Club hockey season kicking into gear

Player points cap introduced to diversify four-team Manawatu¯ women’s premier competition, which starts tomorrow.

HOCKEY: The Manawatu¯ women’s division one club competition now has a points cap to try to diversify teams.

The competition starts tomorrow and Hockey Manawatu¯ competitions manager Willie Mcphail said there were only four teams in the women’s competition.

This is because the winners of the division 2 competition last year did not feel they would compete in the premier competition and did not move up as planned.

Mcphail said this year, for the first time in Manawatu¯ , they were bringing in a points cap for the women’s competition, so all of the good players who came into the region did not just all go to one club. This means New Zealand representatives and regional representatives are worth a certain number of points. ‘‘If new players come, rather than just going to the strongest club, they sort of have to spread out.’’

Mcphail said he had also organised for a Taranaki representative team and a Hawke’s Bay representative team, for both men and women, to be included in the competition in later rounds so the teams didn’t get bored.

For now, this leaves Massey, College, High School Hockey Club and the Palmerston North Girls’ High School first XI in the women’s competition. There are nine teams in the women’s division two and seven in division three.

The men’s competition will have seven teams: champions College, Massey, Palmerston North Boys’ High School’s first XI, Marist, High School Hockey Club, Manawatu¯ College Old Boys (Levin) and Tech College Old Boys (Whanganui). The men’s reserve grade has five teams and there are 13 sides in division three.