The NZ Police Hockey men’s and women’s teams put the chill on all three of their Defence Force counterparts at the Interservices tournament in late July.

The men were without some of their “old heads” but had four rookies to inject some youth into the team, Police Hockey’s Toni Robson says. First up for the men on the frosty Levin turfs was Navy, who normally win convincingly but not this year. The Police players worked well together to beat them 5-0.

The result was a little closer against a strong Army team, with Police eventually winning 2-1. In their final match, the Police men sealed the Interservices title for the first time since 2018 with a convincing 7-0 win over Air Force.

Toni notes that Air Force Base Ōhakea was the accommodation provider on both title-winning occasions so “could perhaps be our winning place”.

The Police women’s team included “a new mum or two”, the return of some former players and three rookies. It proved to be a winning combination that produced another clean sweep, 5-0 v Air Force, 6-0 v Army and 4-1 over Navy.

“Over the week, a few adventures were had, a beer or two to celebrate and only one visit to the emergency department after a player took a stick to the head,” Toni says.

Most valuable players were Sarah Rutherford and Michael Gilliver who both had an excellent tournament.