AshColl will not be participating in regional hockey tournaments during winter tournament week due to senior exams. Photo supplied.Secondary schools around the country are ploughing ahead with regional hockey tournaments later this year, however Ashburton College have pulled the pin.

Hockey New Zealand announced last week that it was hosting regional-based tournaments in lieu of abandoned national events.

However Ashburton College principal Ross Preece confirmed it would not be sending a team as it would clash with school exams.

Two South Island championship events are planned for winter tournament week (August 31-September 4) to be held in Dunedin and Nelson.

“We are really excited that while tournaments will not look like they have traditionally in 2020 for our secondary school students, they have the opportunity to represent their schools in a way that ensures players’ safety and well-being is paramount,” a Hockey New Zealand spokesperson said.

The announcement had a mixed response from Hockey New Zealand followers on its Facebook page.

Some queried the timing of the tournaments ahead of exams and others questioned why national tournaments could not go ahead amid a likely move to Alert Level 1.

Preece said the school had already decided that this year school exams were more important.

“Our senior students missed seven weeks of instruction/teaching and had varying levels of work completion during lockdown,” he said.

“Students in Years 11 and 12 have time on their side to catch up but the Year 13s do not.”

School exams were originally scheduled for the fifth week of term 3.

However, several faculties requested exams be pushed back to ensure all the material was covered, Preece said.

A decision was made to move exam week by a fortnight following discussions between the school’s senior leadership team.

“All the major codes had already cancelled their national and South Island tournaments including netball, basketball, soccer and rugby,” Preece said.

“It is regrettable, but we feel that this extra time is vital especially for our Year 13s.”

Mount Hutt College have not had a hockey team for the past two years, however sports co-ordinator Latoya Keepa did not rule out teams in other codes participating in regional Aoraki tournaments later in the year.

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 8 June 2020