Hard to believe but Papatoetoe Roller Hockey Player Wayne Bennett passed away February 19th at home in his sleep. Wayne has played Roller Hockey representing many clubs and even for the NZ Colts and NZ Junior divisions. Wayne started playing as a youngster for Roller World Mangere Club seen here below: third from left 1984....

Wayne was always willing to help out teams when needed and often played for Wanganui and New Plymouth when they were down a player. Wayne was at his best in his late teens when he represented NZ in the under 21 Colts: seen below...far right

Wayne liked to have a beer and a smoke and you could always be sure to catch him either in the bar or out side talking to anyone willing to chat.. For all those who knew Wayne I am sure there are some good stories to be told. As a team mate of Wayne's for many years in many different teams from Juniors to 1st division, I can say he had a good heart and only wanted to please... 

The one story I will share - We were heading away for the NZ National Championships and while we were driving I asked Wayne how he got on at work getting time off to travel, as I knew his employers were not happy with him going.. his answer was I just left! I then said did you quit?? he said no just left...consequently he lost that job when he returned, but this shows how much he loved the game and his mates...

My condolences to all of Wayne's Family and friends.

Rest in Peace Wayne.

The Club is looking to have a special club night each month to attract ex and new players to join in for a night of games. This will start 5th of March and will be free entry for all new or old players...

This will be held at Active Zone In Glenfield in Auckland, from 8pm. 1st Wed each month.

Contact Russ on 027 487 1351 for more details...

Only weeks after saying goodbye to Les Karayan the Australian Roller Hockey community will need to farewell Mikey Emmett!

Mikey unfortunately was killed recently in a tragic motor cycle accident. Mikey was a fun guy with a big heart and large smile he will be deeply missed by all that knew him.

Our deepest condolences go out to Steve and Cathy, Mikeys parents and to all the Australian Roller Hockey Community during this very tough time.

RIP MIKEY: You will be remembered….

News Brisbane cyclist Les Karayan killed in freak accident Kate McKenna and Felicity

Les Karayan with children Alessandro, 11, and Sabine, 9, and wife of over 20 years, Kerri-Lee. Source: Supplied

IT was a "beautiful day," remarked Les Karayan, who was not going to let a few broken spokes stop him from his morning ride.

His wife had come to his aid after his bike broke down early Saturday morning but as soon as he returned home and fixed the wheel, he bade farewell to his family and hit the road for a second time.

No one could have known it would be his last ride.

Mr Karayan, 40, of Greenslopes, died when a truck clipped the rail bridge at Annerley Rd at Dutton Park and crushed him.

His wife Kerri-Lee was too devastated to speak yesterday but in an email to The Courier-Mail she sketched details of a life devoted to sporting passions.

"He played many sports - tennis, soccer, cricket in childhood. He played roller hockey for Australia and coached the women's national team.

"He started triathlons events leading to ironman distance. His favourite leg was cycling," she wrote.

  Mr Karayan’s broken bike about 30 minutes before the accident. Source: Supplied

The haunting final photograph Mr Karayan uploaded to Facebook showed his broken bike resting against a traffic light pole at Mt Gravatt. It is believed to have been taken 30 minutes before the crash.The caption: 'Broken … at least it was at km 5 not 100!'

Mr Karayan was remembered as a loving father of two and a consummate sales manager with the "gift of the gab".

"He was a fantastic dad and a good, good salesperson so he loved to talk and stir people up," long-time friend Michael Surman told The Courier-Mail. "He had just finished 19 years with PMP Distribution and he had just started a job with Oztrail two weeks ago.

"He was really excited and thrilled about the change."

  Les Karayan was the victim of a freak cycling accident. Source: Supplied

Mr Karayan attended Holland Park High School and was a proficient cyclist who treated people with enormous respect, Mr Surman said."His father is Egyptian and his mother is Italian and that hospitality and kindness towards people … that came out through Les," he said.

Mr Karayan met Kerri-Lee through tennis some 20 years ago and built a life with her and their two children, Alessandro, 11, and Sabine, 9.

Family and friends gathered at their family home in Greenslopes yesterday as members of the cycling community paid tribute online.

TThe scene of the accident at Dutton Park on Saturday. Source: News Limited

A bouquet of flowers has been left at the scene, along with the message "in memory and in celebration of someone who made this world a brighter and better place".Friends and members of the cycling community have taken to social networking website Facebook to voice their shock and pay tribute to Mr Karayan.

"This is truly devastating. He was a great guy and will be missed," Susan Thomas wrote on Safe Cycling Australia's page.

"Les was a true gentleman and a great friend, he will be dearly missed. Stay safe everyone while out on your bikes," Vanessa Trott wrote.

Safe Cycling Australia director David Sharp - who is also a truck driver himself - said news of Karayan's death had hit the cycling community "hard".

While the crash is under investigation, Mr Sharp rejected suggestions it had been a "freak accident".

He said cyclists have the right to ride on the road and that truck drivers were responsible for knowing the height of their vehicle.

Forensics crash officers are investigating but police say it's too early to say whether charges will be laid.

Newly voted President of New Zealand Roller Hockey Greg Brooks has resigned from his position after only serving a few months in the top position. It has not been advised to what caused the shock resignation. Greg is a very polite and hard working person for Roller Hockey and has represented NZ on a number of occasions. Greg has also shown his commitment for many years helping at club level for the Papatoetoe Roller Sports Club and prior with the Mt Wellington Roller Sports Club.

