Kia Ora,

I hope that everyone is staying safe during this difficult time in the country. We wanted to provide an update on Covid-19 and how this is impacting hockey and what we currently know about the next few weeks.

Community Hockey
Initially all community hockey was postponed until the 2nd May. This decision was undertaken with the support and collaborative decision with all our hockey associations. This date is soon to pass and at this stage we have not set a revised return date. Clearly any return to hockey will be governed by the government alert levels. We are working closely with Sport NZ to gain clarity on what each of the alert levels represents for sport and recreation and hope to have more detailed information regarding alert level 2 next week. For the current best information please refer to the Sport New Zealand Activities Level 1-4 diagram.

We will communicate any updates with our associations as soon as any changes become clear.

Domestic Tournaments
Hockey New Zealand made the unfortunate but necessary decision last month to cancel all national representative tournaments for the 2020 Hockey Season. This was done to prioritise community hockey and provide clarity around this focus. Please click here for more information on this decision

Secondary School Tournaments
Secondary Sports New Zealand are working with the NSOs involved with Winter Tournament week and will be making a decision around the running of these tournaments in early June. We will communicate any information in this space as soon as it becomes available.

Restarting Community Hockey
What we do know is that once community hockey recommences it will be in an environment that has significantly changed due to the impact of Covid-19. In particular, the way facilities are managed and potentially how hockey is delivered will look different.

• Hockey Delivery. As potential restarting timeframes become more apparent decisions around how hockey will be delivered will need to be made across the country. Hockey New Zealand is working closely with our Associations to understand what opportunities exist however the input of the hockey community is vital and we know many Associations have or are undertaking surveys to collect insights from members. We strongly encourage you to engage with these opportunities.
• Facility management. Hockey New Zealand is working closely with our Associations and other organisations to understand what will be required to keep people safe within our facilities. We have all become accustomed to the importance of social distancing, hand washing, self-management if unwell and other Health and Safety precautions. These will be vitally important when hockey recommences and our ability to implement good practice will improve our ability to get back on the turf.
• Contact Tracing. Hockey New Zealand is working with its Associations to look at what contact tracing processes will be used across the country at our hockey facilities. We are aiming to ensure that the processes used will make it easy for families and our community when entering our facilities.

 As things evolve in the coming weeks Hockey New Zealand will continue to work closely with our Associations and also communicate to our community. For the most up to date information please visit the Hockey New Zealand Website and check out our Covid-19 page.

The Health, Safety and Well-Being of our hockey community is our biggest priority and we trust you are keeping safe and well in your respective bubbles.

Kind Regards,

Ian Francis