Central Zone Secondary Schools Tournament
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Central Schools Qualifying Tournament
The Central Zone Qualifying Tournament is a school-based tournament used to encourage participation of all schools that are within the Central and Top of South Zones. It is held in Wellington each year, approximatey week 6 of Term 2 (Mid June) depending of venue availability. The Tournament is used as a qualifying process for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Underwater Hockey Championships (Schools Nationals). The Tournaments are required to fulfil the School Sports New Zealand Guidelines. The following grades and divisions are contested Senior (U19) Open and Girls, Junior(u15) Open and Girls with the top five teams in each grade qualifing to attend the NZ Secondary Schools Nationals. |
Tournament Information 2023 |
U18 Selection Information - for those selected at Centrals
| 2023_wuha_u18_welcome_pack_final.docx.pdf |
History
In 1998, Huia Pool was the venue for Schools Nationals. The event venue was booked in late 1997 and advertised to Underwater Hockey schools. Unexpectedly, 31 teams attended in 1998 and the increase in attendance caused the teams to play matches upto 11pm at night to accommodate the schedule.
This resulted in a qualifying system being developed and voted on at the 1998 AGM. Thus to limit the number of teams participating, the qualifying series of events was implemented in 1999.
The initial vision was for four qualifying events covering the following zones
Particiation Numbers
Participation continues to grow from the initial events in 1999 with 42 teams and peaking with 78 teams in 2019 before COVID. Statistics do show the impact of the Christchurch earthquakes in February 2011.
Participation at Northern Schools had been between 31-36 teams between 2009 and 2014. In 2014, UWHNZ decision was made to split into Junior and Senior events for 2015 to accommodate additional teams due to growth in teams in Mid North zone. Unfortunately, this Mid-Northern growth has been matched by a decrease in Auckland numbers due to restricted pool time and space.
UWHNZ are aware of participation numbers for the Central Schools tournament and have been more cautious on the timing of the split based on staganation of participating numbers in the Northern competition. With the inclusion of Marlborough and Nelson schools, participation numbers continued to grow peaking at 42 teams in 2019. The intention is to split Central Schools into Junior and Senior Events when numbers return to approximately 44-48 teams and using either Blenhiem, Nelson and or Wellington venues.
Team sizes
The Tournament team sizes in 1999 was limited to 8 athletes per team. Between 2000 and 2008, team sizes were increased to 10 athletes to accommodate growth. In 2009, team sizes were increased to 12 athletes to align with the International Rules for Underwater Hockey.
This resulted in a qualifying system being developed and voted on at the 1998 AGM. Thus to limit the number of teams participating, the qualifying series of events was implemented in 1999.
The initial vision was for four qualifying events covering the following zones
- Northern (Northern (Auckland) and Mid North (Taranaki to Hawkes Bay upto Bombay Hills) Zones
- Central (Lower North Island)
- Southern ( Christchurch, Marlborough and Nelson)
- Deep South (South of Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill)
Particiation Numbers
Participation continues to grow from the initial events in 1999 with 42 teams and peaking with 78 teams in 2019 before COVID. Statistics do show the impact of the Christchurch earthquakes in February 2011.
Participation at Northern Schools had been between 31-36 teams between 2009 and 2014. In 2014, UWHNZ decision was made to split into Junior and Senior events for 2015 to accommodate additional teams due to growth in teams in Mid North zone. Unfortunately, this Mid-Northern growth has been matched by a decrease in Auckland numbers due to restricted pool time and space.
UWHNZ are aware of participation numbers for the Central Schools tournament and have been more cautious on the timing of the split based on staganation of participating numbers in the Northern competition. With the inclusion of Marlborough and Nelson schools, participation numbers continued to grow peaking at 42 teams in 2019. The intention is to split Central Schools into Junior and Senior Events when numbers return to approximately 44-48 teams and using either Blenhiem, Nelson and or Wellington venues.
Team sizes
The Tournament team sizes in 1999 was limited to 8 athletes per team. Between 2000 and 2008, team sizes were increased to 10 athletes to accommodate growth. In 2009, team sizes were increased to 12 athletes to align with the International Rules for Underwater Hockey.
Statistics
