Hockey: Tourney offers Whangarei $1m bonus

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Hockey Northland has confirmed next year's National Hockey League will be played in Whangarei from September 12-20, meaning upwards of $1 million in spending is likely to come with it.

The confirmation of the tournament is welcome news after $1 million of ratepayers' money helped build a third turf at the Whangarei ITM Hockey Centre this year.

The tournament will bring with it more than 800 people as association tournaments combine with the 16-team, men's and women's, National Hockey League (NHL).

Hockey Northland chief executive Grant McLeod said in September that bringing the NHL to Whangarei was part of a bigger picture Hockey New Zealand had in trying to spread the sport around the country.

"They're trying to get strategic in where they are allocating international tournaments and matches and national tournaments," McLeod said. "They have a strategy they are working on to get an even distribution of matches and we're part of that."

Boosting the chances of a successful on-field NHL campaign is the retention of Mark Cromie Holden Northland women's coach Angeline Waetford as head coach.

Waetford and her team produced Northland's best finish in the NHL K Cup, which is the women's hockey version of the ITM Cup.

Northland finished as runners-up in the K Cup this year, losing to an Auckland team packed full of Northlanders, including Jan Rowsell, Charlotte Harrison, Sam Harrison, and Melissa Simpson.

Hockey Northland said Waetford's reappointment was part of a multi-year approach to winning the K Cup as her squad included Olympians, Northland centurions, Northland club and age-group players.

Waetford is rated as one of New Zealand's top coaches and has been involved in Hockey New Zealand's Junior Black Sticks women's programmes over the last five years.

She has been either head or assistant coach of many New Zealand age-group teams and was assistant coach of the 2013 Under-21 Junior Black Sticks who finished ninth at the Junior World Cup.