About 1000 hockey and soccer players from throughout New Zealand have descended on Napier for two major competitions as the national secondary schools tournament week kicks into action tomorrow.
The Federation Cup and Marie Fry premier girls' secondary schools national hockey tournament, and the national secondary schools' boys soccer championship, each with 32 teams, will be based at Park Island, Napier.
Confined to all-weather pitches, the hockey will start at 8am, with some matches also being played at the Mitre 10 Regional Sports Park in Hastings, while the soccer will start at 8.30am, with 12 fields available at Park Island, and others available as back-ups around Napier if the surfaces deteriorate from the "soft" conditions experienced by tournament controller Greg Kettle as he surveyed the grounds on Sunday.
Each tournament will be played in eight pools of four, leading to playoffs later in the week, and eventually finals for the major titles.
They are among dozens of national, island and regional tournaments for secondary school students throughout the country this week, with a wide range of sports, from the winter staples of rugby, football, hockey, netball and basketball, to such sports as pool, underwater hockey and curling.