.

It will be a shame to see Greg part from this role as I was sure he had a lot to offer.

.

 Following Greg's resignation came the resignation from Treasurer Vikki Bardo, this certainly shows there are issues within our executive management committee.

.

I will be watching very carefully to the outcome from the latest resignations and how the RHNZ Committee  handle this. I hope that the Roller Hockey public of NZ get behind the sport and push for a positive change before the sport is beyond repair...

.

Rinkhockeynz.com

Papatoetoe Roller Sports building set for closure.

Council force the successful community based sporting clubs - Papatoetoe Roller Sports Club, Sabres Inline Hockey Club and Auckland Roller Derby League - to look elsewhere for the future.

Since 1963 The Papatoetoe Roller Sports Club has been operating in Wallace Road Papatoetoe. The building is used every night of the week and most weekends, by more than three clubs and the public. The Papatoetoe Roller Sports Club is the most successful Roller Hockey Club in NZ History and also is the current holder of the NZ Club Champions Trophy.

The local community board is going to use the buildings current location as a new road to allow access to more apartment and housing developments planned in the near future. The Clubs have not seen any plans and are unaware of the timeline suggested, although they have been told that the building must come down in May 2013.

With no other participating groups for these community minded sports in the South Auckland district, the council’s decision to move the groups away from this site makes finding a new venue extremely hard for all. And to make the blow even harder, they are removing genuine success from the area.

The undefeated Auckland Roller Derby League (ARDL) is the current New Zealand Championship Club, and the Sabre Inline Hockey Club is one of the oldest inline hockey institutions in New Zealand. Founded in 1995, the club is one of the original eleven foundation member clubs of the New Zealand Inline Hockey Association (NZIHA).

Going further down, this decision by the Council will put an unnecessary strain on the national association, as all the clubs affected by the demolition of this purpose built facility are at the top of their disciplines.

The sporting arena has housed many teams and clubs at all levels but the forgotten users are the all-important kids and families from the local community. They will fare the worst from this decision, as the weekly ritual of going down to the (rink) for a skate, or going to learn to skate classes held on Wednesdays will no longer be available.

For all the thousands of local community users that have access to this building for more than fifty years - not only recreational and competitive skating, but other functions as well – the question arises “where too from now?”

The Council has not presented any relocation options for the Clubs or offered any financial assistance, even though the building is owned by the Papatoetoe Roller Sports Club. These Clubs are now being forced to look outside of their home community as they attempt to find a suitable facility, which will be a near impossible task given that the building requirement of more than 40 metres x 30 metres with no internal roof support posts, is a rare construction indeed.

The tournament started on the Friday night with some local teams battling it out to show they are the teams to beat. Surprising to most players was the level of skills seen, with imports from other countries in many teams the level was very good. The Victoria local teams showed they were the teams to beat earlier on and with a late charge from Brisbane. Mordialloc a team that has been around for many years showed that age and fitness can be over ruled by skill and game plan, playing Brisbane 1 in the final.

Team FIGJAM a made up team from NZ that was put together by Rob Vazey of Papatoetoe featured ex NZ national players like Rob Vazey, Tony Deller, Craig Flood, Carlin Barry, Greg Brooks and Rohan Singh. Other team members were Lance Pratt from Hastings now with Papatoetoe and Nathan Clark the sixteen year old player destined to make the national team.

The team failed to win the first game against Brisbane 2 and caused the team to look hard at their playing style. The FIGJAM team went on to win the next two games against Skateabout and Warnambool and battled against Mordialloc in their fourth game which was the deciding game for the finalist from their section. The team had never played together and some players had not played any games for some time, so on the overall performance it was average finishing 7th but I know they had a blast and a looking forward to playing again. Brisbane 1 went on to win the 2013 Australia Day Cup.

The tournament was organized by Stephen Hoey and Les Karayan and job well done!!

Just a week ago it became known to all club members at the official 2012 prize giving that the Papatoetoe Roller Skating Club will be closing the doors in May. The club which has been operating for more than 50 years is about to close to let the council demolish the stadium to make way for a road.

.

The news came with a heavy blow to many members and you could see the pain in their eyes. The club has been running for many years on a shoe string but has been operating very well over the past four to five years, holding the Trans Tasman Cup a couple of years ago and with the club recently winning the NZ overall club championship in 2012 along with many other titles.

.

The Papatoetoe Club will be holding a farewell Tournament at Easter Weekend 2013 and has asked for all those skaters that have skated their or have fond memories of the club to come down and join in on the last weekend. Rink Hockey NZ will update on all information from now forward to keep all you skaters and supporters in the loop.

This photo was taken during one of the prize giving's at Papatoetoe when North Sports from Australia played in our invitation Tournament in 2005.

NZ team 2010 playing at Papatoetoe and winning the Trans Tasman Cup

Photos from the Trans Tasman Cup 2010

The Trans Tasman Cup in 2010 generated some of the best hockey ever seen in NZ and brought in some of the biggest crowds. Papatoetoe also had the Manukau City Mayor close the event stating to all fans that this was a stadium and sport to stay in this town...funny how a couple of years later things have changed...

For all updates and results please go to World News Page