Māori/All Stars Coaching Profiles May 2022

Posted May 24, 2022
IHNZ News Matariki

Inline Hockey New Zealand would like to welcome you to the latest tournament on our calendar, the first IHNZ Annual Matariki Series which includes the Exhibition game between the New Zealand All Stars team and the New Zealand Māori team.

As part of the IHNZ Matariki hockey series clubs were invited to put forward the names of rangatahi to complete these teams and participate in a series of inline hockey games over the weekend. This has created a fantastic opportunity for our up and coming players to play with and be mentored by the senior players of our game.

The Exhibition game will be held at 7pm, Saturday 25 June as the centrepiece of the Matariki celebrations.

This match will showcase some of our most exciting talent in hockey and we look forward to introducing the members of these teams over the following days.

This game will be broadcast live with a livestream link also available.

“Mā mua ka kite a muri, Mā muri ka ora a mua”
“Those who lead give sight to those who follow, Those who follow give life to those who lead”

New Zealand Māori Coaching Team:

Shane Clark has been a pivotal member of the Inline Hockey New Zealand Coaching team after being involved with roller sports for many years as both a speed skater and an inline hockey player. He was instrumental in lifting the NZ Senior men’s team 5 ranking points when taking a representative team to Germany to the IIHF World Championships in Division 1.

His mentoring has helped to facilitate his players best performance through a sound understanding of training and technical strategies required for inline hockey as a specialised sport.

Shane was a member of the planning panel who reviewed and developed the NZ Inline Hockey Level 1 specific coaching qualification and was one of the facilitators presenting the programme to beginner coaches in NZ. Shane continues to volunteer his time and is now involved with the redevelopment of the Christchurch Lions club.

He is a firm believer in the gathering and sharing of knowledge from international coaches and players to provide opportunities for New Zealand players to excel and further develop the overall game in New Zealand.

Shane coached the inaugural NZ Maori Team Exhibition Game and is a past recipient of the IHNZ Distinguished Service Award presented in 2015 at the 20th IHNZ Anniversary Celebration.

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Willy Harvey is our IHNZ Matariki Kaumatua.

He has been involved with Inline Hockey for over 30 years and has coached across the grades for the Ravens Club, the Central InterRegional teams and New Zealand representative teams. Willy has been part of the IHNZ travelling group as a Manager at Worlds on two separate occasions.

Willy has also played a huge part in the governance and development of Inline Hockey as well and has been the Chairman of New Plymouth Roller Sports Club and the Central Region and as a coaching coordinator for New Zealand teams.

In recognition of these roles, Willy is a past recipient of the IHNZ Distinguished Service Award presented in 2015 at the 20th IHNZ Anniversary Celebration.

As well as Inline hockey, Willy has a passion for Rugby as both a player and a coach.

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Gary Toa has been involved in Inline Hockey since 2005. His four children and he all play and he has spent a number of years coaching and developing age grade teams. Gary has coached at club, Regional and International level.

He has managed teams both here and at overseas tournaments. A keen club member Gary is involved in club committees, referee duties, regional events and is a current IHNZ Board member.

Gary is passionate about Inline Hockey and says he would love to see the sport grow.

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New Zealand All Stars Coaching Team:

Jason McLean started playing hockey in 1994 at the age of 12 for the Napier Sharks. He says as they only had a senior team at that point, he had to learn how to skate pretty quickly to keep up. Over the next 5 years, he started playing for New Zealand teams and travelled to Australia and Canada to play hockey. After returning from the Canadian trip, all he wanted to do was play hockey!

Jason made the decision to move to Auckland at 17 where his sponsors at the time Ice and Inline 2000 (now Centre Ice) gave him a job. From that point on, he was either playing hockey, selling hockey equipment, or fixing hockey gear! During that period, a few dozen people throughout the country were sponsored as part of Team Mission. As a way to grow the sport, these players helped out with coaching clinics throughout NZ with the goal to increase the skill level of all players and to lift the profile of inline hockey.

In the 10 years that he played for the Blackhawks they created the Redhawks premier team who won a number of tournaments and national titles. Jason continued to play in multiple national teams and travelled to Czechoslovakia and Germany.

After a move to Wellington he played for the Penguins premier team for a number of years. This team won a number of tournaments and national titles and continues to be a dominant club in NZ.

Three years ago (with two kids and a wife in tow), they made the decision to move back to the Hawkes Bay. Jason has been coaching the Napier Sharks team since then with the goal to grow the club and get a permanent facility so kids like he once was are able to play hockey.

Jason credits hockey for allowing him to travel the world, meet great people, and shape him into the person he is today.

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Todd Velvin has represented New Zealand in Inline Hockey. As a member of the Ravens club, he plays senior grades and undertakes referee duties.

Todd is an active member of the local Search and Rescue unit, the East End Surf Club and was recently honoured with a Life Membership for his service to life-saving within New Zealand.

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Cameron McIver has been involved in Inline Hockey since 1997. Cameron is a member of the Napier Sharks Inline Club in the Hawkes Bay.

For the past few years Cameron has been a member of the IHNZ Board. He is passionate about the sport and really wants to see it succeed!