Profile:

Name: Kelly Madsen
Date of Birth: 26/06/1989
Highest honour/achievements: SA Womens Hockey Side
Favourite food: Roast chicken
Goals/ambitions: To win medals at major hockey tournaments
Sport Heroes: Wayne Madsen
Hobbies: Music and going to the beach.

Biography:

Mention the name Madsen in South Africa and two sports spring to mind - hockey and cricket. This three-generation dynasty has been the bedrock of Natal and South African hockey for around half a century, so it came as no surprise that Kelly Madsen would follow in the family footsteps and become the ninth Madsen to represent her country. Her determination is best reflected by an account of a tournament staged in Egypt, where the hosts did all they could to put the South Africans on the back foot. "From the very first day, the food we were given was of a very poor quality," says Kelly. " By the time the day of the final came, we were due to play Egypt and we knew some curve balls would be thrown our way. The time came to leave the hotel for the field and we all stood outside in the boiling heat, waiting for our bus to arrive - but it never came. The only way we could get to our match was in taxi's which proved to be very difficult as the taxi drivers could not speak a word of English. "We arrived at the field to the shocked faces of the Egyptions who were clearly not expecting to see us there but they had one more trick up their sleeves. In order to play hockey on an Astroturf the pitch needs to be watered, but the Egyptians did not just water the pitch, they flooded it making it impossible to play on. Luckily Egypt was very hot at that time of year and the pitch dried our fairly quickly and we went on to win the final and attend the World cup in Boston." And it is this determination that Kelly hopes will realise her goal of winning medals at major hockey tournaments around the world.