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Aus still has us for numbers. The major centers have rinks. There aren’t many great rinks but a few more than just Melbourne. Erina on central coast and Newcastle was upgraded I think. We are getting much better though. I’ve seen a big change in 5 years. The chch reno was pretty nice.
Sydney seems to be the place to play hockey in Australia.
Your total number of indoor rinks and players in Australia is much higher than in NZ.
that would be because of the population difference, it’s ridiculous.
could the powers that be combine both leagues? not just one nz team in aussie league but the entire leagues combined? financials would be a bitch but could you imagine it? O for oresome!!!
Problem I forsee is that our 5 team league couldn’t just melt into the aihl. The teams joining would need to be competitive and therefore wouldn’t be all 5. That would help the teams who join whether it be combined or not, but the other regions would suffer in the long term as far as development.
Not to mention travel expenses, the length of the season of the AIHL compared to NZIHL, time zone changes etc etc. Perth was supposed to join the AIHL but I think that was scuttled partly because it was too expensive for teams to fly there. Can’t imagine NZ would be more attractive option for the 7 remaining teams.
It would be good to have something like an nzihl allstars vs aihl allstars game though!
Think that it would be a good start to have home/away series with the lower placed AIHL teams to gauge the level of competition.
It’s cheaper for teams to fly across the ditch than to Perth.
The Aussie president mentioned that he wanted a summer league for the 18/20 age grade players, with the eastern states and a NZ team (6 team). Games would be played over several extended weekend.
It still comes down to the money.
kinda getting off topic here… does anyone know anything new about the proposed Wellington or Taupo ice rinks???
wellington is not moving forward as far as I know. Been in the discussion stage for ages.
Taupo approved a lease for about a hectare of land in Nov’09 however that is no guarantee that the rink will still go forward. However it seems to be at a more advanced stage than most. My undertanding is that it’s still going through local commitee for approval etc etc. A 3rd rink in the north island would be a great boost to the sport.
that… kinda sucks….
Well we can only hope eh? what about Hams or Palmy north? Tauranga? anywhere would do really
Theres lots of politics involved with a Wellington ice rink let alone making something financaly feasible. I think Taupo are still looking at the feasibility of the venture but they do have enthusistic backers and most importantly some Council support so I would suggest that Taupo may be the most likely to happen out of the two if at all.
As far as NZIHL goes, Taupo would certainly have a decent base for inline converts (debate begins now on merit of them, I would argue while not ideal, better than place where no one has seen a hockey stick)
But the travel would be diabolical, AFAIK Taupo isn’t on a main trunk line for flights, thereby increasing travel time and costs exponentially. Would almost be cheaper to have 6th franchise based in Melbourne.
Pooh to Wellington they have been talking about it for years, I think I will be as old as Keith before anything happens, whether I will be able to kick my head at that age I will leave open to speculation.
But yeah for the good of growth in this country there definitely needs to be at least one if not 3-4 rinks between CHCH and Auckland, and what about invers I am sure the licensing trust has paid of the velodrome, time for an ice rink I say.
Incidentally a Velodrome and a Luge track are probably the two largest white elephants in sport, most people can ride a bike sure, but I am not sure how many go for a casual lap on the track.
Not as bad as luge though, you definately can’t go for casual luge…..or you could but probably pay to have your will in order.There is talk of constructing a curling rink in Waitakere but. And i personally think a luge track from the top of signal hill to the bottom would be real good fun and attract people from lots of places
Who really cares about not being on main transportation trunks for the league? We spend 6 hours driving to qtown. By no means is that convenient. As long as its financially viable amongst its own community, the other teams will find a way to get there!
Inliners can make the transition well enough I believe. Ruddle did it. Ant Nathan did it with Swarm. They already have most of the skills in place and exceed the skills of ice players in some areas.
I think assuming that because there could be a rink in a city that suddenly there can be a national league team is assuming a lot.
Dunedin has had a club and a rink already and the transition to being a National League team is hard. Starting with no club, coaches, officials, youth players coming up, equipment, plus all your players having to transition from inline… that’s massive. That could take 6 – 8 years.
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