Top hockey players to play in support of family

PROFESSIONAL: Napier-raised player Shea McAleese. PHOTO/FILE

A family's commitment to making sport in Hawke's Bay tick over is proving a magnet to some of the country's top hockey players for a match to support the family in its hour of need.

High school sports co-ordinator Angela Nilsson-Findlay, who has been involved in several sports, is battling cancer, and her husband, Graeme, is well-known as a stalwart of hockey in Hawke's Bay, and a mentor of Napier-raised professional Shea McAleese.

The catalyst for the match next Saturday at Park Island, Napier, is the growing list of top hockey players he'd been inviting to Napier for his 30th birthday.

"Someone said, 'Why not have a game during the day while they're here'?" he said in Melbourne last night, on his way home from Holland. "It's been getting a lot bigger."

He confirmed he had secured 15 mainly past men's and women's national representatives for a New Zealand team which would play a Hawke's Bay selection. Included are two England representatives living in New Zealand.

"It wasn't hard," he said. "Just get on Facebook and ask."

Most current national team members were not considered likely starters because of international commitments.

Hawke's Bay-based Black Sticks women's team player Emily Naylor, who will play and who is helping organise the event, said players saw it as a chance to give something back and help the family. "Graeme has done a lot for hockey. Angela has been involved in a number of sports," she said. "I think she is quite humbled by it, but this is a bit of way we can show our support."

The 2.30pm Findlay Family Benefit Match will be preceded by children's games, with teams captained by each of the couple's four children. Entry will cost a gold coin donation and spectators are asked to wear pink in support of the family.