South Island Hockey Selector

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31080, 8 June 1966, Page 15

South Island Hockey Selector

*M R D ‘ N ’ HEFFORD > a former Ashburton representative hockey player and selector-coach of the Ashburton senior team since 1960, was recently appointed a South Island major associations’ selector. His selection for this post is particularly noteworthy in that Ashburton belongs to the Southern Minor Associations’ district, and Mr Hefford is the first selector from Ashburton to have been chosen as a South Island Major Associations’

selector. Mr Hefford was an Ashburton representative player from 1951 to 1955. He has been selector-coach of the Ashburton senior representative team since 1960, selector of the Southern Minor Associations since 1961 (and coach since 1962), and was a South Island Minor Associations’ selector from 1961 to 1965 and convener of the selection panel in 1964 and 1965. He is a member of the New Zealand Hockey Association’s Council. Mr Hefford toured Fiji as umpire of a Southern Minor Associations’ team in 1961. Since Mr Hefford was appointed coach of the Ashburton team in 1960 it has played 54 matches and has lost Only 15. Four of the matches lost were during the Challenge Shield tourna-

ment in 1963 and other losses were to touring Queensland and Australian representative teams. The Ashburton team is the holder of the lan Smith trophy for the champion Southern Minor Associations’ team, and has won this title in five of the last six years. Other districts in the Southern Minor Association are South Canterbury, North Otago, Gore, and Southland. The Southern Minor Associations will compete for the trophy this (Queen’s Birthday) week-end at Invercargill. Mr Hefford and Mr M. Bishop selected the Ashburton team to defend the trophy a month ago, and it has carried out intensive practice in the ensuing weeks in readiness for the tournament.