Hockey NZ chief executive Ian Francis is excited about Hawke's Bay taking the code into a new global FIH Home and Away League in 2019. PHOTO/Warren Buckland
A WINDOW of opportunity has opened in "Home and Away" and Hawke's Bay is among protagonists to play a major role in it from 2019.
No, not the popular Australian soap opera that plays on New Zealand television on weekdays but the mouthwatering outdoor "Hockey Revolution" planned for the international circuit.
"With the new World League coming in 2019 there'll be opportunities to get the top eight nations into New Zealand," says Hockey New Zealand CEO Ian Francis of the proposed FIH Home and Away League during a visit to Hastings.
"It'll be fantastic because we don't get the Dutch, the Germans or GBs out this way too often so under this model, if we're successful, they'll have to come this way,"
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has shortlisted 18 nations, including New Zealand, as candidates for the men's and women's leagues.
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Spain have made the cull for both genders.
China, Italy and the United States have thrown their hats into the ring for the women's teams while Malaysia and Pakistan have put their feelers out for the men.
The 18 have met the criteria of the provision of suitable venues, their ability to host up to eight matches at home and play as many away, and have pledged their commitment to ensure drawcard players will compete.
Francis delights in the timely appointment of Jason McCracken, former director of Hockey NZ, as the CEO of FIH in Lusanne, Switzerland, from Wednesday last week.
"In his opening speech, when he spoke about what's expected from the role, he talked about the global Hockey Revolution, the new Home and Away League in 2019 and he mentioned Hawke's Bay taking the game to the world," he says of Wairarapa-born McCracken who served on the New Zealand board for the past two years.
Francis says McCracken championed the special relationship the Bay has had with its parent body, Hockey NZ, for more than four years as an example of how to develop a rapport.
The Bay community have supported the Black Sticks since the 2012 London Olympics and for the past three years the Unison International Hockey Stadium in Hastings has hosted the annual Hawke's Bay Festival of Hockey.
The festival has grabbed a window of opportunity on the hectic international calendar in April to stage a women's eight-nation tournament featuring three elite countries competing out of the top six world seeds vying for the Hawke's Bay Cup.
Argentina won the inaugural one, Australia in 2015 and the Black Sticks last year.
The top European nations, such as the Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain, have been conspicuous by their absence.
"What this means for us is that we have a bidding round going around at the moment."
Francis says New Zealand has to demonstrate it is capable of fulfilling the criteria to participate and host the league.
"We have to put our best foot forward because we absolutely want to be in this league," he says, relishing the thought of luring the world's most elite campaigners to the country with consistency.
"We also want to participate in this league and have both genders in there."
The 42-year-old from Auckland, who has been with Hockey NZ for six years, says the Bay community has been pivotal not just financially but as custodians of the code from the grassroots level.
"We get the local publicity, the marketing and promotions, as well as the commercial support," says the man who was acting as CEO since December 2015 after Malcolm Harris resigned.
"The real exciting thing for us as national support is that it has leverage and legacy components to it," says Francis who assumed the mantle of CEO in July last year.
Having world-class stadium and a 20 per cent growth in junior participation numbers lend credence to the province's status.
"Hawke's Bay Hockey Association is probably one of our leading associations in terms of delivery."
Sir Graeme Avery's initiative to establish a high-performance facility at the HB Regional Sports Park, the extension of turfs at the Unison Stadium as well as bedding new turfs at Park Island, Napier, reflects that commitment.
Hockey NZ also tend to conduct coaching and umpiring accreditation courses here because the Bay boasts some of the world's elites who make it a bonus in taking the game around the country.
"The growth has just been phenomenal."
The proposed league's commercial bundle includes securing coverage globally.
It helps that the country's female and male teams have over the past few years hovered around the top five world rankings and also flirted with medal opportunities at the Olympics.
"The last four minutes in Rio [for the men] will still haunt us for a while," he says with a laugh after the Black Sticks got to Olympics as the 13th-placed "golden goose" when South Africa pulled out only to squander a 2-0 lead with three goals in four minutes to Germany to miss the playoffs.