Hockey in New Zealand, National Spaces and Places Strategy

Date: August 2023 – May 2025 
Client: Hockey New Zealand 

Project Description

Since the 2016 National Facility Strategy, Hockey New Zealand (HNZ) has transformed significantly. In 2022, HNZ launched the ‘Taking Our Game Forward’ National Strategic Direction, focusing on opening and growing the game and guiding the community towards this new vision.  

The approach to the 2024 National Hockey Spaces and Places Strategy is a departure from previous strategies. There is a desire to have a more holistic view of hockey participation and to make the sport accessible to all, which means hockey in New Zealand needs to take a different approach. 

RSL’s Role

The new Strategy supports the hockey community in the procurement of new facilities where appropriate, but more importantly, this Strategy aims to demonstrate the wide range of opportunities that are fit for purpose for the sport of hockey.  

To this end, 6 guiding principles were crafted to establish a comprehensive framework that prioritises opening and growing the game, fostering inclusivity, sustainability, and community involvement in terms of facility provision. Alongside this, a thorough investigation of supply and demand was carried out, incorporating various key indicators, to enable data-based decision making. 

Project Outcome

The way forward, as outlined in the Strategy, provides a clear direction for addressing the identified challenges. By utilising the existing resources within the community and adopting a variety of surfaces and game formats, HNZ aims to ‘open and grow’ the game to a broader audience. This approach will not only make hockey more inclusive and accessible but also ensure that it is more sustainable. 

Central to this Strategy is the adoption of environmental and financial sustainability practices, which aim to reduce the carbon footprint and operational costs while enhancing the longevity and efficiency of facilities.