How about this for a family effort for the blue and gold!

Phil Price plays with Sydney Uni Veterans, and they were in the Grand Final. His wife Katie plays with SU Rollers (the Womens veterans team) and they won their Grand Final defeating Sydney Uni Womens 5th grade team and daughter Elspeth played in the Sydney Uni Under 18 Girls team, also in the Grand Final.

Go the Prices!!

Our 2007 Presentation Night at the Roxbury on Saturday the 13th of October was another resounding success (thanks again, Shmoz). It was a great way to finish the year and even better that the Mens, Womens, Veterans and Junior teams were all there together.... at least, until the Juniors and Veterans went home early.

Sarah Morris (Shmoz) won our most prestigious award, the Len Smith Club Person of the Year. Tom Lobsey and Anna Lisle won the MVP Awards for Men and Women, and Chrichton Smith won the John Dwyer Tenacity Award. In addition, Mike Irby was awarded his 500 game medal! If you add in some time for warm ups and cool downs that's five full months doing 8-hour days on a hockey field wearing the blue and gold!

The other 2007 SUHC awards winners were:

COACH OF THE YEAR   Bradley Cooke and Luke Nuttal (Special Mention to Jess Blake)

RISING STAR AWARD    Emma Scriven

SOCIAL TEAM/CAMEL CUP  Women's 6th Grade

Mens
   
BEST DEFENDER   Niels Van Alphen

TOP GOALSCORER   Tom Lobsey (21)

SOCIAL PERSON   Nick Brown

BEST & FAIREST 1ST GRADE  Tom Lobsey

BEST & FAIREST 2ND GRADE  Jason Faulks

BEST & FAIREST 3RD GRADE  Alex Pattison
        
BEST & FAIREST 4TH GRADE  James Bonnano

BEST & FAIREST 5TH GRADE  Jeremy Hammond

BEST & FAIREST 6TH GRADE  Nick Dixon-Wilmhurst
   
BEST & FAIREST 7TH GRADE  Grant Robertshaw

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 1ST GRADE Sam Lobsey

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 2ND GRADE Alex Gilby

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 3RD GRADE  Andrew Cowan
        
MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 4TH GRADE Damian Cunningham

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 5TH GRADE Brett Radcliffe

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 6TH GRADE Ken Kershaw
   
MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 7TH GRADE Aaron Lacey

Women

BEST DEFENDER    Edwina Hunt

TOP GOALSCORER  Sophie Brownhill 23 (provisional)

SOCIAL PERSON OF THE YEAR  Madeleine Roche

BEST & FAIREST  1ST GRADE  Louise Mathews

BEST & FAIREST 2ND GRADE  Kate Johnston

BEST & FAIREST 3RD GRADE  Sophie Brownhill 
        
BEST & FAIREST 4TH GRADE  Gillian Cronk

BEST & FAIREST 5TH GRADE  Stephanie Phelan

BEST & FAIREST 6TH GRADE  Josie Benecke 
   
BEST & FAIREST 7TH GRADE  Ali Greiner 

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION  1ST GRADE Jemima Bartlett

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 2ND GRADE Lucy Millner

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 3RD GRADE Rochelle Matthews
     
MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 4TH GRADE Jess Singleton

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 5TH GRADE Penny Hasson

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 6TH GRADE Madeleine Roche
   
MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTION 7TH GRADE Trinh Nguyen

Games Medals

500 Games  
Michael Irby  
     
400 Games 
Martin Mills

300 Games
Steve Garrett
Damien Chown
Malcolm Newman

200 Games
Geoff Hillier
Bruce McCormick
Crichton Smith
Alberto Paludetto
Ken Kershaw
Paul Rattray
Cameron Whittaker
Ron Aquilina
Phil Price
Andrew Clarke
Paul Jean
Peter Pether

100 Games  

Kate Byrne  (from 2006)
Chu Kong Liew
Sam Lobsey
Peter Tobin
Caitlyn Walker
Jemima Bartlett
Kristie Greville
Lauren Hogan
Aaaron Lacey
Kate Johnston
Olivia Berger
Freya Berkhout
Emma Scriven
Ava Shirley
Elias Berkhout
Alistair Johnston
Nicolas Johnston (age: 12!)
Tony Selmes
David Clarke
Damien Cunningham
Laura Bushby
Eleanor Kennett
Brian Gunner
Luke Nuttal

100 Goals

Martin Mills

Thanks finally to Sarah Morris (the perfect MC) and Nappy (our outgoing President, who limited himself to a short and very heartfelt speech), as well as to Anne, Mel, Camel and all the others involved in organising and presenting awards on a very successful night.

