Hockey Term Two 2026 - Hockey Registration Form (Closes Friday 24 April)
Dear parents, caregivers and hockey players,
Following is key information to make sure that everyone is ready for the hockey season which will run from Friday 8th May (Term 2 Week 3) through to Friday 21st August (Term 3 Week 5).
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/urXD2xwTxPaPXyyA8
Format & start-of-season squads:
All games in Term 2 will be 6-a-side
Term 3 will see the reintroduction of full pitch, 11-a-side hockey in addition to the option to have teams continuing with 6-a-side
towards the end of Term 2, we’ll decide how many 11-a-side teams to enter for Term 3. We’ll base this around skills, confidence levels and what we think is best for the development of our players. There will be some rejigging of squads ready for Term 3 but, where possible, we’ll continue to meet any requests we’ve received for certain players to be in the same team as each other
for 6-a-side, we’ll have squads of around nine players to allow for any sickness, injuries and for when players are unavailable
the start-of-season games will be used to have a good look at the ability of all the players so that we can swap players between squads if necessary. We can only learn a limited amount about each player from trials and we anticipate that we may make some adjustments between squads once we’ve seen players in a full game situation.
Locations:
games take place at the McMillan Hockey Turf (close to the Otago Polytechnic & Forsyth Barr Stadium) and at the Kings High School Turf (behind the cricket nets) - this can change for teams from one week to the next
parking can be tricky - please always allow a few extra minutes for this at the McMillan Turf where there are two turfs: the Otago Polytechnic Turf (the first one as you go through the doors) and the Lion Foundation Turf (the far turf)
the weekly draw will show which turf each team is playing on
the draw is always posted on the O.H.A. (Otago Hockey Association) website under PlayHQ fixtures ... kwik sticks competition
we would love to have lots of support from the sidelines, you are also very welcome to make the most of the upstairs lounge at the McMillan Turf which has refreshments
Game times:
games are on Fridays, teams will play at different times each week
the earliest games will be at 3:45. Once all schools have registered, we’ll know the latest start time (this could be around 6:45 or 7:00 depending on the number of teams entered this year)
total game time is approximately 50 minutes
players are expected to arrive at the turf 20 minutes before their game starts
Trials:
Trials will be in week 9 of Term 1, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:00am on the Toroa Turf, Catch ups will be at a later date.
Dates:
The season runs from Friday 8th May to Friday 21st August inclusive.
Transport:
Players will be responsible for finding their own way to and from the turf although teachers and other parents may be able to help with some transport to early games. Often parents combine to take children to/from the turf.
Fees:
The fee for each player for the whole season is expected to be in the range of $100 to $105 (around $20 of this will be payable directly to Hockey NZ through PlayHQ, the remainder will be invoiced to school accounts to cover the cost the school pays to Otago Hockey to enter teams). There is no additional fee each week
Very important: if you would like to apply for help with paying for hockey fees, please make contact with the School Office – applications for help with fees can only be made before the first game of the season and cannot be made once the season starts
Once they have been invoiced, fees should be paid through the School Office. We would appreciate payment of fees by the start of the season unless you have made a prior arrangement such as a regular automatic payment
Please use the following details for payments:
Account number: 06 0901 0368945 00,
Please add the student’s name and “hockey” as a reference
Gear:
tops: players will be given a Tahuna hockey shirt for the season
shorts: Tahuna P.E. shorts
also: players will need their own mouthguard, hockey shin pads, long, dark/navy blue socks and a stick.
we have some school sticks, shinpads and socks available to borrow for the season if needed. We suggest that new players don’t need an expensive stick when first starting out
Availability:
Each coach will set up a system to confirm the availability of players for each game. If you know early in the week that your child won’t be able to make that Friday’s game, it would be much appreciated if they could let us know as early as possible in the week.
Training:
All squads train once a week, either at 08:00 before school or at lunchtime. Coaches will let players know when their training slot is. Sticks, shin pads and mouthguards are essential for these sessions. These are crucial training sessions and children are asked to let their coach know if they are unable to attend a session or if they will be arriving mid-way through the session. We appreciate your support in helping your child attend these sessions. These sessions will focus on developing skills and tactics/strategies for the week’s matches.
No-shows:
If a player misses three training sessions and/or games without letting their coach know that they are injured/unavailable etc. then we’ll be making contact with parents to see if the player should be continuing to play - school hockey is staffed by volunteers and we don’t expect them to have to chase players up at this age level - commitment, reliability and communication are all important
Cancellations:
Games are not usually cancelled if it’s raining. Cancellations are usually announced on the O.H.A. website.
Registrations:
All players have to be registered on PlayHQ. I’ll be in touch again once we’ve got the details on how to do this.
We look forward to another very enjoyable and successful season of hockey for our Tahuna teams. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries at any time during the season.
Many thanks for your support.
Kind regards, David Owen, davidowen@tahuna.school.nz