New Zealand Black Sticks men celebrate their win at the 2025 Nations Cup in Malaysia. Photo: WORLDSPORTPICS / PHOTOSPORT
After having their funding cut last year Hockey New Zealand has taken a new approach to their international programme and they're happy with the start they've made.
The Black Sticks men won back to back Nations Cup tournaments with victory in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week to add to the title the Black Sticks women won earlier this year.
The Nations Cup is a week long tournament for teams outside the top nine nations that play in a Pro League.
With a budget of around $750,000 needed for each team, the cost of competing in the Pro League is now out of the reach of Hockey New Zealand after they had their High Performance Sport New Zealand funding slashed.
Last year the women failed to qualify for the Olympics, while the men lost all of their games in Paris and as a result HPSNZ cut their funding by $1.5 million.
Add to that the dropping of hockey from the reduced Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games programme and Hockey New Zealand had to reset their focus for the pinnacle events and how they would prepare for them.
The immediate focus is the 2026 World Cup which will be a combined tournament in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The victories in the Nations Cups was a good start according to Hockey NZ's acting CEO Ken Maplesden.
"It's a good sign that we're building strength back in our programmes," Maplesden told RNZ.
The Black Sticks men are assured of a place in their World Cup by virtue of Oceania rivals Australia having an automatic spot as Pro League champions.
The Black Sticks women will need to beat Australia in the Oceania Cup in September or go to a qualifying tournament in early 2026 to qualify for their World Cup.
Hockey New Zealand had already decided that the women wouldn't join the Pro League next season and while there is now an invitation there for the men after winning the Nations Cup it seems unlikely they would be involved either.
"Ultimately our programme is geared towards the World Cup next year and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles," Maplesden said.
New Zealand Black Sticks women captain Olivia Shannon talks to the team during the 2025 Nations Cup in Chile. Photo: worldsportpics.com/ Photosport
While competing against the best in the Pro League would benefit their teams, the determining factor is the bottom line.
"The balancing act here is trying to make best use of the limited resources that we have and we want to prepare ourselves to perform at those pinnacle events (the World Cup and Olympics) and what is the best way to prepare our programme for that," he said.
"Obviously the absolute elite nations are playing in the Pro League but we think we can build a programme that incorporates competing and doing well at Nations Cup and also getting some top tier competition."
Part of that competition plan is the domestic Premier League which has four franchise men's and women's teams and is entering it's second season.
"The Premier League is essential for us as it provides a domestic opportunity for our high performance players to come together and play top quality games over a six week period and our Black Sticks players are really committed to it."
Maplesden said part of their plan had been to decentralise their programme with players now basing themselves for what is best for them, both for their hockey and for their lives.
The Black Sticks women have the Oceania Cup in September while Maplesden is hoping they can secure 15 to 20 internationals for both teams leading into the World Cup.
