Hockey works for Nen

VINZEALHAR Nen is a full time cabin crewmember for PNG Air, but despite the demands of the job, she has also has the drive and commitment to represent Papua New Guinea in hockey.
“Hockey has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Nen said.
“I began representing Port Moresby when I was 13. I first represented PNG as a 16 year-old at the Oceania Pacific Cup in Fiji.”
When Nen was employed as a PNG Air cabin crew life became even more hectic, with days often starting at 3am for early morning flights or ending well into the evening with late afternoon flights, training and recovery for hockey was hard — and that was without mentioning the times she had to overnight at ports outside Port Moresby, which meant missing training altogether.
“All through school, I had to balance hockey and studies and that’s taught me to balance work and hockey now,” Nen said.
Nen acknowledged she had been blessed to be surrounded by people who believe in her and support her dream to continue playing hockey at the highest level.
Among the people she was grateful to include coach Andrew Potuan, who encouraged her to make the national hockey team and to pursue her career.
Nen said coach Potuan would say: “You go big or you go home”, meaning she had to aim high and look to do better than her results from the day before.
Every day was a chance to improve and do better.
“At the beginning of 2017, those of us vying for the national team really picked up our training, with road runs, boxing at the gym, resistance training and HIIT drills, through my local team (MVP) or with my coach. “Due to time constraints I had, I trained more in my own time — even if that meant doing body weight exercises in my hotel room during a layover.
“I also made time for my hockey games for the local competitions in Port Moresby, no matter how tired I was,” Nen said.
In the mid August last year, Nen received word that she had made the national side to Sydney in October that year for the Oceania Cup, a Commonwealth Games qualifying tournament.
That meant a doubling in effort for Nen and an even sharper focus.
She committed herself to training, but never neglected her job in the process and truly learned the value of time management.
“Vinzealhar worked incredibly hard to balance two very demanding roles and at no stage did she drop her standard or display anything less than a very friendly and professional approach to the care and safety of her passengers,” PNG Air Cabin Services manager Diane Pook said.
“Everyone at PNG Air is incredibly proud of what she has achieved and she can hold her head high as an inspiration to young people in PNG as to what can be achieved with determination and the right attitude.”
During the tournament, the national team played the Australian Hockeyroos and the New Zealand Black Sticks, two of the best teams in the world.
Although they did not win, it was a great experience for the PNG team.
“A year on from the tournament and I have learned a lot about commitment to my sport as well as about managing work, sport and the rest of my life. I still play for the MVP hockey club and work full-time for PNG Air.
“One thing I realised when I achieved my goal of making the national hockey team and of becoming a crew member is that you can achieve anything provided you put in the work.”