Hockey Pro League schedule announced

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has revealed the full schedule for the inaugural season of the Hockey Pro League which begins in 2019.

152 matches have been scheduled between January and June across the world as part of this new game-changing competition.

Nine womens and nine mens teams, including the Vantage Black Sticks, will be competing for the Hockey Pro League title, playing eight home and eight away matches throughout the first six months of every year. The top four teams will then compete to determine the winner in a Grand Final later in June.

New Zealands first taste of action at home comes on Sunday 27th January with the Vantage Black Sticks hosting a blockbusting double header against Netherlands.

The home round concludes for the Black Sticks with a heavyweight contest against Australias Kookaburras and Hockeyroos in New Zealand on Anzac Day.

The teams then follow the summer by returning to the northern hemisphere. An exciting end to the League awaits as nations compete to finish in the top four to guarantee qualification for the Grand Final.

"Were delighted to publish this schedule as the world can now visualise the scale of this new global home and away league. Organising such a complex timetable involving a number of stakeholders took some time but it was refreshing to witness to amount of collaborative working throughout the process by both participating teams and broadcasters," FIH President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra said.

"This announcement means that fans can now lock dates into their diary to ensure they dont miss any of the worlds top nations visiting their home turf. It also allows both our participating nations and FIH to really push on with the development of this competition as we look to finalise broadcast and commercial partnerships across the world over the coming months ahead of next Januarys launch."

CLICK HERE to view and download the full Hockey Pro League schedule

HOCKEY PRO LEAGUE MATCH SCHEDULE - NEW ZEALAND

HOME FIXTURES

Sunday 27th January, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Netherlands

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Netherlands

Friday 1st February, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Belgium

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Belgium

Sunday 10th February, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs England

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs England

Friday 15th February, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Germany

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Germany

Sunday 17th February, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Pakistan

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs China

Friday 8th March, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Spain

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs USA

Sunday 10th March, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Argentina

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Argentina

Thursday 25th April, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Australia

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Australia

AWAY FIXTURES

Sunday 17th March, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Australia

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Australia

Friday 22nd March, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs China

Sunday 14th April, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Argentina

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Argentina

Saturday 1st June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs USA

Tuesday 4th June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Netherlands

Sunday 9th June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Germany

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Germany

Wednesday 12th June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Netherlands

Friday 14th June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Spain

Sunday 16th June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Belgium

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs Belgium

Friday 21st June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs Pakistan

Sunday 23rd June, 2019

Vantage Black Sticks MEN vs England

Vantage Black Sticks WOMEN vs England



- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