NZ Ice Hockey Rep

Thursday, 26th February 2026 at 8:30am

U18 Ice Hockey Division 3 World Tournament: GBHS student Daiki Phipps (Year 13) may not have ice in his veins, but he sure does have nerves of steel!

Daiki is both excited and nervous to be playing for New Zealand in the U18 Ice Hockey Division 3 World Tournament, held in China.

Potential NZ representatives were invited to join the High Performance Programme (HPP) last September, with the travelling team members selected from the HPP in November.

This week, Daiki, alongside team members from around New Zealand, are at a rigorous Pre-Departure Camp in Botany, before heading off to the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) Tournament Division III, Group A in Hong Kong, China this Saturday (1 March 2026).

The team are scheduled to play 6 games (2nd – 8th March) returning to NZ on the 10th March 2026.

Daiki plays Right Wing, and has also played Centre when representing Auckland for the last two years, at the NZ national U18 tournaments.

The countries participating in the U18 Ice Hockey Division 3 World Tournament in seed order are Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel, Hong Kong China, New Zealand, Uzbekistan.

Games and schedules can be checked on this link: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2026/wm18iiia/schedule

(Pictured above) Daiki in action playing for Auckland last year in Dunedin, where he was awarded Auckland MVP of the tournament. He was also the top scorer in the 2024 national tournament.

We wish Daiki all the best, and look forward to sharing more updates!