Competition Handbook
Find below the link to download the 2024 Wellington Hockey Open Grade Competition Handbook which outlines rules, regulations and procedures that all coaches, managers, players and officials need to follow.
Open Grade Competition
Wellington Hockey offer various levels of competition in the Open Grade Competition from Premier, Intercity and Reserve. These matches are held across all Wellington turfs. Having the various grades enables us to maintain a hockey environment which is enjoyable, rewarding and satisfying for all people involved. Entry to these competitions is via our Wellington based clubs. To find the contact details for our Wellington Clubs, please click here.
Player Transfers
Player transfers are required when players change clubs. This process can be done via PlayHQ and can be initiated by:
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A player, during registration to their intended new club or
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A club administrator, from the Administration Portal.
Transfers require the approval of the player’s current and new club, and their association before the player can complete their registration to their new club.
A transfer request is only required if all of the following conditions are met:
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A player is registering to a club or a club administrator has initiated the player transfer;
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The player’s last club registration within the competition being registered to was to a different club; and
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The competition being registered to has transfers enabled
Transfer requests are never required:
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for coach or team manager registrations,
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for independent (non-club) registrations,
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for the first registration within a competition, and for subsequent registrations to the same club within a competition,
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for registrations to the same club, to a different competition
2024 Competition Formats
Start Date: 6th April 2024
End Date: 24th August 2024
Number of Teams: 8
Grade Specific Notes:
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The first round of Competition will run from 6th April to 11th May. Every team must play each other once in order to rank InterCity.
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One off Wednesday night game on 17th April
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Late starts on 27th April due to player recovery time from Wellington rep games on Friday 26th April
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InterCity will run from 18th May to 22nd June with no game on King’s Birthday weekend (InterCity has already been delayed by a week to accommodate 8 team round robin in Wellington)
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Second local round will run from 29th June to 10th August, which includes a game on Matariki
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Two-week standard final series starts on 17th August, with final games on 24th August in following format:
Semi Finals:
Game A) 1v4
Game B) 2v3
Game C) 5v8
Game D) 6v7
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Winner Game C v Winner Game D
7th Place) Loser Game C vs Loser Game D
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Start Date: 13th April 2024
End Date: 24th August 2024
Number of Teams: 6
Grade Specific Notes:
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The first round of Competition will run from 13th April to 11th May. Every team must play each other once to rank InterCity.
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Late starts on 27th April due to player recovery time from Wellington rep games on Friday 26th April
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InterCity will run from 18th May to 22nd June with no game on King’s Birthday weekend
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No game on Matariki for P1M
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Final local round will run from 6th July to 3rd August
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Dalefield will be drawn at home for the first week of Finals on the 10th August regardless of placing (enables the draw for other grades to be finalised)
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Three-week final series starts on 10th August, Semi-Finals on the 17th August and Finals on 24th August:
Quarter Finals/Top 2 Double Chance:
Game A) 1v2
Game B) 3v6
Game C) 4v5
Semi Finals:
Game D) Winner Game A vs Winner Game B
Game E) Loser Game A vs Winner Game B
5th Place) Loser Game B vs Loser Game C
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game D v Winner Game E
3rd Place) Loser Game D vs Loser Game E
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Start Date: 7th April 2024
End Date: 25th August 2024
Number of Teams: 8
Grade Specific Notes:
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Pre-Season Challenge Round to run from 7th April to 20th April (3 games of Pool play) before Challenge Finals on 27th between equal rank in each pool (1st vs 1st, 2nd vs 2nd etc)
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After Challenge Round, the ladder will be reset.
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Local competition will run from 5th May to 11th August with each team playing each other twice
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No games on King’s Birthday Weekend (Saturday 1st June & Sunday 2nd June)
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Games to be played on Matariki weekend (Saturday 29th June & Sunday 30th June)
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Two week standard final series on 18th August and 24th August in following format:
Semi Finals:
Game A) 1v4
Game B) 2v3
Game C) 5v8
Game D) 6v7
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Winner Game C v Winner Game D
7th Place) Loser Game C vs Loser Game D
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Start Date: 6th April 2024
End Date: 24th August 2024
Number of Teams: 8
Grade Specific Notes:
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Pre-Season Challenge Round to run from 7th April to 20th April (3 games of Pool play) before Challenge Finals on 27th between equal rank in each pool (1st vs 1st, 2nd vs 2nd etc)
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After Challenge Round, the ladder will be reset.
