National Maori Hockey Champion

Every year at Labour Weekend a National Maori Hockey Tournament takes place with teams from all over New Zealand, divided into rohe (local area).  This is the 22nd year this has been held and only the first time the tournament has been held in the South Island.  GypsyMae Harihona-Harrison was selected to represent Te Waipounamu ki Waitaha, with most of the players coming from the Canterbury area.

The tournament was held at Nunweek Park, Christchurch, from Friday 24th through to Sunday evening.  Fourteen teams registered for this event, eight womens and six men.

GypsyMae's team held some strong players coming from the secondary schools premiere grade and included Black Stick, Jordan Grant who competed in this year's Commonwealth Games.  Even with such a solid team all the games were hard fought for, where Waitaha were able to go into the final against defending champions Waiariki (Rotorua) to win the National Women's Title 1-0.  The team stats were 16 goals for, 3 against over the total competition.

GypsyMae's impressive performance showed she could hold her own as a contributing team member playing positions ranging from left and right-back through to mid-field. This was a great opportunity for GypsyMae to gain knowledge and experience from some national and world class players.  She is also stoked to be a National Maori Hockey Champion as well!