Easter – 18th April to 21st April
It’s back! Bigger and better than ever!
The New Zealand Heritage Hockey Tournament is turning five years old this Easter as we return to North Harbour Hockey Stadium and look forward to seeing who will be champions this year.
Returning this year is the 2024 champion men’s team – New Zealand Indians – who will be looking to retain their title. Whilst the women will be looking to a new champion this year as the Heritage Barbarian champion women’s team will not be returning for tournament 2025.
We have the NZ Indians and NZ Asian teams backing up from last year and we will see the return of the NZ Maori and NZ Pasifika teams after a year hiatus from this tournament. The NZ Maori teams won both men’s and women’s competitions in 2023 and will be looking to push their way back on the podium this year – but against very strong resistance.
Then we have the newcomers. As we grow our tournament and look to extend our reach to other heritage markets, we welcome the Fiji Heritage teams to our shores. After dipping their toes last year with three of their players joining other teams in 2024, we are delighted to confirm Fiji’s full squads to travel to New Zealand to compete.
To round out this year’s tournament, we have two more new teams.
On the men’s side of the draw, we welcome the Panjab Heritage Hockey team. A team of primarily overseas players of Punjab heritage travelling to New Zealand from as far as Australia, India, Pakistan and Canada to compete. There is talk of a few stars joining their ranks and we look forward to the unveiling of their squad.
Finally, we have the Punjab Warriors women’s team with up to 13 players traveling from India to compete with a few home-grown heroes. They are sending a strong squad with national level and Olympic level experience to compete against the other women’s heritage entities. This will no doubt be a team to watch, and we look forward to putting the spotlight on some of their players in due course.
Make sure you tune in to watch and support your teams this coming Easter. The competition will be HOT!
