VIEW THE LATEST BLACK STICKS PROGRAMME FOR 2012 HERE
Hockey is New Zealand’s only mainstream team sport which features at Olympic, World Cup and Commonwealth Games, and it is unique amongst other popular codes as both men’s and women’s teams compete alongside each other at all levels, internationally and domestically, with equal recognition and profile.
The Black Sticks continue to make their mark on the world stage, achieving their best ever results at their respective FIH Champions Trophy tournaments in 2011 - the women placing third and the men placing fourth in front of a home crowd in Auckland. More recently, the Black Sticks Women made history by finishing fourth at the 2012 London Olympics - the highest ranked New Zealand women's side at an Olympics, while the Black Sticks Men won the 2012 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for the first time in its 21-year history.
More than 117 countries participate in field Hockey around the world and New Zealand is represented at the highest level by the Black Sticks Men and Women.
BLACK STICKS WOMEN - 3RD (click HERE for current squad members' profiles!)
BLACK STICKS MEN - 6TH (click HERE for current squad members' profiles!)
NB: These rankings have been updated post the London 2012 Olympic placings.
Our Black Sticks Teams commit to a heavy schedule of competition in order to stay at the forefront of this global game - this involves significant travel around the world and an action packed year of home turf activities for the enjoyment of New Zealand spectators:
- Up to 3 Black Sticks Test Series featuring top international opposition in New Zealand annually
- Regular trans Tasman clashes featuring either Black Sticks Men or Women
- Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games
- Olympic Qualifying Tournaments
- World Cups
- World Cup Qualifying Tournaments
- Champions Trophy or Champions Challenge Tournaments
Photos courtesy of:
Andrew Cornaga - Photosport
Grant Treeby
Kevin Clarke
Ben Campbell
