She’s joined in Istanbul, Turkey, by two other Wakatipu Wild players, Alexandra-based Isla Lawrence, 17, and Tayla Potter, 15, while Arrowtown’s Rebecca Dobson is chef de mission.
Turning 18 next Friday, Polly — who’s this year finishing two years of secondary schooling and ice hockey at Canada’s Fort Erie International Academy (FEIA) — admits she’s lucky to be squeezing in her fourth U18 worlds.
Her first, in 2023, were in Bulgaria where New Zealand finished fourth in Division 2 Group B.
"It was a bit of shock, I never expected to go that young."
Then, in ’24, where Polly was a leading points scorer, NZ won Group B gold, also in Bulgaria — the first time an NZ women’s ice hockey team had won gold in about 14 years.
As a result, NZ competed last January in the Division 2 Group A worlds, in Latvia, finishing second bottom and only just clinging on to that group.
"Obviously we didn’t do the greatest, but we know what we’re expecting this year, so we’re going to go into it with a bit of a better mindset, I would say."
Before heading to Canada in ’24, Polly says she knew worlds would be intense.
"But then I went to Canada and that’s just like every other week, so worlds doesn’t feel so demanding any more.
"This season we’ve played about 40 games and we’ve got 20 more — there’s weekends when we play five games so it’s quite physically demanding, but it’s worth it."
She says her strength is literally that — "I think I’m a very physical person because I spend a lot of time in the gym with the team".
"The physicality I can bring as a centre is quite helpful, especially if I’m in front of the net — a lot of the defence can’t push me away so I can stay in front and create more scoring opportunities."
As if her hockey’s not full-on enough, Polly also plays rugby for a Niagara Falls team.
After FEIA, she plans undertaking a four-year university degree in Canada or the United States, specialising in sports communications.
