Hockey: Tai Tokerau women dominate Maori Nationals

Northland coach Angeline Waetford

Tai Tokerau hockey teams have performed well at the recent 2015 National Maori Hockey Tournament, with the women's A team blitzing through pool play to secure a well-deserved victory in the final.

Throughout the entire national tournament held on home turf at the Whangarei ITM Hockey Centre, the Tai Tokerau women's A team only conceded two points.

When they beat Waikato 3-1 in the final, coach Angeline Waetford was glad that her long weekend was put to good use.

"I reluctantly took it up again this year but glad I did," Waetford laughed.

"It was really fun, we had three Whangarei Girls' High School players up front and they were great... we only conceded two goals and scored 24/25 goals from five games."

She was extra pleased to get a win, especially after her Northland women's side were dispatched 6-0 in the National Hockey League final by Auckland in Whangarei last month.

Waetford added that the Maori nationals provided more than just a competitive sporting environment.

Fielding a side which featured several "core players from the NHL team," Waetford said the Maori nationals were "just as much about the cultural side," of things.

"Each team had to present a waiata and haka... that's something you need to practise for more than the hockey," she said of her team's build-up to the Labour Weekend tournament.

In addition to the team's overall win, Madi Doar was named junior women's overall player of the tournament, while Jasmin McQuinn received the senior women's overall player of the tournament accolade.

In the men's competition, the Tai Tokerau men's A team also had a good dig at cracking a finals berth.

Eventually finishing third overall, a 3-0 loss against Takitimu in the semifinals stopped the men's side in their tracks, however, all wasn't lost.

The New Zealand Maori teams were selected from the tournament and Tai Tokerau men's and women's players were widely represented across all teams.

NZ Junior Women's Squad:
Madi Doar, Jess Pilmer, Chenae Phillips, Kendyll Peters, Teuila Wendt , Maria Pollock, Natalie Beasley.

NZ Junior Men's Squad:
Zach Litchfield, Steve Nink, Bronson Baker, Hamish McKechnie.

NZ Women's Squad:
Jasmin McQuinn, Alana Millington, Jess Macalister, Shannon Shepherd, Madi Doar, Jess Pilmer, Kendyll Peters, Nicky Mathews.

NZ Men's Squad:
Cam Hellier, Steve Nink, Brad Pitman.