Hockey New Zealand – National Men and Women Master’s Hockey teams declared – Hockey Update
Hockey New Zealand has declared the National Master’s hockey teams after evaluating the powerful performances made by male and female hockey players in the recent Annual National Hockey Tournament that was held in the North Harbour Hockey Stadium in March.
Five National Men’s hockey team of over, 40, over 45, over 50, over 55 and over 60 will be playing the International Master’s Hockey Tournament in Singapore in October. Until now, four teams have been selected and announced whereas the over 60 Men’s team
have yet to be announced along with the team’s assigned coach.
The coaches for the respective teams are Devan Menon of over 40, Gene Coates-Reid of over 45 and 50 and Lee Munt of over 55 division team.
A total of five National Women’s hockey teams have been announced that are categorised with respect to age groups over 35, over 40, over 45, over 50 and over 55. These selected teams will be playing in a four test series against each other in the Gold Coast
in July.
The coaches chosen for the five teams are Gill Gemming of over 35, Shelly Hiha of over 40, Nicky Sherriff for over 45, Helen Colenso for over 50 and 55 division teams. The substitutes announced for each team shall not be travelling unless called for.
Graham Jackson, Hockey New Zealand Master’s supervisor said, “There is a strong international calendar for masters hockey and New Zealand has a good history of performing well at these events.”
From February 27 to March 7, there were 66 provincial teams that participated in the Annual National Master’s Hockey Tournament with Canterbury dominating.
After the February 22 earthquake catastrophe, it was not certain whether the Canterbury team would take part in the tournament. However, the right-time entry of substitute players who voluntarily came up to play helped up and won the Women’s 35, Women’s
40, Canterbury Men’s 60 division and another team of joint Canterbury-Southern players were triumphant in the Men’s 55 division. The substitutes played brilliantly and helped Canterbury right when they needed it the most.
Jackson commented regarding the event and said, “It was a very successful event. The tournament has become one of the biggest master’s sports events in the country. The regions take the competitions seriously and there is some good rivalry between teams.”
According to the event’s schedule, it is expected that the next National Master’s Tournament will be held in March, next year. It will be interesting to see how well some of these teams fair during the next tournament. Hockey New Zealand is taking a pro-active
approach towards supporting hockey throughout the country and holding regional tournaments regularly.
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