Hockey NSW has announced the 2008 Sportscover NSW U21 Women's Squad, and Amanda Hese and Harriet Moore are included.

The squad will undertake a number of training sessions before the final team is selected in the new year. Once selected, the Sportscover NSW U21 Women's Team will participate in the Hockey Australia U21 Women's Championship in Hobart, Tasmania, 1-12 July 2008.

Best of luck to Harriet and Amanda

The Club can be enormously proud of the latest successes for the Juniors.

This year for the first time the Seniors (particulary Jess and Khevyn) have been helping coach our Juniors in indoor hockey. The results are clear (and quick to appear). After the NSW indoor Championships for the Under 13s and Under 15s in the past fortnight 6 of our junior players have been selected in State teams.

Cameron Rowland has been selected in the NSW  Under 16 Boys "Blues" team to play at the Australian Championships early in January.

Mathilda Carmichael, Fiona Tout, Lily Brazel and Rhiannon Russell have been selected in the NSW  Under 14 Girls team, and Mel Shoard has been selected in the "Blues" team.

Congratulations to the players (and the coaches).

All 2008 Scholarship/TAP applications, including new applications and reapplications are due on Friday 7th December 2007. The latest brochure on them is here.
 
If you are continuing to study in 2008 and wish to apply for a scholarship, you MUST submit an application.
 
Application forms are available from www.susport.com and MUST be emailed to scholapps@susport.usyd.edu.au
 
Please follow the instructions outlined on the form carefully and ensure that you select "Current Sydney Uni Sport Scholarship Applicant"
 
If you are a 2007 scholarship/TAP holder you do not need to submit all of the requested attachments - the only one that you need to attach is the declaration of any illnesses and injuries in the past 12 months.
 
It will probably take you a maximum of 5-10 minutes to complete the form. (If you are referring any other athletes to apply for a scholarship, they can submit the same form but they MUST attach/send all requested documents).
 
Please contact Ian Evans or Gillian Ting at SUS if there is anything that they can assist you with. Contact details for Gillian are:
 

Gillian Ting
Athlete Services Program Coordinator
Sydney University Sport (G09)
The University of Sydney NSW 2006
Ph: 02 9351 8116
Fax: 02 9351 4962
Mob: 0438 643 826
Website: www.susport.com

There are still a small number of cases of our ridiculously low-priced McWilliams Centenary Wine available for purchase (as at 1 December) We have a Shiraz and a Chardonnay. The cost is $120 per dozen. 

These are great wines, and buying them is a great way to help the Club celebrate its Centenary.

To purchase the wine download the form here, fill it in and return it.

The Centenary Committee has now released a CD of photos from the Centenary Dinner, as well as the photos shown on the screen during the night. The Committee apologises that due to a technical fault the release has been delayed until December .

The CDs will be mailed shortly to everyone who has already placed an order. Others wanting to order the CD can access the order form on this website (shortly).

Applications are being sought for coaching positions with the Club for 2008. Applicants should  be sent to Khevyn Williams (the President) by 31 December 2007. There is no prescribed application form, but it is essential for applicants to set out their experience and qualifications as well as the grades they would be interested in coaching. Khevyn's email address is president@suhc.asn.au

We expect to have at least the same number of teams as in 2007 which was seven men's teams, seven women's teams and six Juniors teams.  The Vets do a good job coaching themselves.

We are still looking for coaches for 2008. We will have a total of around 20 senior and junior teams again, and if we use last year's successful model of having some "Assistant Coaches" as well it means there are still a number of opportunities to have fun, learn something and give something back to the Club.

