Summer Hockey Roundup – December 1

The summer hockey season is heading for the Christmas break, and it’s great to see the teamwork and the skills improving each week.

Under 10 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia 6-2. A great game from Newtown Spirit, with the second half showing the benefit of great passing in the goal circle by Archer, Nate and Hugh. Excellent midfield play by Ruben, Pollyanna and Annabel. Sam’s sprint from the interchange bench to defend the goal, and subsequent saves on the goal line were a highlight.

Newtown Strikers Bye

Under 12 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 5-5. A very even game with both teams showing fantastic focus on the play and great interceptions. Excellent positioning and ball control by Thamindu, Amber and Charlie resulted in some lovely passes and created many attacks. Great work by Charlotte making concerted efforts to get the ball.

Under 14 Mixed

Newtown Strikers vs Bellarine 7-6. An excellent game by Strikers, with the second half teamwork and passing to space a highlight. Great running by Mitchell, Harry and Oliver, with Kenna and Harriet showing great awareness of their team mates and space to make effective passes. Matilda, Bella and Paige all showed great determination and perseverance, and great teamwork.

Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia White 2-5

Under 17 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Geelong College 9-12

Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia 7-14

Senior Mixed

Waaah Spaced vs Grammar 17-2

Newtown Spirit vs Roped In – 3-10

Newtown Strikers vs Saints 2-18

Flame On vs Slip Slop Slap – 15-5, and a very fun match!

Masters Mixed

Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 8-5. A very enjoyable game, with ‘give it your all’ efforts from Danny and Chris, well backed up by Zen and Ashley. Great skills by Ian to weave through the crowded path to goal. Excellent work for Strikers by Will, Kellie and Justin with Don solid in defence. Rohan showed great skills, controlling the ball well and making great position. Claire S found some lovely position, both in defence and attack.

Friday Family

Supersonics vs Bellarine 7-8. Excellent positioning and perseverance by Grace and Kirsty, well backed up by Corey and Germaine.

Rockets vs Wombles 4-5. Fantastic running and calling by Will, Noah, Harry and Ollie led to some great passes and plenty of attack. Great defence by Tracey kept out lots of goals.

Kookas Junior

Excellent passing by Lily, with Olivia showing great awareness of the best option for her passes. Annabel was in great position to receive the ball. Great determination by Hugo and Will to get the ball.

 

Life Membership Awarded

Life Membership Awarded

Congratulations to David Wyld, who is the newest addition to the list of Life Members of the Newtown City Hockey Club. The members at the Annual General Meeting approved the award, and we offer sincere thanks to David for his commitment and service to the Club.

The Rules of Association of the Newtown City Hockey Club state that Life Membership may be awarded in recognition of long term outstanding service, and David certainly qualifies for this criteria.

David joined the Newtown City Hockey Club in 2001 as a young senior player. In 2003, David took on the role of Secretary for the Club, and remained in that role for 3 years, a fantastic contribution considering his relatively short membership of the Club at that point. Since that time, David has regularly taken on a variety of roles within the Club, acting as Junior and Senior Team Coach, Team Manager, Umpire, Website Co-ordinator.

David has also gone on to play 375 games for the Club and currently holds the record for the most number of male games played.

David has always been an enthusiastic and willing contributor to the Club’s activities, regardless of whether or not he has an official role. David received a Gold Merit Award in 2014, and it is very appropriate to recognise his commitment and service to the Club with a Life Membership.

We chatted to David this week about his time at the Club, and asked him to tell us a little more about his participation with the Club.

1.  How did you come to join NCHC initially?
I came relatively late to hockey having played tennis at a junior level and was introduced to the world of field hockey as part of the year 10 phys ed program at high school.  Peter Cannon who was our school chaplain was also a member of Newtown Hockey Club and recommended that if I was interested in playing, Newtown was a great place to start.  He suggested that I come out and play a few games during the summer season, but back when I started, summer wasn’t as casual as it is now and I can remember being completely intimidated by the speed and skill of the players out on the field.  After that I was hooked, even though my parents didn’t actively support me playing, there were a number of members in the club that helped me get started.  Chief among them was Rob Lane who every week would drive into the city to pick me up and take me out to our games at Stead Park (this definitely beat a 45min bike ride before and after playing).

2.  What are some of the highlights/ things you have enjoyed about being a member of the Club?
The obvious highlight of being a member of NCHC has been the life long friendships that I’ve made.  Wine and trivia nights have been highlights, also having opportunities to coach junior as well as senior men’s and women’s teams over the years has been great fun.

3.  What aspects of hockey keep you interested and participating?
One of the things that I’ve always loved about hockey is that even when I make a mistake, I can typically double my efforts and make up for it.  As far as the drive to continue participating, hockey is a great way to stay fit and having a regular excuse to catch up with old (yes you’re old Andrew) and new friends is a bonus.

4.  Is there anything you would like to see happen for NCHC in the future?

I’d like to see NCHC continue to have a family and junior development focus.  I’ve had one daughter grow up through the club and is now playing seniors and am about to start that journey again with my other daughter who’s just starting Joeys this year.  I see it being critically important not just for NCHC’s future, but the future of the sport, that clubs like ours continue to promote the life long benefits and enjoyment that hockey provides.  I’ve spent the past 20+ years playing hockey, loving it now more than ever and look forward to many more years with Newtown City Hockey Club.

