But once the turf — and players — thawed out a little, it was back to business at the national under-18 men’s championships in Dunedin yesterday.
The competition got under way on Saturday, but the final two games on Sunday, Otago v Southland and South Canterbury v Canterbury B, were postponed when the weather became too harsh. They will now be played tomorrow morning.
"Obviously, we had a pretty wet and wild day here [on Sunday]," Otago Hockey general manager Andy McLean said.
"The last games were supposed to start at 5pm and 5.15, and just the way that the roads were getting and the snow and the conditions, the decision was made by the tournament officials to postpone those games."
Some games had been relocated to King’s High School as well yesterday due to water on the turf.
But that did not deter the 21 teams from getting involved in the tournament, including Otago A and Otago B sides.
Otago A had a narrow 3-2 loss against Canterbury B to open its tournament, while a young Otago B side lost 8-0 to Wellington.
McLean said it was "awesome" to host another tournament in Dunedin, giving the region an opportunity to blood some new players.
"From our point of view that allows us to be able to enter that second team in.
"All of the boys in that [B] team are still eligible for this age group next year, so just a really nice opportunity for them to experience this level without the expense of going too far from home."
Other results from the South included Southland going down 7-1 to South Canterbury and Central Otago lost 2-0 to Wairarapa.
Otago has also made its mark at the national under-18 women’s championships in Auckland this week.
Otago backed up its opening 4-2 win against Tauranga on Sunday with another strong 4-2 victory against Taranaki yesterday.
"They’re a team that’s been together for a few years," McLean said.
"They started playing at that level as a pretty young team a couple of years ago, so they’ve got a really nice strong competitive team this year.
"That crew’s really developing nicely. There’s some good players in there."
Central Otago was thumped 6-0 by Canterbury B and Southland lost 4-0 to Wairarapa.
Both competitions feature quarterfinals this year, meaning the top runners-up in their pool have a chance to qualify for the playoffs.
