The end of September 2020 in the HMB community will be remembered with more good news. This time it comes from New Zealand. We are pleased to note Dayna Berghan-Whyman is the new President of the HMB National Federation of New Zealand.
Dayna is a worthy candidate for this important position. She has decent combat experience as part of the HMB NZ team at Battle of the Nations, and has been the New Zealand National Federation Treasurer for 2 years, later becoming the HMB New Zealand Women’s representative 1 year ago.
Dayna has a solid base of experience to work on, in addition to her passion for the HMB sport and its many opportunities, on all levels (in and out of the list) that everyone can be a part of. 
She has already taken some steps towards building ties with the National Federation of Australia with the aim to improve international cooperation between two countries:
“They have helped me shape the focus of our sport on our country to align with them. Plus, I have given Australia my suggestions on how to attract and retain women fighters. We are working close together regionally, and I am grateful for the support of our wider buhurt community.
Also, I have met with New Zealand government officials to lay the groundwork for getting buhurt recognized in New Zealand. Everything is at unofficial talks at this stage; however, it is a start and I am watching the outcome of our own elections here in New Zealand to see who will be the new Minister for Sport and Recreation”.
There are a lot of issues inside the HMB community that the new President must solve. Dayna and her team work hard to develop HMB sport in NZ. According to Dayna, local clubs now have a charter that they must meet so the Federation can be assured that they are operating in the best interests of members. Dayna also highlighted the areas of her team work:
“I am very proud of my National Federation. We have a team of capable and professional people. We identified areas where New Zealand needed important improvements and took steps to reduce inefficiencies. Also, now we have a Tournament Representative to assist local clubs to host tournaments to encourage more buhurt activities at a local level, in addition to making sure our current tournaments are run correctly. We also have a Medic Guild Officer to coordinate activities at a local level so buhurt participants if injured are attended swiftly, at a high level and then their health is monitored as they return to the sport”, said Dayna.
Dayna noted that all people who are involved in the HMBNZ structure must support the Knight Marshal and the HMB NZ Team Captain.
In addition, it should be specially noted that with all the abundance of work as the President of the Federation, Dayna is not going to stop her career as a fighter!
“We held our first tournament in New Zealand the day I was elected President. I won gold in Poleaxe, which is my favourite fight duel category.”
She got two victories in one day!
Congratulations to the new HMB National Federation President on this position and we wish Dayna many new victories, both in and outside the lists.
HMBIA News
