HNZ-ASSOCIATION NEWS
| AN UPDATE FOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATIONS |
| This weeks’ Association Newsletter includes details around the Premier Hockey League as well as an exciting Black Sticks Alumni event which is coming up. |
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| PREMIER HOCKEY LEAGUE TO GET UNDERWAY NEXT MONTH |
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| Our top men’s and women’s hockey players will feature in a new Premier Hockey League launching next month. The eight-team (four men and four women), 28-match competition will double as a selection event for the Vantage Black Sticks as they rebuild towards next year’s postponed FIH Pro League and the Tokyo Olympics. The inaugural league will be held at the new purpose-built National Hockey Centre in Albany, Auckland and matches will be free to attend. The league will run from August 20-23 and September 9-13 for the men, and August 27-30 and September 17-20 for the women. More details around the format and squads for this tournament will be released in the coming weeks, please make sure when information comes out that you continue to share this with your community. |
| CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY |
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| PREMIER HOCKEY LEAGUE MVP TROPHY NAMING |
| The Premier Hockey League is coming around fast, Hockey New Zealand is excited at how the new League is shaping up and what it will mean to our sport. We are looking at naming the MVP Trophies for this competition after two former Vantage Black Sticks who have lived the following values during and post their playing careers. Could we please request that you have a look at the information and if you think of anyone that would be worthy of having the trophy named after them then please let us know by clicking the link below. Hockey Whanau – Thinking about Black Sticks who have given back to their community during and after their playing career. Enjoyment – Black Sticks who played with passion for their country and approached all matches they played with a positive attitude and always contributed on and off the pitch for their team. Integrity – Black Sticks who held themselves with distinction on the turf, they held themselves to a high standard towards teammates, opposition and officials. Excellence – Black Sticks players who were world-class and performed to an incredibly high standard whenever they played for the National Side. Inclusive – Black Sticks players who went beyond off the turf and gave back to their community and in other areas of society. They showed great leadership in the team and helped develop the side. We will be closing this off on Wednesday, July 22nd so we are requesting a quick turn on this. |
| CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE A FORMER PLAYER |
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| HOCKEY NEW ZEALAND CEO TO STEP DOWN |
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| Following a decade involvement with Hockey New Zealand, current CEO Ian Francis has announced that now is the right time for him to step down and allow someone else to come into the role and lead the sport into its next phase. Hockey NZ Chair Mike Bignell said with community hockey now back up and running, and with the international game in a COVID-enforced break, it was the right time to transition to a new leader. “Hockey has an incredibly busy two years ahead. At the community level, we are working with associations to introduce more competition opportunities. We are also increasing the depth of our high-performance playing pool through the development of 100 athletes outside our national squads. |
| CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY |
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| HOCKEY NEW ZEALAND IS AFTER YOUR COMMUNITIES FEEDBACK |
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| Hockey New Zealand is currently undertaking research amongst our community and trying to find out how engaged our community is with the Vantage Black Sticks teams. This research is essential for us as we aim to grow our sport across the country and deliver quality international matches. Could we please request you share the below link with your community and clubs and ask for them to get your participants to provide us this important information. |
| CLICK HERE FOR THE SURVEY LINK |
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| BLACK STICKS ALUMNI SAVE THE DATE |
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| Hockey New Zealand will be holding their first Black Sticks Alumni Event during the Men’s Finals Day on Sunday the 13th September. We will be providing further information around this event at a later date. We would love for all former Vantage Black Sticks players to join us for this event. Please share this with any former players who may not be on our distribution list. |
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| WAIKATO HOCKEY GETTING CREATIVE IN THE DEVELOPMENT SPACE |
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| With the cancellation of Representative Hockey in 2020, Waikato is looking at several different ways to keep there U13 and U15 participants engaged and providing them with some amazing participation opportunities that will help their development as well as grow their love of the game. When Midlands Hockey finished up at the end of the 2019 season, Waikato Hockey was lucky enough to bring on one of their staff as the new Development Manager for the region in Reiner Vellinga. |
| CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY AND IMAGES |
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| NORTH HARBOUR HOCKEY – OFFICIALS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER |
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| North Harbour Hockey Association (NHHA) is the second largest Hockey Association in New Zealand with some 4300 winter season and 2000 summer players drawn from both urban and rural areas. Our catchment area extends from Devonport to beyond Warkworth in the north, over to Massey and through to Helensville in the west. The Association manages hockey competitions and programmes for players from 5 to 65+ years old for Clubs, Schools, Social and Representative Teams. NHHA is viewed as one of the leading Hockey Associations in New Zealand. We are committed to excellent customer service and delivering great experiences through hockey. Our Officials are a key stakeholder group in our Harbour Whanau. In 2016 NHHA invested resource into this space through our Volunteer Development Officer with positive return. On the back of this, we are committed to continued investment into our Officials through the creation of a part time Officials Development Officer role (20 hours a week). NHHA aim’s to grow the number of Officials in our community, through positive experiences and strong connections with our Umpire and Official Division. We are on the lookout for an enthusiastic person committed to leading, managing and delivering programmes and initiatives to support the education and development of our Officials. |
| CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AROUND THIS POSITION |
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| Upcoming Key Dates |
| Community Events Aug 31 – Sep 4 – Secondary Schools Tournaments High Performance Aug 20 – 23 – Men’s Premier Hockey League Aug 27 – 30 – Women’s Premier Hockey League Sep 9 – 13 – Men’s Premier Hockey League Sep 16 – 20 – Women’s Premier Hockey League |
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| Current Situations Vacant |
| VACANCIES |
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