Ramesh Patel – Chief Executive
7 November 2008
This newsletter will be posted on the website as a regular feature and communicated to Associations electronically. The hockey community and others are free to view this newsletter here on the Hockey NZ website.
AGM 2008
The Hockey NZ AGM was held on Saturday 20th September 2008 in Christchurch.
The HNZ board met on 30 October 2008 to consider the recommendations and discussions from the AGM. The outcomes are as follows:
1. The National U16 Tournaments will remain Under 16 for the next twelve months. The board felt that another year would allow more time and consistency before all the effects were known. Following the 2009 tournament, Associations (with their AGM voting entitlement) will be asked to vote their preference for either U15 or U16.
2. The National U16 Premier Tournaments will be increased to 20 teams.
3. The National U16 Championship Tournaments will be restricted to 20 teams with ‘A’ teams given first preference.
4. The recommendation relating to National Masters Tournament venues was not supported by the meeting or the board. National Masters Tournaments will continue to be allocated in accordance with the Masters Council protocol for hosting.
5. Associations attending National Tournaments (excluding NHL) will be levied up to $100 per tournament to contribute to the provision of First Aid. Associations will be required to supply Hockey NZ with a quote for medical services for the event (prior to entries being called for) and teams will be invoiced accordingly with the entry fee. It will be assumed that if the host Association does not supply a quote for medical services prior to entries being called for, that the medical services will still be provided but it would be the host Association responsibility.
Associations hosting Secondary School Tournaments are required to provide First Aid Services and it will be their responsibility to charge each participating school up to $100 for medical services provided at the tournament.
Associations hosting NHL matches will be responsible for providing First Aid for the duration of their matches.
6. The National U21 Tournament will include rules which will allow players to be replaced in the case of serious injury. This will require the production of a medical certificate.
7. The Annual General Meeting will be held at a different time to the National Hockey League in 2009.
8. The recommendations in relation to regionalisation development and participation and how Hockey New Zealand intends to treat them will be provided after the next board meeting on 12 December 2008.
On Sunday 21 September a ‘Participation’ workshop was externally facilitated to look at ways to move the game forward. Associations were emailed the workshop notes on 29 September 2008. Further information on how Hockey New Zealand intends to deal with the findings from the workshop will be provided in due course.
The following Officers were elected and Awards presented were –
Hockey NZ President Hockey NZ Vice-Presidents
Noelene Stafford + Tauranga
Seddon Polglase* Waikato
Jenny Hair * Marlborough
Hockey NZ Board
Keith Binnie * Wellington
Sue Brewster + Auckland
Graham Child * Auckland
Catherine Drayton + Canterbury
Pam Elgar * Auckland
* Re-elected + New Appointment
Life Members
Jenny Hair (Marlborough)
Chris Maister (Canterbury)
Pakistan Trophy
Darrell Simpson (North Harbour)
Service Awards
Bronze Award – at least 15 years service, Gold Award – at least 25 years service
Janis Rae, Taranaki
Grant Chester, Auckland
Trish Redwood, Marlborough
Rick Child ,Auckland
Victor Conroy, Counties Manukau
Silver Award – at least 20 years service
Daryl Edgecombe, Taranaki
Caroline Bigham, Tauranga
Sheryl Law, Auckland
Alan Galletly, Tauranga
Chris Lock, Nelson
Denise Lloyd, Marlborough
William (Bill) Lynn, Canterbury
Richard Munt, Canterbury
Don Macfarlane, South Canterbury
Noelene Stafford, Tauranga
Vinod Patel, Auckland
Bill Webb, Tauranga
Bev Savage, Canterbury
Darrell Simpson, North Harbour
Julia Unka, Auckland
Mahendra Unka, Auckland
Fixed Affiliation Fees
The Board of Hockey New Zealand have agreed that it will recommend at the 2009 AGM that the Affiliation Fees remain fixed for an initial period of three (3) years but increased by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) annually. That is, the 2009 Affiliation Fees will remain in force in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and only be increased by CPI each year. Associations experiencing increases in player numbers over this period will benefit most.
Associations experiencing big decreases (10% or more) over this time may apply for dispensation to Hockey New Zealand to revert back to the previous system of charges for that year. Associations will be encouraged to capture Affiliation Fees from players all year round. Hockey NZ will still require playing numbers to be recorded and provided annually.
Business Modelling Project
This project has been put on hold at the present time.
LTCCP (Long Term Council Community Plan)
This project seeks to assist Associations in securing sustainable levels of funding from Local Government through the review and preparation of the long-term council community plan (LTCCP) 2009-2019. Local authorities are required by legislation to consult every three years on their LTCCP. At its essence the plan is the process by which Council sets its work programme for the coming years.
Hockey NZ strongly urges Associations to be proactive in making their needs known to Councils and prior to draft budgets being placed before Councillors in the last quarter of 2008.
Associations were emailed a copy of the draft toolkit on 29 September 2008. The final document is due this week. If you would like to obtain another copy of the document please email tracy@hockeynz.co.nz.
National Hockey League
The 2009 National Hockey League will be played from 5-20 September and will be a hybrid form of a league and tournament which includes semis and finals.
Rounds 1 and 2 will be played on the weekend of 5th and 6th September and will have split venues.
All teams will come together for the week 12-20 September (9 days) for Rounds 3 to 7, semis and finals at one venue.
The board of Hockey New Zealand are aware of the downside of making this decision, especially with regards to not all NHL Associations being able to host NHL matches in any given year.
