Overview
Dates: Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 March 2026
Venue: National Hockey Stadium, Wellington
Format: Hockey Nines (9-aside)
Field Size: Full field
Match Times: Between 10:00am – 6:00pm (approx.) each day
Grades: Men and Women
Target Players: Premier 1 and Premier 2 players
Entries: Club teams
Team Entry Fee: $175 per team
Entries close: Thursday 27 February 2026
Tournament Format
Hockey Nines: 9-aside on a full field with Hockey Nines rule adjustments (see below)
Match Length: 2x 15min halves, 5min halftime
Number of Games: Each team will play 5-6 matches across the tournament, depending on team entries for each grade.
Competition Structure
The tournament format will be adjusted based on the number of teams entered in each grade.
4 teams
-
Double round robin (each team plays each other twice)
-
Final ladder placing determines the tournament winner
-
Total of five matches played per team
6 teams
-
Single round robin
-
Finals series to determine placings
-
1v2, 3v4, 5v6
-
-
Total of six matches played per team
8 teams
-
Two pools of four teams (randomly created)
-
Pool play: round robin within pools
-
Crossover finals to determine overall placings
-
1A v 1B, 2A v 2B, 3A v 3B, 4A v 4B
-
-
Total of fives matches played per team
Hockey Nines Rules
Hockey Nines is played under the standard Rules of Hockey, with a small number of format-specific rule variations designed to create a fast, attacking style of play.
These include changes to:
-
Penalty corner and long corner structures
-
An attacking-half requirement
-
Penalty shootouts replacing penalty strokes
-
Additional goal conversion opportunities following field goals
Full details of all rule variations are outlined in the Hockey Nines Handbook, which applies to all matches during the tournament.
Schedule, Draws and Results
-
Teams should plan to be available between 10:00am and 6:00pm on the days of the competition.
-
The tournament draw will be released after entries close.
-
Draws and results will be published on PlayHQ and shared with team organisers prior to the event.
Team Registrations
If your club is interested in entering a team in the Hockey Nines Tournament, please contact Kieran to have your club or team added in PlayHQ. Team entries close on Thursday 27 February, so we encourage clubs to get in touch as soon as possible. Please note that only team entries are required for this tournament and no individual player registrations are needed through PlayHQ.
Kieran Wells, WHA Competitions Manager
