Special editions mark history

HOCKEY RECORDS: Sue Shepherd (left) presenting copies of her books to Mayor Sheryl Mai for the Whangarei District Council. The Hockey Northland grandstand is in the background. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Four books depicting Hockey Northland's milestones have been gifted to the people of Whangarei by Sue Shepherd.

A keen photographer, Ms Shepherd has recorded the association's growth at local, national and international levels through a camera lens and, in recent years, published very limited editions of four books on the subject.

She has recently given a copy of each book to the Whangarei Library, presenting them personally to mayor Sheryl Mai.

"These precious gifts to Whangarei ensure our treasures and their stories are never lost to us," Ms Mai said.

Most of the photographs in the book were taken by Ms Shepherd, who enlisted local writer Joce Yeoman to do much of the writing and research.

The first book, Whangarei's Round Roofed Grandstand 1903-2009, is about the "Grand Old Lady of Kensington Park", which started life in 1903 as a grandstand for Whangarei Racing Club.

The mostly kauri grandstand, with a barrel shaped roof, was far from unique in its day but the Whangarei building is the only one of its type left in the country.

Ms Shepherd documents how the building, which had fallen into such disrepair it was close to being demolished, was picked up by Hockey Northland, literally, and transported across Kensington Park.

By far the biggest of the book projects was compiling Northland Hockey Heroes, about 10 of Northland's earliest hockey Olympians. Three had died before Ms Shepherd began the book, so their stories were told mostly through memories and anecdotes from loved ones and colleagues, along with sporting memorabilia.

The 2012 Olympics in London saw five Hockey Northland or former Northland players make the New Zealand squads, out of nine from the region who got as far as the final trials.

Book three, The Olympic Dream - Hockey London 2012, tells the story of fundraising at the grassroots level to help resource that squad's build-up and games experience. It includes photographs taken at the Olympics by Ms Shepherd; not typical sports photography, they show the more human side of the experiences for the players, their families and supporters.

Hockey Northland - The Third Hockey Turf 2014 tells of the fundraising and construction of Hockey Northland's third turf at Kensington Park.

The success of the project depended on the tenacity of a small group of Hockey Northland's supporters and volunteers as they raised funds, worked to have the Kensington Park Management Plan modified to allow another turf and then got the turf constructed.

It was anticipated the association would have enough turf playing slots to soak up additional demand for a number of years. In the event, within two seasons the new turf is almost full to capacity.