Morning Mate heads to Hong Kong for ZOAT 2026

A weekend worth getting up for

At a hockey reunion, there’s a point in the evening when someone asks, “What time’s our first match?” Out come the phones. Someone checks the fixture list. Then you get back to catching up, because you’ve all come a long way to sit around the same table.

That’s the weekend hundreds of players from across the region are heading to Hong Kong for this November. ZOAT brings together people who’ll happily spend an evening swapping stories and still want to be first to the ball in the morning. This year, Morning Mate is partnering with the organisers, and a few of us are packing our sticks.

From Jakarta to Happy Valley

ZOAT stands for Zuid Oost Azië Toernooi. It began in Jakarta in 1906, 120 years ago this year, as a field hockey tournament for Dutch expats. It grew into an annual gathering that rotates between Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong. You can move cities and still have a weekend on the calendar when you know you’ll see familiar faces. ZOAT tournament history

Hong Kong hosts the tournament from 20 to 22 November 2026. There’s padel on Friday, two days of field hockey at the Happy Valley Hockey Grounds, and time to get together off the pitch. ZOAT 2026 programme

A look back at Singapore

Before we head to Hong Kong, here’s a photo from last year’s tournament at the Singapore Polo Club. That’s Marina Baysten, one of the Singapore teams, gathered in front of the 2025 ZOAT backdrop. There’s always someone in a team photo who’s ready before the rest. Here, most of them seem to have got the timing right.

Why Morning Mate is joining ZOAT

We like a weekend that gives you a reason to get on a plane with friends. ZOAT gives you plenty of them. There’s the party you’ve been looking forward to, the friend you haven’t seen since the last tournament and the match you’ve already talked about on the way from the airport.

The morning has its own appeal. You pull on your shin guards, get a few passes in and find out how quickly everyone settles into playing together again. When the whistle goes, you want to give your teammates a good game. Afterwards, you shake hands and have something new to talk about over dinner.

That’s what drew us to ZOAT. We like getting friends together for a good night, especially when there’s something worth getting up early for. At Happy Valley, that might be a close match or simply the chance to play alongside someone you usually only see once a year.

See you on the sidelines

We’re looking forward to the competition and to seeing who takes home the Looden Veraader in the men’s tournament and the Suzy Wong in the women’s tournament.

If you’re in Hong Kong for ZOAT, keep an eye out for the Morning Mate crew and come say hello. A few of our founding team will also be playing on the Singapore side. If you catch one of them warming up, you’ll know where to find the rest of us when the match starts. Hollandse Club Hockey Singapore

For fixtures and the weekend programme, head to ZOAT.nl. See you in Happy Valley.