If you are interested in coaching this year please email Khevyn Williams at president@suhc.asn.au as soon as you can.

Ace reporter Chook's new series will be called "Feedin' the Chook".  It's a unanimous decision from our Media Marketing Department. 

The winning name was submitted by the legendary Ian Jessup from the Vets team. No need for a profile now - you'll find out more about him in Chook's second penetrating series.

We have managed to get an additional trial game Vs Bankstown this Saturday 15th of March

Where:          Bankstown Hockey Turf

When:            Be there at 12.30pm for a 1.00pm start

Why:             Preseason

Uniform:       There will be some shirts supplied as like last week, though please wear blue shorts/ socks and bring a blue shirt just in case.

We are aware this may be late notice for some people; it is not set up for selections, more for match practice! So not need to panic if you can not make it.

 Any problems please email damo: damocunningham@hotmail.com or call Sam Lobsey on 0420 978 267

Training will start on Wednesday 30th January at 8:45pm at Cintra (Concord Oval) but you are more than welcome to start going to the club fitness sessions on Monday evenings before this date.

If you have any questions regarding the training schedule, or Premier Squad in general feel free to contact Nat Stewart (womenshockey@suhc.asn.au)

January

14^th (Mon) - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm (Optional)

21^st (Mon) - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm (Optional)

28^th (Mon) - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm (Optional)

30^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

February

3^rd (Sun) - Fitness & Turf - Kyeemagh 9.30am - 12.00pm

4^th (Mon) - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm

6^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

10^th (Sun) - Fitness & Turf - Kyeemagh 9.30am - 12.00pm

11^th (Mon) - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm

13^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

17^th (Sun) - Fitness & Turf - Kyeemagh 9.30am - 12.00pm

18^th (Mon) - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus, 7.00pm

20^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

24^th (Sun) - Fitness & Turf - Kyeemagh 9.30am - 12.00pm

25^th (Mon) - Club Fitness@ The Square, University of Sydney Campus,7.00pm

27^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

March

2^nd (Sun) - Fitness & Turf - Kyeemagh 9.30am - 12.00pm

4^th (Tue) - Club Fitness@ St Andrews Oval, University of Sydney Campus, 8.00pm

5^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

9^th (Sun) - Fitness & Turf - Kyeemagh 9.30am - 12.00pm

11^th (Tue) - Club Fitness@ St Andrews Oval, University of Sydney Campus, 8.00pm

12^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

16^th (Sun) - Fitness & Turf - Kyeemagh 9.30am - 12.00pm

18^th (Tue) - Club Fitness@ St Andrews Oval, University of Sydney Campus, 8.00pm

19^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

21^st- 24^th - Easter Carnival, Albury (We will be sending a team)

26^th (Wed) - Turf Training - Cintra (Concord Oval) 8.45 - 10.30pm

Editors note: As you read this, bear in mind that Tom did not even pick up an indoor stick until late 2006. He started off trying to play outdoor hockey indoors, so it was all a bit confusing, but now he says he has come to realise the beauty of the game, its simplicity and tactical edge.  He credits his meteoric rise in the sport to help from some German team mates and, in particular, from SU coach Bill Greenlees. 

After the NSW State championships in Illawarra in late 2007, I was selected to play for NSW in the Australian National Championships in Melbourne from 10-15 December 2007. The team travelled down to Melbourne with great promise to bring home the title after successfully claiming it in the previous year. In the round games we came up against some strong teams with ACT, WA and Victoria our strongest opponents. Throughout the tournament we had some good wins; although the games were very tight matched we did have some disappointing loses. Taking into account these loses, backed by the highest goal difference we still felt confident and held a strong belief we could take out the title. As we entered the semi finals WA automatically went through to the grand final as the highest ranked side leaving the NSW team to face ACT for a finals birth. It was a tough game with some excellent indoor on display, although unlucky on many occasions the hard earned battle left ACT victorious (6-4), finishing our tournament placed in 3rd. ACT then went to the final and was successful in taking home the trophy.

