COVID-19 Update - 04/10/2021

Posted October 04, 2021
IHNZ News Event Information

Hi all,

The government has announced as of 11.59pm Tuesday 5 October, Auckland will stay in Alert Level 3 with some minor changes, the rest of New Zealand will stay at Level 2 with the next review to be held on Monday 11 October.

Under Ministry of Health guidelines this means that any event has to be run using the highest alert level guidelines of those attending. In this case the numbers allowed in a group setting and what is termed a group does not allow us to run Nationals in its current date format or by using the reserve weekends.

We have a large number of members who have expressed the desire to play hockey so in line with this, we have made a third and final decision to move Nationals 2021 to the following dates:

• Wednesday 5 January to Saturday 8 January 2022 - Senior Grades
• Sunday 9 January to Wednesday 12 January 2022 - Junior Grades
• Friday 7 January 2022 - 7 pm Exhibition game

After the event’s completion, all age grades etc will commence as of January 1st 2022 as per IHNZ Age grade policy. Nationals 2022 is still scheduled for October 2022.

The pandemic has placed restrictions on all of us and whilst we understand this may not be to everyone’s liking, we ask you to bear in mind that times have changed over the past 18 months and what was done in the past is no longer currently feasible. With a large majority of sporting events cancelled over the past 3 months and the remainder of 2021, we have made a concerted effort to be one of the last sports standing and exhaust every avenue prior to a final cancellation.

These dates were chosen as for the most part, they dovetail into members’ holidays and mitigates the need to take extra leave, allows time for teams to prepare, amend bookings and gets all university, polytechnic and school commitments completed.

The decision to make this announcement early gives participating clubs advance notice of booking changes that may need to be made. Airlines and Ferries are accommodating changes with credits and future bookings as are hoteliers in New Plymouth. We encourage you to amend any bookings as need be and this advance notice minimises any cancellation fees.

IHNZ encourages everyone to take this final opportunity to attend our 25th Celebration with their families and incorporate this into a potential summer break in the Taranaki region. We plan to work through the available summer festivities in the region running at the same time and distribute these for members to be a part of.

We understand this may mean some teams are now able to enter the tournament and others may need to withdraw. Please consult with your members and reconfirm team numbers by Monday 18 October. Those who are not attending will have their entry fees reimbursed.

Sport NZ have updated their Alert Level guidelines.

Please note these guidelines from Sport NZ are subject to change, particularly in terms of numbers allowed in indoor settings.

We will keep you updated as more information comes to hand. In the meantime any queries please email gm@inlinehockeynz.org.nz

Stay safe all,
Regards
IHNZ Board