This years NZ Secondary School Inline Hockey Cup was relocated to Hamilton and hosted by the Hamilton Devils. The event saw a huge growth in participation from 4 schools to 15 schools competing in the event, this included 96 players ranging in ability from school league beginners to national representative level. The event required an earlier start time with local schools kicking off the tournament on the Friday afternoon, to ensure competition could be completed over the weekend.

The event was split into 2 divisions, the cup division hosted the more competitive teams and the plate division created an opportunity for composite teams to participate, this opportunity also allowed the introduction of a home-school composite team into a national schools event. This was well received by both players and event organisers as it creates a development pathway for students to get into Inline Hockey.

The end result was a well contested event with the following final game report from the Event Manager:

 “The Cup Gold Medal final was one of the best games played in NZSS Inline Hockey, New Plymouth Boys High School had the upper hand for the majority of the game, entering the final 10 minutes of play on a 3:1 lead. However, Hamilton Boys High School fought hard, supressing two NPBHS Power Plays, before scoring on their own Power Play, followed by a quick goal 1 minute later, to even the score. With barely 40 seconds left on the clock, HBHS scored the winning goal to secure the NZSS Cup for 2023”.

Article added: Tuesday 30 May 2023