Kayla Marie Whitelock (née Sharland, born 30 October 1985) is a New Zealand

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

player, and former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the

New Zealand women's national field hockey team The New Zealand women's national field hockey team is also known as the Black Sticks Women. The team's best performances include a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a third placing at the 201 ...

(the ''Black Sticks Women''). She has competed in four Olympic Games (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

), three Commonwealth Games (2006, 2010 and 2014) and two Hockey World Cups (2010 and 2014). She was named on the FIH's All-Star Team in 2010 and was Hockey New Zealand's player of the year in 2012.

Biography

Whitelock was born in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, and is of Rangitāne descent. She married

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

rugby player

George Whitelock George Braeden Whitelock (born 27 March 1986) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition and Canterbury in the Air New Zealand Cup. He played as a flanker. Biography George is the son ...

in December 2013. Whitelock took up hockey at the age of seven, as her school only played hockey, not her preferred sport, netball. In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, Whitelock was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to hockey.

International senior competitions

* 2003 – Champions Challenge, Catania. * 2004 – Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Auckland. * 2004 –

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, Athens. * 2004 – Champions Trophy, Rosario. * 2005 – Champions Challenge, Virginia Beach. * 2006 –

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, Melbourne * 2006 – World Cup Qualifier, Rome * 2008 –

, Beijing

References

External links

* 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Palmerston North New Zealand female field hockey players New Zealand Māori sportspeople Olympic field hockey players for New Zealand Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rangitāne people Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Dalzell-Whitelock family Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-fieldhockey-bio-stub