KEY POINTS:
Hockey New Zealand chief Ramesh Patel is playing it coy but admits he is ready to push the button if the Black Sticks get up to win Sunday's Olympic qualifier.
He, national men's coach Shane McLeod and the HNZ board are ready to go once the team's place
in the 12-team Beijing Olympic tournament becomes a reality.
"Our planning has been a bit tentative, but we do have things in mind once we know what is happening," said Patel.
An organisation who, to their credit, have remained prudent in their spending, has plans to give McLeod and his players the best possible preparation.
"We have already had an invitation to play a four-nation tournament in Australia in March but we have to consider whether we really need to play the Australians again. We have not discounted that but have put it to one side," said Patel.
"We have had an offer to go to Europe and be hosted by a Dutch club. There would be benefits in doing that. It would be a costly exercise, but not overly so, if we were hosted in that way".
Another option would be to go to a tournament in Hong Kong in June.
"Again, it is a bit tentative until we know whether we have qualified," said Patel. "Within a month we will know which teams have qualified from the other two Olympic qualifying tournaments. That will allow us to plan better.
"If we do get through, we hope to play between 12-15 internationals with European teams. We also know if India get through, and it seems the tournament in Chile in March should come down to them and Great Britain, we are likely to host a series with them."
With New Zealand teams set to play in the men's and women's Junior World Cups in mid-2009 in Singapore/Malaysia (men) and Boston (women), HNZ have opted to shelve the National Hockey League this year, returning to the former week-long tournament format to played from September 20-28.
"That will save us $100,000 in our 2008-09 budget," said Patel. "We have already made the decision to go to a tournament.
"Our board meeting on February 20 will either confirm Christchurch as the venue or come up with an alternative. But this is a one-off. We will return to the NHL format in 2009."
Patel said he has been encouraged by the response to this week's tournament.
"There has been a very positive reaction," said Patel who added he hopes his association will at least break even by reaching their budgeted $570,000 target.
Like everything, much depends on how big a crowd turns out to support the Black Sticks on Sunday.
