Midlands crowned top hockey province

GREAT YEAR: Midlands have been crowned New Zealand's best hockey province for 2016. PHOTO/photosport

The 2016 Ramesh Patel Shield has been awarded to Midlands after a recount on the standings tiebreaker based on number of tournaments won this year.

The Ramesh Patel Shield recognises the top region over Hockey New Zealand's three annual high performance tournaments: Under 21s, Under 18s and the Ford National Hockey League.

Midlands have had a brilliant year winning national titles for the Under 21 Women, Under 18 Men and were Men's champions at the Ford NHL.

This success, along with solid campaigns for their Under 21 Men, Under 18 Women and NHL Women has proven just enough to beat Canterbury, who themselves had a successful year with titles in the Under 21 Men and Women's NHL tournaments.

This is the first year in which two teams have tied on the same number of points (110).

Hockey New Zealand had previously used the number of outright wins achieved across all tournaments as the tiebreaker.