2022 Winter Season FAQ’s

AKH is conscious that clubs and stakeholders would appreciate some answers to questions they may have over the following weeks about COVID disruptions, please see the below FAQ’s that we’ve compiled to help answer some of your questions as best we can. If you have any further questions please direct them to your club or school contact.

*Please see bottom of page to view an update on Changes to School Sport re CVC requirements. 

Can my team defer as a result of players having to isolate due to Covid? No, there will not be mandatory deferrals as a result of player unavailability due to isolation requirements. AKH will provide greater flexibility in these instances for teams to call upon other players from within their club through dispensations. AKH will investigate the viability of a player ‘loan’ system with clubs across the same division for teams/clubs without feeder teams.

What happens if someone in my team or game contracts Covid? Follow the advice from the Ministry of Health as to whether you are a close or casual contact. Isolate and get tested if you feel unwell.

What happens if the length of the season is impacted? As with 2020 and 2021 Covid impacted seasons AKH will work with clubs and survey stakeholders to counter any lost weeks within a reasonable timeframe, and/or reformat competition draws to fit available weeks left. AKH Competition Fees (Umpire & Turf Hire costs) would be refunded accordingly for any games lost.

What happens if the mandates change or are dropped completely? Hockey is a vaccinated sport with all participants and spectators aged over 12 years required to have a My Vaccine Pass to enter our facilities. We are operating under the current government protocol. Should any changes to government mandates arise, our Board and staff will revisit our policies accordingly.

Will Secondary School (College Sport) Hockey be vaccinated participants only? Current vaccine mandates for children over the age of 12 means that at the time of writing Secondary School Hockey will require a My Vaccine Pass. Should government policy change we will revisit with College Sport accordingly.

Will Junior Hockey be vaccinated participants only? Children under the age of 12 years do not need a My Vaccine Pass, and cannot get one. Anyone aged over 12 years and 3 months will need a My Vaccine Pass to enter Hockey facilities across Auckland.

How will AKH police Vaccine Passes? The onus is on clubs and teams to ensure their registered members and players are all vaccinated. This will be a rule of entry for Youth and Senior Hockey. Clubs are required to ensure participants over the age of 12 years are vaccinated. As with contact tracing in 2020/21, team delegates are required to ensure their team complies and is accounted for. Team Delegates will also need to ensure everyone within their team has a current My Vaccine Pass at training and matches. AKH staff will check passes on the gate and at the bar for spectators.

What happens if My Vaccine Pass expires? You will need to provide your club and/or team delegate with an updated My Vaccine Pass once you have received your booster.

Will you allow spectators? In green and orange light spectators are permitted. In red light we will only allow one parent spectator for Junior, Youth and College Sport games at LEP. No spectators are permitted during trainings, for Junior trainings please ensure your team has a meeting point with a Coach/Manager/Parent Helper before you enter the stadium as a group.

What are the rules at other turfs? Each hockey turf across Auckland currently operate as Vaccine Pass sites. Auckland Hockey competitions, programmes and events will require vaccine passes for all participants and spectators. Unless otherwise stated, LEP rules around spectators apply to all venues.

Is the LEP Bar/Café open? Please refer to the Red, Orange and Green light table above. Bar/Café service is restricted in red light framework as per hospitality rules. Please note we have moved to a cashless service. Our opening hours are likely to be affected during the foreseeable future.

What changes are there for participants with Hockey NZ’s new database/competition programme?

2022 registration of players for both Youth and Senior competitions will require all participants to register via Hockey NZ’s new national database, which will be used for the 2022 Winter Season. The new database also encompasses match day e-score cards. To find out more about Hockey NZ’s database project here.

LEP Protocol under Traffic Light Settings

Click here for the PDF version of our 2022 Season FAQs

CHANGES to SCHOOL SPORT re CVC requirements (to be added to our COVID FAQs)

March 9 2022

* It has been signalled by the Government that Vaccine Passes will not be required for school students participating in a school representative team, on or off school sites.

* This does not apply to school students who are participating in a community event or competition (eg Club Hockey) as individuals in a community team (eg a club youth team), but it does apply where a school team is entered into a community sport/recreation competition (eg summer hockey social competition).

* This announcement requires a change to legislation and this will take time.  The current guidance applies until the legal paperwork is done – expected by March 15 and TBC by SNZ.

* For hockey, the two biggest challenges are external venues with their own vaccination requirements (eg Association turfs) and schools who refuse to allow unvaccinated students from other schools onsite. At present in Auckland all turfs used by the AK Hockey Association have a CVC requirement.

*HNZ has indicated that hockey facilities should continue to operate under the current settings of the red framework. Ie 100 person restrictions with CVC.

*HNZ awaits more detail and understands that if a local facility (eg LEP) is vaccine mandated you will be able to maintain this approach and treat school teams as you would under 12’s i.e. as they are vaccinated regardless of whether they are or not noting that any adults associated with the teams will still need to be vaccinated.

*Auckland Hockey, College Sport and Hockey NZ appreciate many people would like to see restrictions also relaxed for club and community sport. We understand that this will be considered as part of ongoing work to ensure settings in the COVID-19 Response remain fit-for-purpose.