Hockey: Firms donate to duo's Rio bid

GRATEFUL: David Nancarrow is event director of the Hawke's Bay Festival of Hockey. PHOTO/Warren Buckland

Shea McAleese and Emily Gaddum have received a financial boost in their quest to again represent New Zealand at the Rio Olympics, thanks to Hawke's Bay businesses.

The Hawke's Bay Sports, Events and Educational Consortium Inc (HB SEEC), which has members who support the annual Hawke's Bay Festival of Hockey fiscally and operationally, has committed undisclosed sums of money towards helping the Black Sticks pair.

"It's to assist them in their preparation and any costs they incur in helping them to centralise and train with the national team from now to, hopefully, when they're selected for Rio," says festival event director David Nancarrow.

McAleese, 31, of Napier, is professionally based in Belgium and is part of the New Zealand men's squad who will defend the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia early next month as well.

"Just to let everyone know I'm safe in #Belgium thanks for all the messages. Horrible news ... [love symbol] goes out to anyone affected," the Central Mavericks player/coach tweeted three days ago.

Gaddum (nee Naylor), who moved to the Bay from Palmerston North in 2010, is the most-capped Black Sticks women's player and lives in Havelock North after marrying Harry Gaddum last month.

Nancarrow says the consortium has been operating since the inaugural festival three years ago but many of its members were involved in the sponsorship of the Black Sticks' campaign to the 2010 London Olympics.

"Many of them are quite happy to stay behind the scenes and just, so to speak, support Hawke's Bay so we're very grateful for that," he says of HB SEEC that comprises about 20 companies.

The 53-year-old says it also has supported young non-hockey athletes in the past two years - Georgia Hulls (athletics) to the world junior championship in Colombia and Amy Martin (BMX).

In 2014 the festival's international Hawke's Bay Cup invited six women's national teams. Last year that went up to eight, a number the festival has retained again this year.

Six teams are returning sides, including the Black Sticks, champions Australia, China, South Korea, Japan and India while Canada and Ireland are the newcomers after Argentina and the United States withdrew.

The returning six have qualified for the Rio Olympics in June.

The schoolgirls' Furnware Cup has eight teams, including four from the Bay alongside other North Island schools.

The affiliates tourney, to be staged at the Park Island turfs in Napier, has enticed eight men and women's teams each, including four from Australia.

With five of the top 10 teams starting to arrive in Napier from Monday, Nancarrow says the HB Cup as a vital stepping stone as a pre-Olympic event.

"The Azlan Shah is the men's largest invitational tournament in the world and we're the largest women's one," he says. "Most teams have announced a pretty full-strength side so, you know, we're looking forward to some exciting hockey again and let's hope the rain stays away this year."