A Spotlight on Lucia and Dennis After many years of dedication, hard work and determination, 2020 was the year to send Year 13 students Lucia Doak and Dennis Yang out on a high. Both had slightly different agendas for finishing their school Water Polo careers; however, both have had a huge impact on the sport at Kristin as well as on fellow players in general.
LU C I A D O A K Celebrating more than five extraordinary years with Kristin School is Lucia Doak, the current captain and inspirational leader of a very young Premier Girls' team. Under the guidance of top coach Ricky Thomson, in 2019 the girls finished an outstanding 3rd at the New Zealand Secondary School Championships. With the Senior players moving on, and the team consisting of over half Junior students, it was always going to be a challenging year for Lucia. However, she calmly took it all in her stride. Junior player Una Dennehy had the following to say: Having Lucia lead our team this year was an experience our team were very privileged to have. Despite losing significant parts of our team from the previous season, Lucia stayed positive throughout every game, win or lose. She is an extremely kind person and a talented Water Polo player, a perfect combination for leadership. Treating everyone with respect, many, if not all our team members look up to her. Having many new younger players in our squad, Lucia took it upon herself to mentor and guide them, along with Ricky. She and the other Seniors created a team environment (in and out of the pool) that is extremely positive and encouraging and I know it will last for years to come. Lucia’s list of achievements is exhaustive! Starting at Kristin in Year 7, Lucia was MVP for her team and named in the tournament team for North Harbour U12A team. This set the trend for the following years. In Year 8, Lucia was also playing in the Juniors and a Senior team. In Year 8 and Year 9 Lucia played in the U14A team for North Harbour, winning gold in the Auckland and New Zealand leagues with her team. The Junior Girls' team for school won Gold at the Challenger Cup, North Islands and New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships. The first year Lucia was named in an NZ squad was 2016.
2017 Kristin School Junior A team Premier Girls' team (4th at New Zealand Secondary Schools Championship)
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North Harbour Water Polo Club U16A (2nd in Auckland league, 1st at Nationals) U18A (Bronze at Auckland league and Nationals) New Zealand Representative Born 2000 National Squad 2018 Kristin School Premier Girls' (3rd in College Sport Auckland league, 3rd at North Islands, 4th at Nationals) North Harbour Water Polo Club U16A (1st in Auckland league, 5th at Nationals) U18A (Silver at Auckland league, 1st at Pan Pacific Youth Water Polo Festival, 1st at Nationals) Senior Women (2nd in Auckland league, 1st at Nationals) New Zealand Representative NZ Senior Women’s Development team NZ Women Born 2000/U18 team for World Youth Cup NZ Secondary School Girls' team NZ Women Born 1999 Junior squad for World Juniors 2019 Kristin School Premier Girls' (3rd in College Sport Auckland league, 6th at North Islands, 3rd at Nationals) North Harbour Water Polo Club U18A (Gold at Nationals) U21A (Gold at Nationals) Senior Women (Gold at Nationals) New Zealand Representative NZ Women Born 1999 Junior team for World Juniors NZ Women Born 2002 Youth squad NZ Secondary School Girls' team (Captain) And to cap that off, in 2020 Lucia was selected once again in the NZ Women Born 2002 Youth squad for the World Champs and named as the non-travelling reserve in the NZ Senior Women’s team for Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying. Unfortunately with COVID-19 restrictions many of these tournaments have been suspended.
