The inaugural Premier Hockey League is being launched early next month.
It is an opportunity for players to experience a higher level of hockey and the tournament should help bridge the gap between the domestic circuit and the international scene.
The entire South Island will be represented by the Alpiners, while there are three North Island franchises — the Tridents (Northland to South Auckland), Mavericks (Waikato/Bay of Plenty) and the Falcons (lower North Island).
Three of Otago’s brightest talents tried out the Alpiners’ strip yesterday.
Patrick Ward and Benji Culhane are fresh from helping Otago claim bronze at the national championships in Palmerston North last month.
And Annabelle Schneideman, who originally hails from Christchurch, helped the Otago women secure a breakthrough win at the tournament and claim sixth spot.
The trio are looking forward to matching their skills against some of the best players in the country during the seven-week competition.
"I think it will be pretty exciting for hockey in New Zealand and for this region as well," Culhane said.
Culhane is actually off to Malaysia today to play for the New Zealand under-21 men’s side at the Sultan of Johor Cup, and Schneideman is heading to Japan on Monday with the women’s under-21 team to play in a tri-series, which also includes Canada.
The Alpiners men side should be very competitive. The bulk of the side are made up of Canterbury and Otago players. Canterbury won the national championships and Otago were back-to-back champions in 2022 and 2023, so there is a lot of talent available.
In the women’s competition, the Falcons look strong on paper.
The format is nice and simple. The women’s and the men’s tournaments run alongside each other.
The teams will play each other in a home and way round-robin, so six games.
The top two sides from both competitions will contest the final in Auckland on December 7 and the bottom two teams will play off for bronze on the same day.
Those games are also in Auckland.
"Hopefully, we're competitive," Culhane said.
"I know we've got a pretty cool team that's been brought together, but every other region is pretty strong as well."
Schneideman was optimistic about her side’s prospects as well.
"I think we'll go pretty well," she said.
"The girls' competition is pretty competitive across the board.
"I think there are nine Black Sticks playing in it and we've got a few of those now, which is exciting."