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Men’s Premier 3 competition will run from 5th May to 11th August with each team playing each other twice.
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No games on King’s Birthday Weekend (Saturday 1st June & Sunday 2nd June).
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Games to be played on Matariki weekend (Saturday 29th June & Sunday 30th June).
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Two-week standard final series on 18th August and 24th August in following format:
Semi Finals:
Game A) 1v4
Game B) 2v3
Game C) 5v8
Game D) 6v7
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Winner Game C v Winner Game D
7th Place) Loser Game C vs Loser Game D
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Start Date: 6th April 2024
End Date: 24th August 2024
Number of Teams: 9
Grade Specific Notes:
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Men’s Premier 4 will run from 6th April to 10th August with each team playing each other twice in a Round Robin format, including two byes.
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Two-week standard final series on 17th August and 24th August in following format:
Semi Finals:
Game A) 1v4
Game B) 2v3
Game C) 5vBye
Game D) 6v7
Game E) 8v9
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Winner Game C v Winner Game D
7th Place) Loser Game D vs Winner Game E
9th Place) Loser Game E vs Bye
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Start Date: 6th April 2024
End Date: 24th August 2024
Number of Teams: 8
Grade Specific Notes:
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Pre-Season Challenge Round to run from 7th April to 20th April (3 games of Pool play) before Challenge Finals on 27th between equal rank in each pool (1st vs 1st, 2nd vs 2nd etc)
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After Challenge Round, the ladder will be reset.
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Women’s Premier 3 competition will run from 5th May to 11th August with each team playing each other twice
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Two-week standard final series on 18th August and 24th August in following format:
Semi Finals:
Game A) 1v4
Game B) 2v3
Game C) 5v8
Game D) 6v7
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Winner Game C v Winner Game D
7th Place) Loser Game C vs Loser Game D
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Start Date: 6th April 2024
End Date: 24th August 2024
Number of Teams: 11
After the initial round robin phase, teams will be split into top 6 bottom 5.
Top 6 split into two pools of 3:
Pool A:
1st Place, 4th Place, 5th Place
Pool B:
2nd Place, 3rd Place, 6th Place
Each pool will engage in a round robin over 3 weeks, with points resetting after the first round robin. Teams with a bye week will play a friendly match against the other team with a bye from the opposite pool.
At the conclusion of the round robin phase, semifinals will be held where teams from each pool cross over (17th August).
Bottom 5:
The bottom 5 teams will participate in a separate round robin format to conclude the season over 5 weeks, with points resetting after the initial round robin. There will be no finals for this group. Team with most points finish 7th overall.
Semi Finals:
Game A - 1st (Pool A) vs 2nd (Pool B)
Game B - 2nd (Pool A) vs 1st (Pool B)
Game C (Friendly) - 3rd (Pool A) vs 3rd (Pool B)
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Game C
Start Date: 7th April 2024
End Date: 25th August 2024
Number of Teams: 7
Grade Specific Notes:
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Challenge Round to run from 7th April to 27th April, no finals due to bye (no chance for everyone to play everyone)
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After Challenge Round, the ladder will be reset.
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Women’s Reserve 2 competition will run from 5th May to 11th August with each team playing each other twice
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Two-week standard final series on 18th August and 25th August in following format:
Semi Finals:
Game A) 1v4
Game B) 2v3
Game C) 5vBye
Game D) 6v7
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Winner Game C v Winner Game D
7th Place) Loser Game C vs Bye
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Start Date: 7th April 2023
End Date: 25th August 2023
Number of Teams: 9
Grade Specific Notes:
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Men’s Reserve 2 competition will run from 7th April to 11th August with each team playing each other twice, including two byes.
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Two-week standard final series on 18th August and 25th August in following format:
Semi Finals:
Game A) 1v4
Game B) 2v3
Game C) 5vBye
Game D) 6v7
Game E) 8v9
Finals:
Grand Final) Winner Game A v Winner Game B
3rd Place) Loser Game A vs Loser Game B
5th Place) Winner Game C v Winner Game D
7th Place) Loser Game D vs Winner Game E
9th Place) Loser Game E vs Bye
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Adult Open Grade Hockey
The Open Grade Competition is the foremost premier hockey competition of the Wellington region. The competition offers grades for individuals of all abilities.
