Local success at NZ Police national hockey champs

All the teams smile for a picture at the 2017 New Zealand Police National mixed hockey tournament at Smallbone Park. Photo/Supplied

Bay of Plenty police recently swapped two days on the beat for two days on the hockey pitch.

The local regional side finished third, out of eight teams, in the annual New Zealand Police National mixed hockey tournament, this year held at Smallbone Park.

They were in joint bronze position with Wellington behind final winners Northland and runners-up Counties Manukau South team on Friday.

On the first day the Bay of Plenty side won their opening game Counties Manukau North team 3-2, followed by a 1-0 loss against Northland.

And Bay of Plenty completed a successful tournament with a 3-1 win over South Island and a 4-4 draw against Wellington in the playoffs match the second day.

Event director and Bay of Plenty Senior Constable Anna Rossi said she was delighted with the local region's performance.

"I'm very happy. In previous years we haven't always done so well but everyone worked well together and we got some great results," she said.

Rossi said it was "refreshing" to see a new winner after Counties Manukau had dominated the competition since its inception eight years ago. This year for the first time the former champions fielded two sides.

"It's nice to have a new winner," she said. "From the outset you could see a much more even playing field. It's always hard for players to get annual leave off work but we managed to work around that and it was a great event. Going forward I hope this tournament keeps getting bigger and better."