2006 she helped make New Zealand Canoe Polo history helping the Paddle Ferns win the country's first ever World Champs medal. Bringing home a Silver medal after a nail biting final against Germany.

Emma is a solid and experienced player. She forms the back bone of the Paddle Ferns defense and creates magic in the offense. Her awareness of the play on the court and her cool, calm and collected attitude on the water are some of her key attributes.

Emma is a full time Ambulance Officer with St John in Napier. She hopes to one day become an Intensive Care Paramedic. In her spare time Emma dreams of becoming a World Champion!

PADDLE FERNS PLAYER PROFILE...Erin Bolton #1.

Erin made her debut into the Paddle Ferns in 2009. Unfortunately due to health reasons right at the last minute she wasn't able to travel with the team to the World Games in Taiwan. However, she was back with a vengeance in 2010 at the World Championships when she made the rest of the world stop and pay attention blasting them out of the water with her speed. She brings a wealth of passion, versatility and leadership to the team.

Erin is a dynamic and versatile player who has helped lead the Palmerston North Valkyries to four National titles in the  National League Women's competition.

She is presently studying full time and working part time. Erin aspires to be a role model for people with Auto- Immune Diseases such as Type 1 Diabetes, which she deals with on a daily basis. She wants to prove that it can be no barrier to reaching the highest goals possible.
She's also looking forward to becoming a World Champion and singing the national anthem at the top of her voice on the dias.

Update

Sorry for the slow updates. We have been with out internet for some time now.

We had a mixed bag of results at Ghent, coming fourth in the Women's grade. After Ghent, we headed to Alkmaar in Holland where we spent a week training and exploring. This is the home town of Bart and Vreny Verkissen who spent some time in NZ a couple of years ago. It was awesome to have Bart around as he's won two World Champs Gold Medals and a World Games Gold Medal!

On the Wednesday Bart and Vrenny took our team and the U21 Women's team to Amsterdam for the day. It was Liv's Birthday so to make it interesting we visited a....what goes on tour, stays on tour ;). The day was also filled with eating dutch food, riding on tandem bikes, wandering through the red light district and some shopping!

On Friday we headed to Berlin. It took a significantly looong time as there was so much traffic, but we eventually arrived albeit a little later than we had expected! Today we followed our tour guide (aka Nick the coach) around Berlin looking at all the historical sights. It was incredible to see the Berlin Wall or what remains of it. A highlight for the team was standing in East and West Germany at the same time. We clocked up about 20km of walking in about 7 hours! Next time we might get bikes! ;) We finished the day off with a fantastic dinner at a turkish restaurant.

Everyone is starting to get really excited about worlds. We're going to pack up early tomorrow and head East for the 3.5 hour journey to our final destination.

We will aim to keep you updated each day as the Worlds begins!

Thanks for all your support!

Love from the Paddle Ferns