Thanks David, and all those members along the way who have helped to ensure an enjoyable and welcoming environment. We look forward to the continuation of  your enthusiasm for hockey and for the Newtown Hockey Club for many more years.

 

 

newtown city hockey

Life Membership to David Wyld – a well deserved award.

 

 

newtown city hockey

Summer Hockey Roundup – November 24

Summer hockey continues to showcase some great efforts from our players, although it would be nice to have some summer weather somewhere between the extremes of either hot or cold. We have two more matches to play before the Christmas break, and will be back in February for the last 4 summer hockey games.

Under 10 Mixed

Newtown Spirit Bye

Newtown Strikers vs Geelong Jaguars 2-3

Under 12 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia Blue 2-1

Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia Maroon 3-4

Under 14 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia Maroon 17-2. Some fantastic passing to players who positioned themselves well to get into the circle behind the defence. Was nice to see that every player got on the scoreboard.

Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia Pink 4-2

Under 17 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia 7-10

Newtown Strikers vs Geelong College 6-12

Senior Mixed

Flame On vs Plainers 11-4

Waaah Spaces vs Bunny Bots 7-3

Newtown Spirit vs Squidgies 1-20

Newtown Strikers vs Beers Later 4-5

Masters Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Saints Black 6-5. Thanks to Andrew and Rodan for filling in, adding some attacking moves , with Chris and Stewart making good intercepts in the midfield. Great marking by Ashley to blunt the Saints attack.

Newtown Strikers vs Saints Red 6-5

Friday Family

Rockets vs Saints 4-7. Great game and good running from Will, Harry and Oliver, with Jason using the spaces well. Tracey was solid on the last line of defence, guiding the ball away from goal on many occasions.

Supersonics vs Not Fast Just Furious 7-9

Kookas Junior

Paxton and Lily had some fun this week, with some great positioning in front of goals and good running to follow up after a pass.

Summer Hockey Roundup – November 17

The most recent round of summer hockey matches was highlighted by continuing improvement in skills and team strategies. Our newer players have settled in well to the game and are showing great adaptability and understanding, while keeping active and having some fun. Players have adapted well to the ‘no hitting’ rule, which has translated into a focus on better ball control.

Under 10 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Geelong College 10-1. Goals scored by 6 different players. Well done to newer players Hugh and Archer who got on the scoreboard.

Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia 3-6. Great work from George to score the goals, with Jacob, Madison and Emma showing great awareness of team mates and well considered passes.

Under 12 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia Maroon 5-2

Newtown Strikers vs Geelong Jaguars 3-10

Under 14 Mixed

Newtown Strikers vs Kardinia Blue 4-11

Newtown Spirit vs Kardinia Pink 2-2. Great work by Luca, Ollie and Kate in looking for team mates in good position and using 1-2 passes.

Under 17 Mixed

Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 7-4

Senior Mixed

Flame On vs Newtown Spirit 14-3. Thanks to Erin, Katie and Alex who filled in for Spirit.

Newtown Strikers vs Navvies 11-9

Waaah Spaced vs Slip Slop Slap 9-2

Masters Mixed

Newtown Strikers vs Saints Black 7-7

Newtown Spirit vs Saints Red 4-2. Great game by Chris, Zen and Marion, who frequently applied good pressure to the opposition.

Kookas Junior

There was some excellent passing in this week’s game, with Olivia and Lily doing a great job of looking for players in space. Paxton positioned himself very well and was ready to gain possession when the opposition had the ball. Will and Hugo showed good communication with team mates, and Annabel found some good spaces to receive the ball.

Friday Family

Rockets vs Supersonics 4-3. Excellent work by young players Grace, Charlotte and Ollie, with Darren providing a solid wall in front of goal for Supersonics.

 

Summer Hockey Roundup November 10

Summer Hockey is Great Fun.

One of the great things about summer hockey is the chance to play in the same team with friends and family. There is a more social focus, and there are no sheep stations up for grabs. This makes summer hockey a good time for new players to try the game out. It’s also a good opportunity for ex-players to return to the field and rediscover their skills and enjoyment of hockey. The smaller field and higher player density contributes to learning both skills and strategies which can be carried on to future participation.

This week’s summer hockey matches did not include any Junior games because of the Melbourne Cup Public Holiday. There were some great efforts from our senior teams, with the Masters and Friday Family matches again providing great opportunities for new players.

Senior Mixed

Newtown Strikers vs Grammar 8-4

Flame On vs Gators 15-5

Newtown Spirit vs The Jag Bags 7-6

Waaah Spaced vs Plainers 8-4

Masters Mixed

Newtown Strikers vs Newtown Spirit 6-1. Great play by Rohan, Ian and Claire for Strikers, with Spirit well served by Chris, Marion and Stewart.

Friday Family

Supersonics vs Saints 5-0 (forfeit)

Rockets vs Bellarine 3-7. Excellent efforts from Will and Ollie, with Charlotte sneaking in a goal again. Great running the whole game by Noah.

New players are welcome to join our teams, with room for more players in the U17,  Kookas Junior and Masters Mixed teams.