French imports front for Thunder
Lea Milenkovic and Lea Mullender will always have a claim to a special piece of Dunedin Thunder history.
The French duo are the first international imports for the Thunder women's team in a new dawn for the national league club.
"We are so happy and so excited about that," Milenkovic said.
The Thunder clan have welcomed their newest forwards with open arms — and that kindness had struck home for the pair.
"We were not expecting that kindness, and people are so nice," Milenkovic said.
"The people in the club, and the girls, are very excited and welcoming," Mullender added.
They got their first taste of playing alongside their new team two weeks ago in two hard-fought games against the national women's league champions, the Auckland Steel.
But the Thunder are back home this weekend for a double-header against rivals Wakatipu Wild, and the imports are "so excited" about the chance to play on their new home ice.
Mullender, 32, has been playing ice hockey and inline hockey most of her life. She previously represented France in inline hockey in 2017 and played inline hockey in Argentina for seven years before focusing on the ice.
Milenkovic, 28, picked up a hockey stick later in life and started playing in a boys team at 17.
Back home, they both play for Cergy-Pontoise in the FFGH Feminin Elite, the national women's league, which involves about 16 teams split into two conferences.
There has long been a link between Dunedin and Cergy through former Dunedin Thunder men's coach Kevin Arrault.
He helped several men's players get the chance to play in France in the 2010s, and when the club reached out to Arrault — who previously coached Mullender and Milenkovic at Cergy — he was only too happy to help.
Mullender — who is Cergy's captain (Milenkovic is her assistant) — jumped at the chance to play abroad, and asked Milenkovic to join.
They compared the level of ice hockey in New Zealand as similar to that in France, and hoped they could help their new team-mates for the future.
"I think it's cool if we can bring our skills and try to [also aid] development of ... women's hockey in New Zealand," Mullender said.
"The Thunder is a young team.
"I think it's a nice opportunity to develop the team, but also the club, and try [to] help... girls to make them stars on the ice."
The pair have wasted no time getting familiar with their new surroundings after arriving in New Zealand three weeks ago.
They taken several walks through Mount Cargill, the Organ Pipes, the Pineapple Track, cycled to Port Chalmers and even saw sea lions at Sandfly Bay.
"Here it's so full of nature — it's amazing," Milenkovic said.
The Thunder play Wakatipu tomorrow at 5.45pm and on Sunday at 3.45pm.
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