Hockey: Masters of turf prepare for battle

Dave Smale will play in his 18th national masters tournament from tomorrow. PHOTO/Warren Buckland

IT'S fair to label Hawke's Bay's Dave Smale a masters hockey dynamo.

Smale, 59, has played in every national masters tournament since they began in 1997 and has no plans to ease up in the immediate future.

"I'll keep playing as long as I can," Smale said as he completed some behind the scenes work yesterday for the seven-day tournament, which begins tomorrow at the Park Island Hockey Stadium in Napier and the Unison Hockey Stadium in Hastings.

He is a member of the Bay's 50-plus team which is tipped to feature among the medals in their eight-team division.

"We didn't have enough older players to go up to the 55-plus age group but we will still do well with the ammunition we've got in the younger age group," Smale said.

The self-employed Taradale property manager tasted gold medal glory in the 45-plus age group in Christchurch in 2002 and in the 50-plus age group in 2012 in North Harbour.

"I scored the only field goal in our 2-1 win against Canterbury in the 2002 final. That was the last time I played up front ... I was a bit younger back then," the regular defender said with a laugh.

In addition to the two golds, he has played in teams which have travelled home with six silver medals. A key to their success is the fact the bulk of the side play for the Pass Masters club team in Hawke's Bay's senior B men's competition which they win on a regular basis.

"We usually select some pretty handy draft players as we have done for this tournament with the likes of Graeme Bint from Northland and Colin Rundle from Counties."

Before moving into the masters ranks, Smale represented Hawke's Bay through the age groups from under-13 level. He was 15 when he first played for the Hawke's Bay Under-21 team.

With wife Helen a former player and son Adam still playing, hockey is a family affair for the Smales.

The tournament, which will involve 1500 players in a record 73 teams, was last held in the Bay in 2001. Bay hockey stalwart Neil Edmundson says it is likely the Bay will host it every four to five years as it requires three turfs and the Bay is one of only four regions which has enough turfs.

"Having the third turf at the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park, enabled us to bid and win the hosting rights for the tournament," Edmundson said.

The event will cater for men's and women's 35-plus, 40-plus, 45-plus, 50-plus and 55-plus grades as well as a men's 60-plus grade. Hawke's Bay will field four men's teams and two women's teams and the men's 40plus and 50plus sides are regarded as the host province's best titles hopes.

Both are previous winners.

Former South Africa Olympic Games representative Greg Nicol will be a key member of the Graeme Findlay-led Bay men's 40-plus side. Expect Phil Teague to play a prominent role in Smale's team.

From this tournament, New Zealand Masters teams will be selected for a transtasman series against Australia in Melbourne during May. Smale has been a New Zealand Masters hockey team manager on three occasions.