Gold, silver and bronze for Obo
While New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games glory rests quite rightly on the athletes, there are others who can feel pretty chuffed about their behind-the-scenes contribution.
Simon Barnett, founder of Palmerston North company Obo, is one of them.
Not only did the Kiwi women’s Black Sticks hockey team win gold decked out in his company’s protective gear, but the silver-placed Aussie Hockeyroos, and bronze England were also sporting Obo.
The Palmerston North-based company makes a flexible lightweight ‘‘armour’’ that protects goalkeepers from high-velocity strikes, especially during the short penalty corners that turn goal-mouths into closequarter targets.
During these set pieces, balls can rocket in at speeds of up to 150kmh.
To support the keeper during such plays, field defenders duck behind the goal to pull on wire masks and head protectors before coming out to counter the attack.
Obo brought out its Face Off range of protective wear in time for the Rio Olympics.
‘‘During the [Commonwealth Games] tournament, I saw two Kiwi players wearing our masks get hit directly in the face, and they kept right on playing,’’ Barnett said.
‘‘It summed up our motto, ‘Good s... that really works’. It allows them to play their game in total confidence without fear of being hurt.’’
The one-two-three medal haul was a source of great satisfaction for the whole company.
‘‘While the [manufacturing] process is mechanised, there is still a lot of hands-on and staff can see [players wearing] protectors they know they have put together.
‘‘When one of our guys, Hayden Wallace, saw what [Black Sticks goalie] Sally Rutherford was wearing, he was able to say, ‘I knew I’d made those’.’’
The full kit can have the goalie resembling a samurai warrior or an extra from a Star Wars movie.
‘‘Goalkeepers can make or break a game. Their job is to put their body in line of the ball. They have to be really well protected but also really agile,’’ Barnett said.
There’s a head-and-face-covering carbon helmet, throat guard, body armour and groin protector, arm guards, leg pads, and padded kickers for clearing the ball.
‘‘It was great to see Sally Rutherford wearing a new kicker with a longer kicking edge that we introduced after six years of development.’’
As part of product testing at the company’s Mihaere Drive factory, equipment is subjected to balls fired from a compressed air cannon at up to 200kmh.
‘‘We film the impacts at 1400 frames per second, so we know exactly how something reacts when the ball hits.’’
Exported to 72 countries, Barnett said Obo had earned about 70 per cent of the world field hockey market – an example of how nearly 25 years of carefully cultivating a niche product for a niche game can pay dividends.
‘‘It summed up our motto, ‘Good s... that really works’. It allows them to play their game in total confidence without fear of being hurt.’’ Simon Barnett - founder of Palmerston North company Obo