Passport applications are in for a young group of Central ice hockey players heading to Australia for their first international tournament. 

The Alexandra Flames under 14 (U14) Pee Wee team will travel to Melbourne to play in the 11th OneHockey International tournament in October.

The Pee Wee team, friends, whānau and the ice hockey community are working hard to raise money to get the team to Melbourne for the week long tournament. 

Coach Rob Sangster said he has coached some of the youngsters since they were six and learning to skate.

“Hockey has taken me all over the world… now it’s my turn to return the favour to these guys.”

He said he loves seeing the progress of the players and getting them up to a national level.

"For some of these kids it’s going to be their first time overseas, it’s really exciting for them.”

Six players from Dunedin are joining the Alexandra Flames Pee Wee team for the trip, and they are the only New Zealand team going.

The combined Pee Wee team will be playing 11 other teams in the tournament, mostly from Australia.

Rob started skating when he was seven on the frozen Manorburn Dam. 

“Hockey has changed my life…[now] my son and I are at ice hockey, and my daughter and wife are into figure skating.”

You’ll find the Sangster family at the rink, sometimes twice a day. 

Rob said the proposed roof over IceInline would be a “game changer”, giving an extra two months of ice per season.

“[Then] we’ll be really competitive with the rest of the country.”

Coach Rob on the ice with players during practice earlier this month. PHOTO: Supplied  

A key fundraising event for the Pee Wee team, ‘A Night with Nadia Lim and Matt Chisholm’ will take place on Friday August 4 at Goldfields School.

The two speakers will share anecdotes from their journeys; Nadia is the co-owner of Royalburn Station, celebrity chef, entrepreneur, author and television personality, and Chatto Creek’s Matt now works as a television producer, podcaster, author, speaker, farmer and mental health advocate. 

A fundraising auction, rolling supper and bar will be available throughout the evening.

Prizes include a full day Central Otago wine tour and lunch from Alpine Luxury Tours. Tickets are online and $50 per person, or $450 for a table of ten.

Along with the event the team has been running barbecues selling sausages and burgers at IceInline on Thursday nights when curling is running, and on Saturdays when Ice Hockey games are on.  

To find out more about Flames Ice Hockey (based at Ice Inline) visit the website.