Top hockey talent on show

Hockey Wairarapa's annual awards evening at their Clareville complex on Tuesday, November 8, is set to be a cracker.

Not only is there keen competition for each of the 11 awards up for grabs but those in attendance will see the new nine-a-side hockey format trialled for the first time in the lower North Island and hear an address by former Black Sticks great and now Sparc chief executive officer Peter Miskimmin.

The nine-a-side format has been introduced by the Federation of International Hockey as a means of providing a form of hockey where the emphasis is on fast-moving and entertaining action.

It is essentially hockey's version of Twenty20 cricket and will see play quickly switching from one end of the field to the other and more goals scored.

Miskimmin is, of course, one of the most powerful men in New Zealand sport, if not the most powerful when you consider Sparc has a big say on who gets what from a funding viewpoint.

He will be speaking on what it takes to reach the top of the sporting tree, plus commenting on some of his own experiences - as player and an administrator.

Finalists for the Sportsman of the Year trophy are Junior Black Stick Dane Lett, national under-18 reserve Nick Finlayson and Jesse Workman, New Zealand Maori rep and, along with Lett, a member of the Capital national league side.

Last year's winner of the Sportswoman of the Year award, Felicity Reidy, is in the reckoning again alongside Jenna Anderson and Katherine van Woerkom. Reidy and Anderson are in the national under-18 squad and Van Woerkom is a reserve.

The full list of finalists is:

Team of the year: Wairarapa College girls first XI, Wairarapa under-18 girls, St Matthew's Collegiate girls first XI.

Male colt of the year: Hugh Taylor, Trent Lett, Nick Finlayson.

Female colt of the year: Kristy Anderson, Morgan Percy, Megan Hull.

Contribution to umpiring: Burt Wolland, Suzannah van Woerkom, Oliver Kennedy.

Supporter of the Year: Andrea Blathwayt, Michael O'Connor, Karen Lett, Dave Hodder.

Sportsman of the Year: Dane Lett, Nick Finlayson, Jesse Workman.

Sportswoman of the Year: Felicity Reidy, Jenna Anderson, Katherine van Woerkom.

Male primary: Gus Wakeling, Morgan Taylor, Henry Phelps.

Female primary: Georgia Wilson, Finola O'Boyle, Katie McAnulty.

Coach-administrator of the Year: Kim Henson, Willie Schaefer, Grant Brewster, Dave Finlayson.

Contribution to Hockey Wairarapa: Burt Wolland, Brian Wilton, Mike and Carol van Woerkom.