Be the Inspiration: Sally Rutherford

Black Sticks goalkeeper Sally Rutherford doesnt have time to make a decision when a leather bullet is being fired at her from close range on a hockey turf.

Her reactions practised over and over until they become instinctive have to be lightning fast, when the ball is fired at her at over 100km per hour. And thats why Rutherford is one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

In a game when the ball is coming at you, you arent thinking; youre just reacting to the ball. You do your thinking before the ball is hit, says the 34-year-old Black Stick, who has a PhD in physiology and bioengineering.

With some of your best saves, you wonder how you pulled them off because you are just reacting to it.

In her long international career spanning 99 tests, Rutherford has trained her muscles to react to the ball in certain situations, so that when she is in the cauldron of competition, she doesnt have to think about her responses.

Like any training, you need to start really basic and break down the movement patterns. You need to repeat them over and over again to get your muscles to move correctly, she says. And you need to go back to basics every now and again to make sure your technique is sound. 

Shes also honed her hand-eye co-ordination as a New Zealand lacrosse player.

Voted the goalkeeper of the tournament at hockeys FIH World League Semifinal in Antwerp in July, Rutherford thrives on the extreme pressure which goes with her job.

I love the pressure of goalkeeping. Its a position where every moment is critical. You can spend 90 percent of a game standing around doing nothing, and then you have to save a shot in the dying minutes that makes you win 1-0.  So every moment counts, she says.

That was certainly true of New Zealands goalkeeper at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Trevor Manning, who saved a string of goals in the last 10 minutes of the final against Australia even with a broken kneecap to ensure the New Zealanders held on to a 1-0 victory and Olympic gold.

Sometimes, Rutherford admits, there is little that can be done to save a certain goal. But when the goal is saved and you win you know for a fact you have won that game for your team. So its a pretty cool position to be in, she says.

Communication from the goalkeeper is also a vital part of the game. From their vantage point, they can see the entire field and assess whats happening. You can see play developing; essentially you are the quarterback of the hockey team, Rutherford says. Your defenders need to have confidence in the goalkeeper calling plays behind them.

New Zealands reserve keeper at the 2012 London Olympics, Rutherford comes from a hockey-mad family. But she admits her father wasnt impressed when she first announced she going to play goalie, mainly because he had to buy all the gear.

Ive stuck with it because I love the game, she says.  Im trying really hard to be a role model. In the heat of the game you try to keep your emotions in check, because eyes are on you. You think about inspiring people to take up hockey or do something that they are passionate about on the field or off.

Seeing little kids, getting out there with hockey sticks, watching a game of hockey and being inspired by it, is really cool. Seeing their enthusiasm and drive to get better at it pushes you along too.