A team containing mostly Wairarapa players triumphed in the top division of the Festival of Hockey six-a-side tournament in Palmerston North last weekend. It was led by Wairarapa regional development officer Jesse Workman who was one of four national league players in the side, the others being Dane Lett, Rob Belchamberand Charles Jenkins. They were joined by four members of Workman's current pathways group, Nick Finlayson, Ben Van Woerkom, Trent Lett and Aaron Oakley and a former Wairarapa player now living in Palmerston North in Richard French. A total of 16 teams contested the tourney and they included quality players from the likes of Auckland, Hawke's Bay and Wellington. One of the sides actually had two Black Sticks and two NHL players in their squad yet they failed to qualify for post-section play. Workman was especially impressed with the skills and commitment shown by his younger players, particularly in the final where they "ran good lines, hustled well on defence and scored some nice goals" And he also made special mention of the "mountain of work" put in on defence by Dane Lett. On the local front Workman was delighted too with 13 people successfully completing a Hockey New Zealand level one coaching course, a number which is believed to be a record for Wairarapa. The course was run over three days and included theoretical and practical components. It was aimed at college and representative team coaches and will be followed by a "small sticks" coaching course on March 22 which is for junior team coaches and will be based on a formula put together by Hockey New Zealand and Sparc. More positive news for Wairarapa hockey has been the inclusion of two players, Rowan Yeo and Shane Hodgkiss, in the Capital team to attend the national under-21 men's tournament in Whangarei. Yeo has made this side before and will be hoping to impress selectors enough to earn national league honours and that is not beyond the realms of possibility for Hodgkiss either. He has played for New Zealand at age group level, Both Yeo and Hodgkiss played for the Capital under-21s in curtain-raisers to the recent Black Sticks v India tests and they were both amongst the goal scorers there.
