Click photo to enlarge
Regan Wilson made the national under-18 and under-20 ice
hockey sides after impressing in the Dunedin Thunder this
year. Photo by Jane Dawber.
Without all the pads, Regan Wilson does not look much
like an ice hockey player.
But the diminutive 16-year-old Kings High School pupil makes
up for a lack of size with speed and skill.
At just 1.7m tall and weighing 61kg, the defender has to be
quick.
He first picked up an ice hockey stick five years ago and has
not looked back.
This season he played for the Dunedin Thunder in the national
ice hockey league and, amazingly, was not the youngest member
of what was an inexperienced line-up.
"I played a lot because we didn't have the best side, I
guess," he said.
"And they are trying to develop the younger players for the
future."
The Thunder did not have much joy, winning just one of its 16
matches, but Regan impressed the national selectors, making
both the under-18 and under-20 national sides.
Earlier in the year, he went to Taiwan with the under-18 team
and helped his side win a silver medal at the division three
world championships.
He has been picked in the under-18 side that will try to go
one better in Mexico in March, and has been named in the
under-20 side that will contest the division two world
championships in Istanbul.
That side leaves New Zealand on Boxing Day for Prague, to
prepare for the tournament.
Regan trains most days during the NIHL season.
In the off season he goes to the gym three times a week and
trains on the ice rink twice a week.
He would like to make the Ice Blacks and perhaps win a
scholarship to play in Canada.
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