IT wasn't so long ago the Hawke's Bay United football franchise and the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union were copping flak for the number of imports they were bringing in for their flagship teams.
Now it's the Toll Hawke's Bay division three badminton team's turn. The side, which opens its season with fixtures against Auckland Four and Wellington at Meeanee today, has a bit of a "United Nations" look with former China Junior squad player Cici Xie from Waitakere one of four women from out of the Bay in the squad and Waitakere's Lance Newman and Bay of Plenty's Kane Spiers both out of towners.
"Yes it has created a little bit of contention. It is a goal of mine to have a competitive team of local players within the next two or three years but it is tough with many players leaving the province for tertiary education," the team's player-coach and part-time development officer for Badminton Hawke's Bay, Angus Crawford, explained.
Crawford, 23, is back in the Bay after spending three years in Wellington completing a Bachelor of Neuromuscular Therapy degree. He intends to set up a business in the Bay and fit this job around his development work.
A Hawke's Bay rep since the age of 8, Crawford said with the ammunition in the squad there is no reason why a top four finish can't be achieved in the eight-team league which will see the top team take on the top South Island team for promotion to division two. Waitakere-based Hawke's Bay age group product Thomas Ellis is the top man, Crawford, Newman and Spiers are ranked two, three and four respectively and Hawke's Bay-based Canadian Jimmy Bass will be the No5 man.