FEATURE
STORY BY KAT PICKFORD
Fit for Life
A passion for health and fitness and making exercise a priority is how
Marlborough hockey stalwart Jo Jones stays at the top of her game.
As the busy 41-year-old mother of
three prepares to compete in the 2018
Hockey Masters World Cup in Spain
next month, she takes some time out
of her busy schedule to reflect on a
lifetime of playing the sport.
Jo first picked up a hockey stick at
primary school in Canterbury, never
dreaming that one day it would
become a big part of her life. She
continued playing the sport “just for
fun” and to escape the hostel she
boarded at while attending Christchurch
Girls’ High School.
After finishing high school, she picked
up club hockey in Christchurch for a
while, before putting it on hold to go
travelling.
It wasn’t until she moved to the
Awatere Valley in Marlborough in 2001
and began playing club hockey that she
started to take the game seriously.
She’s had a year off playing here and
there with the birth of each of her
children - now aged 14, 11 and 7 - but
apart from that, has played premier club
hockey and represented Marlborough
ever since moving to the region.
“You can take club hockey as seriously
as you like; some people play purely
for the social aspect of it and while
that has always been a big drawcard
for me, the teams I’ve played for in
Marlborough have always been
pretty competitive,” says Jo.
Five years ago Jo started playing Masters
hockey with her sister for Canterbury
and when Nelson formed a Masters
team, she jumped at the chance to play
closer to home.
While club hockey is played during
winter, Masters hockey is played in the
off-season, giving the indomitable half
an opportunity to improve her fitness
and her game.
“I love playing club hockey
in winter, but I’ve found
Masters really enjoyable
because we’re all the same
age and tend to have a lot
in common.”
weather is not a chore - “exercise is
something I can’t live without”, she says.
“For me, I need to exercise. If I don’t
exercise, I’m not happy.”
“Exercise is
something I can’t
live without,”
says Jo.
Since taking it up five years ago,
Jo has been selected to represent
New Zealand in the international
Masters competition three times.
When she runs on the pitch to play
in Spain next month, it will be as Vice
Captain of the New Zealand Women’s
40-45 Masters Team.
“It was such an honour to be chosen - I
don’t see myself as being a captain, but
I guess having competed internationally
twice before, my experience will come
in handy,” she says.
The Nelson Masters team meet for
training once a week, but with the
national team spread around the
country, she’s had to take training into
her own hands.
“You have to be pretty self-disciplined;
you know what’s expected of you,
you’ve got to be fit - we’re all in the
same boat with families and busy lives.”
Teams play a game a day for a week
in the gruelling Masters World Cup,
so players’ fitness has to be of a high
standard.
But for Jo, strapping on the running
shoes and heading out for a run in all
“It was a struggle to find
the time and energy to fit in
physical activity when the
children were younger, but
having supportive friends and
family and reliable babysitters
helped,” she says.
It’s all about making a plan and
making exercise a priority. “My
husband, Andrew, is great - he’ll hold
the fort while I get out and about.
He likes to exercise too, so we make
sure we both get time. Now the kids
are older it’s getting easier. We’re
feeling like we’ve reached the point
where there’s some light at the end
of the tunnel,” she says.
At the end of last winter, Jo ruptured
an Achilles tendon, which was a bit of
a worry for her going through selection
for the World Cup Team, she says.
“I’m still recovering from that, and it
was touch-and-go whether I’d even put
my name in the hat for contention, but
I came back and proved I can still run
around and play hockey. It’s a niggle
at the back of my mind, but I have to
put it aside and concentrate on the
competition.”
Between work, training, family life and
planning for her trip abroad, there’s no
time for nerves, she says.
“I’m looking forward to it; it’s going to
be an amazing experience.”
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