D-Day is close at hand for the Dalefield premier men's hockey squad.
A decision as to whether they will participate in Wellington's top inter-club league in 2012 will be made within the next 7 to 10 days.
The newly appointed coach, former Black Stick Greg Clark, will run a trainingsession at the Clareville complex tonight at 7pm and another similar session next week.
He will make an assessment of the players at both sessions before deciding the team's immediate future.
"Obviously we are going to be very interested in what Greg has to say, if he believes we can be competitive then we will very probably press on," Dalefield club captain Murray Nielsen said yesterday.
With Junior Black Stick Dane Lett, his brother Trent and Wellington national league rep Jesse Workman all being unavailable this year, Dalefield's playing resources have been stretched but Nielsen said numbers had steadily improved over the past fortnight.
"Right now we've got enough to put a team on the paddock but we still need another four or five to make things really viable, and then of course we have to be comfortable they have the ability to compete at the top level," Nielsen said. "Everything remains pretty much up in the air but we are hoping for the best."
The acquisition of Clark as head coach is a major coup for Dalefield hockey.
As a player he appeared for Canterbury and Wellington from Hatch Cup level right through to becoming a member of the Black Sticks' squad from 1992 to 1994.
As a coach he was also in charge of the national under-16s in 2004 and 2005 and has tasted success at national league level with Canterbury and the Central Mavericks.
