Transcript of the article written by Matt Markham published in Ashburton Guardian, 20 January, 2024
As his side reaches the business end of an international handball tournament on another continent, Mid Canterbury’s James Cochrane has mixed emotions.
Speaking to the Ashburton Guardian this week from Bahrain, where he’s captaining the New Zealand team in the Asian Handball Championships, the reigning Mid Canterbury Sportsperson of the Year knows the end is nigh.
He’s made the decision that this will be his last tour away with the national side and his return to New Zealand at the end of the month will mark the end of an international career that has sparked many incredible experiences and moments in the sport he loves.
“I’ve had an amazing career full of many opportunities, tours and experiences” the 36-year-old said.
“This will be my last tour. We have a bunch of youth players coming through. It feels like it’s my time to step away as a player.
“I have a beautiful family of three children under five and my wife Bex at home. She has always been so supportive of me in fulfilling my dreams, but for me it’s time to prioritise them more and spend so much more time with them.
“it’s not just the time away at tournaments, but the training and training camps away and build ups that take up many weekends throughout the year.
“I’m looking forward to that time with family.”
While new Zealand was yet to get a win on the board at the championships at the time of speaking to the guardian, Cochrane said the opportunity to once again lead his country was something he was very humbled by.
“I am very proud to lead this group of guys. We have worked hard and have ambitious goals, so anything I can do to motivate, lead or inspire I will do.
“Whether that’s through words or actions, I hope I can do what I can for this group.
“To many people in New Zealand, they don’t know handball, but to me it’s a massive, big part of my life and to play for New Zealand is such a privilege, especially in a sport that’s given me so much.”
The Asian championship is regarded for New Zealand as the Olympics of Handball and while the wins might not have come yet in this particular tournament, being there and taking on the professional players of the game, was a huge result for the sport.
“Every game we play we continue to develop and grow. The more we can do this the better it will be for us as a sport and the more competitive we’ll become at this level.
“Handball in New Zealand is a growing sport and the high-performance side of it is the strongest it has ever been. A cliché as it sounds, I want to leave the sport in a better position than when I found it and I feel like I will be achieving that.”
New Zealand have already played powerhouse handball countries like Iran, South Korea, China and Saudi Arabia and were set to play Hong Kong in the early hours of Saturday morning.
They’ll round out their tournament against Chinese Taipei on Monday morning and then play one other game against a yet to be determined side before heading home.
Matches aren’t televised but can be viewed and watched delayed through the New Zealand Handball website and on their social media channels.
“Our second half against Saudi Arabia was probably our second-best half of the tournament.
“We still let too many goals in, but if we can play to this level against some of the other nations, we’ll give ourselves a chance to tip up some teams.”
