History

Maori Hockey tournaments in general were prevalent throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s, often held in the East Coast of the North Island throughout the bay of plenty and in the Waikato Maniapoto district. When the number dwindled, national women’s hockey representative, coach and “mother of Maori hockey”, Margaret Hiha (Ngati Rangitihi, Te Arawa) decided to push the revitalisation of Maori involvement in hockey and established a National Maori Hockey Tournament. The inaugural tournament was held in Napier in 1992 and hosted by the people of Takitimu waka region. Tournaments have been held annually and have been hosted by each of the Maori Hockey Districts and are determined by our interpretation of the Maori Land Court boundaries. The national tournament is held every year over Labour weekend and is an official listing on Hockey New Zealand’s calendar of events.

Maori Hockey Districts (Rohe)

The districts are based on Maori Land Court boundaries. These districts include:

• Aotea – Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua
• Te Tai Tokerau – Northland
• Tairawhiti – East Coast, Wairoa
• Tamaki Makaurau – Auckland, North Harbour
• Waikato-Maniapoto – Waikato-King Country – Counties
• Waiariki – Wider Bay of Plenty
• Takitimu – Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington
• Te Waipounamu – South Island

The tournament gets shared across all rohe on a six to eight year cycle.

Tournament Venues since 1992

	Year	Host Rohe	Town/City
1	1992	Takitimu	Napier
2	1993	Waiariki	Rotorua
3	1994	Tairawhiti	Gisborne
4	1995	Aotea	Palmerston North
5	1996	Te Tai Tokerau	Whangarei
6	1997	Tamaki Makaurau	Auckland
7	1998	Waikato-Maniapoto	Hamilton
8	1999	Takitimu	Wellington
9	2000	Waiariki	Rotorua
10	2001	Aotea	Stratford
11	2002	Te Tai Tokerau	Whangarei
12	2003	Tamaki Makaurau	North Harbour
13	2004	Waikato-Maniapoto	Hamilton
14	2005	Takitimu	Napier
15	2006	Waiariki	Rotorua
16	2007	Aotea	Palmerston North
17	2008	Te Tai Tokerau	Whangarei
18	2009	Tamaki Makaurau	Auckland
19	2010	Waikato-Maniapoto	Hamilton
20	2011	Takitimu	Napier
21	2012	Waiariki	Rotorua
22	2013	Aotea	Wanganui
23	2014	Te Wai Pounamu	Christchurch
24	2015	Te Tai Tokerau	Whangarei
25	2016	Tamaki Makaurau	North Harbour
26	2017	Waikato-Maniapoto	Hamilton
27	2018	Waiariki	Rotorua
28	2019	Tairawhiti	Gisborne
29	2020	Waikato-Maniapoto	Hamilton (Voted due to COVID)
30	2021	Te Waipounamu	Nelson