Vincent and Valerie Woodham, 13, of Tapanui, have their sights set on playing hockey professionally.
Vincent has already shown his potential by recently being selected to represent New Zealand.
‘‘[My goal of] starting low and then getting higher was getting into a New Zealand team, [and] I’ve done that.
‘‘It felt great ... Mum got this call from the assistant coach and told us, and I was excited,’’ he said.
Vincent and Valerie have been in more than 20 ice-based teams since putting on ice skating boots at the age of 2.
They started figure skating at the Alexandra IceInLine Skate Rink when they lived in Clyde.
By then, they were at the rink six days a week.
A year after starting playing, they moved to Tapanui.
Today, the Blue Mountain College students travel more than 600km a week for ice hockey.
They train in Dunedin at least twice a week, on those nights not getting home until 10.30pm.
They compete at weekends, too.
Vincent was picked for the New Zealand under-16 men’s team, which will compete in the domestic under-18 league in July and October.
When she was just 11 years old, Valerie was asked to play in the Dunedin Women’s Ice Hockey League, and won the top goalie trophy twice in a row.
This year, she trained with the Wakatipu Wild, a Queenstown women’s team.
Playing for New Zealand is in Valerie’s sights, but in the meantime, she wants to focus on being the best goalkeeper she can.
Vincent said he wanted to make a living from the sport and take his talent overseas.
‘‘I would like to get like a contract, so I get paid to do it.’’
Later this year, 20 players from Vincent’s under-16 men’s squad will be selected for the 2026 Pan-Pacific Tournament, in Queenstown, in October.
There is no women’s equivalent of the New Zealand under-16 team.
The twins’ mother, Rose Woodham, said ice hockey was teaching her children that the road to success was not always smooth.
‘‘With twins, you’ve always got to wait and take turns.
‘‘He’s the one that gets the glory and she’s the one that ... has the guts,’’ she said.
Between them, the pair have played for The Alexandra Flames, the Gore Grizzlies, the New Zealand Ice Hockey League’s Dunedin Thunder and the Penguins — which were part of the Southern Ice Hockey League and the Dunedin Women’s Ice Hockey League.
For these teams, they have participated in under-14, under-15, under-16 and under-18 mixed teams, for adult single-sex teams and in social leagues.
