As you roll through life from the land Aotearoa, every scenario presents two paths where you can either dwell in negativity or bask in positivity and if you've been tuned into Black Sticks Women news of late, it seems many kiwis love cuddling up to that negative vibe.

Another week, another round of FIH Pro League hockey and surely by now you've got to agree that this Pro League thingy is awesome for international and kiwi hockey.

The results may not be all the way there, however the start to the FIH Pro League has been fairly decent for Aotearoa's Black Sticks and after another tough round vs Belgium, it's time to face Great Britain in Christchurch.

The first round of FIH Pro League 2019 went somewhat better than expected, although both Black Sticks Men's and Women's teams suffered defeats to Netherlands.

After what can only be described as an almighty kerfuffle, Black Sticks Women's coach Mark Hager has made the move to coach Great Britain/England.

Even though Aotearoa's Black Sticks Men rolled out their best performance of the pool stage at the Men's World Cup in the 2-2 draw with Spain, they had to come back from 2-0 down in the 4th quarter and then watch as France upset Argentina 5-3 to snatch 2nd place in pool A.

Aotearoa's Black Sticks made some much needed improvements from their opening win over France in their second game vs Argentina, although a few lapses in concentration saw the classy South Americans walk away with a 3-0 win.

All that really matters from Aotearoa Black Sticks' first game vs France at the Men’s Hockey World Cup, was that they grabbed a win and 3 points.

Creeping in under the radar to wrap up an ... 'interesting' 2018 for Aotearoa Hockey is the Men's World Cup and while much of the spotlight has been on the women for much of this year, the Black Sticks Men are gearing up for the premier hockey event in Bhubaneswar, India.

Another day of another week and there's a new angle to the Black Sticks Women/Mark Hager situation to explore.

As I stated a few facts about the Black Sticks Women's success under coach Mark Hager, I did so not knowing about the tsunami that was approaching.

Aotearoa and Australia played out a 1-1 draw in their final pool game of the Women's World Cup in London, putting the Black Sticks up against Argentina in the next phase.

Despite a first up win, Aotearoa's Black Sticks showed a few concerning signs against Belgium and in their second game of the Hockey Women's World Cup, Japan exposed those weaknesses and snatched a 2-1 win.

Aotearoa's Black Sticks got their World Cup campaign off to a strong start in beating Belgium 4-2 and in terms of a first up performance, you can't really ask for much more.

Commonwealth Games gold was cool, a fantastic moment for kiwi hockey and Aotearoa's Black Sticks Women, now we approach the Women's World Cup though and, the headline act of the women's 2018 hockey calendar will be the true representation of what this team can do.

Arun Panchia captained Aotearoa's Black Sticks Men's hockey team to a Commonwealth Games silver medal and shares a few thoughts for the Niche Cache.