HOCKEY NZ host Annual Awards Dinner

The Ibis Hotel in Auckland played host to the Annual Hockey Awards Dinner on Friday, April 26. This event  recognised the amazing achievements of our hockey community in the 2018 calendar year.

The evening saw members of the 1984 Olympic hockey men and women’s teams come together to celebrate 35 years since they competed in Los Angeles, USA. That year also was the first time that women competed at the Olympic Games in hockey and was the first time that our men had competed at the Olympic Games since their Gold Medal win in 1976. A highlight of the evening featured a few members of the teams sharing stories from their time at the Olympic Games and that era.

Stacey Michelsen and Hugo Inglis take home the player of the year awards for their respective teams, while several hard working members of the hockey community around New Zealand received community awards (see below for a full list of award winners).

Michael Paardekooper was awarded the Pakistan Trophy which is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the administration of hockey in the previous 12 months. Michael’s wife Gai Paardekooper and daughter Aimee Paardekooper accepted the award on his behalf. In 2018 Michael managed to secure $25,000 in sponsorship packages which helped run a successful Black Sticks Tri Nations Tournament in May of 2018.

The Hockey Nelson Board wishes to congratulate Jamie Brown on his achievement in being recognised in the Hockey New Zealand Community Awards for his outstanding contribution to coaching.  This is testimony to all the time and energy that Jamie puts in to his coaching activities and also to the commitment and care that he shows to the players and parents that he comes into contact with. Well done, Jamie.

The Board are pleased that Operations Manager, Fabian Amor was also recognised in the Awards, being selected as one of three finalists in the Administrator of the Year category.  The award went to Jade Bosman of North Harbour Hockey Association but being named as a finalist is a significant achievement and a reflection of the hard work that Fabian and his staff have put into hockey administration over the last 18 months to 2 years.  We all benefit from the great work (often behind the scenes) that goes into organising, planning and delivering programmes, developing initiatives and securing funding.  Well done, Fabian.

Cheers

Heather Bryant-(NHA Chair)