The venues for Rounds 1 and 2 (subject to host Association agreement) have been earmarked as follows:
Host Venue Teams
Whangarei (Women) Northland, Auckland, Midlands, North Harbour
Hamilton (Men) Northland, Auckland, Midlands, North Harbour
Palmerston North (Women) Central, Wellington, Canterbury, Southern
Dunedin (Men) Central, Wellington, Canterbury, Southern
For the week 12-20 September the venue has been earmarked for Christchurch (subject to host Association agreement).
The team contribution (based on 22 per team) for 2009 will be approximately $21,500. The team contribution for the 2008 NHL was $18,675 because all rounds were played at one venue.
In making this decision, Hockey New Zealand has also taken into account feedback from the 2008 NHL Survey and previous NHL Association feedback (regarding timing).
In 2009, the Black Sticks will be involved in the Oceania Cup series which finishes on the 30th August. We will strongly encourage our overseas-based Black Sticks to be available to take part in the NHL commencing a week later.
In 2010, it is proposed that Wellington would host the week long tournament part of the league.
Trans Tasman Series
Hockey NZ is investigating the possibility of a Trans Tasman series (men and women) involving the top two teams from our NHL plus a New Zealand A team and we will be asking our Trans Tasman neighbours to provide the equivalent teams. This series is earmarked for January/ February 2010.
Hockey New Zealand’s support for the NZ teams in this series would be in the form of travel costs to the designated venue.
Oceania Hockey Federation
Oceania Hockey has a new President. Hockey NZ Board Member, Pam Elgar was duly elected at their AGM on Saturday 11th October 2008, along with Australian Bob Claxton who will continue in the role of Oceania Secretary/Treasurer. Derek Wilshere steps down from the role of President after 12 years. Derek has been instrumental in developing hockey in the Island nations and assisting with the development of the artificial hockey surface in Suva, Fiji.
Annual Regional Development Managers Conference
The Regional Development Managers and CoachForce personnel met on 5 & 6 November to share best practice on development and participation activities and to review the skills to be delivered at Regional Coaching Clinics for 2009.
A copy of the notes from this conference will be circulated to Associations before the end of the year.
Umpiring Update
Sarah Garnett has been added to the FIH Umpire Managers List as a Trainee for Outdoor hockey.
Steve Campbell (North Harbour), Bren Duckworth (North Harbour) and Amber Church (Manawatu) have been appointed to umpire at the Oceania Pacific Cup in Suva from 13-19 November 2008.
HIGH PERFORMANCE
High Performance Review
The High Performance Review Report has now been completed. The board has considered and accepted many of the recommendations from the report in its recent application to SPARC for HP Investment funding. The outcome of our application will not be known until mid-December 2008. Hockey NZ will distribute the High Performance Review Report and the recommendations we are able to implement after we hear back from SPARC in mid December 2008.
National Women’s Coach
Kevin Towns has advised that he will step down as the National Women’s Coach at the end of the year. The position of the National Women’s Coach is currently advertised and will close on 21 November 2008.
Junior Black Sticks Campaigns
The Junior Black Sticks Men held a successful camp over Labour Weekend at North Harbour. A full programme of trainings and games against a Shane McLeod selection allowed Coach Peter Miskimmin to see his players in action.
Both the men’s and women’s Junior Black Sticks teams to compete in the Oceania Junior World Cup Qualifying tournament in Brisbane, Australia in December have been named and are available on the Hockey NZ website. The tournament will serve as good preparation for the teams in the build-up to the Junior World Cup. Both teams are guaranteed qualification, due to Oceania winning two spots to each of the men’s and women’s tournament, and only New Zealand and Australia competing in the Qualifier.
National Team Triallists
A 47-strong squad of triallists has been announced for the Black Sticks Women’s team. The squad, picked by the current Black Sticks women’s selectors, will assemble for a trial camp in Auckland from 19-25 January 2009 – so that the incoming women’s coach can pick their national squad.
India Series
The Indian Men’s team will be touring New Zealand next February. The first two test matches will take place in Wellington on 21 and 22 February, with the third and fourth tests in the Northern region on 28 February and 1 March. In addition to the four tests, India will play two matches against Invitational XI’s – one in Wellington on 24 February and one in the Northern region on 26 February.
MARKETING & SPONSORSHIP
Black Sticks Club
The Black Sticks Club information has been on the website now for a couple of weeks. As such we're still on the search for a number of player contact details. Please could you all draw on your player databases and reference our current list of 'needed' contact details. This can be downloaded from the website and is referred to as the 'cold' list. The newsletter and club card that has been promised to its members will be delivered this month. The club is growing everyday and the feedback we are receiving is very positive - any contribution you can make in this development period will be of great assistance.
Website
NHL 08 DVD’s through SKY SPORT are now available and are advertised on the website. Three matches are available to purchase: men’s final, women’s final and women’s 3rd place. Each DVD is $15 and can be purchased by contacting support@hockeynz.co.nz with your order and payment either via direct credit or cheque to Hockey New Zealand.
Further to an email sent to you on 31 Oct, a new sub-heading under Resources on the website has been made called ‘Fundraising Ideas’. An ad is currently posted from Fast Fundraising NZ explaining an innovative way for you to fundraise faster! If you are interested in using Fast Fundraising (FF), please ensure you select "Hockey NZ" in the drop down menu for the "how did you hear about us" question on the order form. This will ensure FF can identify Hockey NZ as the originator for all orders. Click here for more info: http://www.hockeynz.co.nz/resources/fundraisingideas/