The tournament was an amazing opportunity and throughout both the training prior and during the event I could feel myself develop as a player. I had never played indoor at such a level, the speed and intensity of the games was an amazing experience and defiantly a highlight. I am proud to say on a more cheeky note, although I wasn't the most thrilling goal scorer on the team I was able to knock in 12, 1 behind the highest goal scorer from NSW.

On a more reflective aspect I endeavour to take the valuable experience and use it to further my hockey in both facets of the game and the players around me. Indoor hockey is an exciting sport with the potential to be a very popular for both player and spectator. During my short existence in the sport it was easy to see the potential within the sport and by embracing its benefits, hockey in both facets and on all levels will be more successful.

I would like to thank Sydney University Sport and Sydney University Hockey Club for their great support, and particular thanks to Coach Bill Greenlees for all his hard work and efforts with the SUHC Indoor Side over the last 2 years.

Bring on the outdoor season, and see you all at indoor late 2008!

Thomas Lobsey

Training for 3rd-7th grade will commence on Tuesday 19th February from 9:30-10:30pm at Cintra (Concord turf).

Come and have a hit before Rego Day and to get you ready for the 2008 season.

If you know of anyone interested in playing for SUHC let them know about training and I look forward to seeing you all there!

If you have any questions you can contact me by email on suhcwomen@gmail.com

p.s. Don't forget to bring your stick, shinpads, mouthguard and a water bottle!

Cheers,

Nat

A date for the women's lower grade trials has been confirmed. If you're keen on playing for us this year put this in your diary!

SATURDAY 15TH MARCH
12pm-3pm
KYEEMAGH turf

It is short notice but unfortunately we couldn't get any other time before the season starts.

If you can't make this session please email Nat at womenshockey@suhc.asn.au .

Premier squad need not apply!

Don't forget to bring
- stick
- shin pads
- mouthguard
- plenty of water
- a white AND a blue/black t-shirt (this is essential because we will be running games)

If you have any other questions email Nat at womenshockey@suhc.asn.au.

All Men's senior grades will be having trial matches on Sunday 9th March 2008 at Kyeemagh Hockey Ground. The games are against St. George.  The match times are:

12 - 1.30pm: 5th, 6th and 7th Grades

1.30 - 3pm: 3rd and 4th Grade

3pm - 5pm: 1st and 2nd Grade

Club members from last year should turn up to the game for the grade they were in at the end of last season. If you are new to the club and aren't too sure where you'll fit in, please turn up before 12 so we can get you organised to play in the right game.

Games are set to start straight away, so warm up well beforehand.

Please wear your SUHC playing uniform. New members who haven't yet got a uniform will be supplied with a T-Shirt, but should wear blue shorts and socks.

If you require any more information please email Damo (Men's Vice President) at damocunningham@hotmail.com, or call Sam Lobsey on 0420 978 267 .

If you need directions to kyeemagh click here.

All Men's senior grades will be having trial matches on Sunday 9th March 2008 at Kyeemagh Hockey Ground. The games are against St. George.  The match times are:

12 - 1.30pm: 5th, 6th and 7th Grades

1.30 - 3pm: 3rd and 4th Grade

3pm - 5pm: 1st and 2nd Grade

Club members from last year should turn up to the game for the grade they were in at the end of last season. If you are new to the club and aren't too sure where you'll fit in, please turn up before 12 so we can get you organised to play in the right game.

Games are set to start straight away, so warm up well beforehand.

Please wear your SUHC playing uniform. New members who haven't yet got a uniform will be supplied with a T-Shirt, but should wear blue shorts and socks.

If you require any more information please email Damo (Men's Vice President) at damocunningham@hotmail.com, or call Sam Lobsey on 0420 978 267 .

If you need help finding Kyeemagh click here.

We have managed to get an additional trial game Vs Bankstown this Saturday 15th of March

Where:          Bankstown Hockey Turf

When:            Be there at 12.30pm for a 1.00pm start

Why:             Preseason

Uniform:       There will be some shirts supplied as like last week, though please wear blue shorts/ socks and bring a blue shirt just in case.

We are aware this may be late notice for some people; it is not set up for selections, more for match practice! So not need to panic if you can not make it.

 Any problems please email damo: damocunningham@hotmail.com or call Sam Lobsey on 0420 978 267

A date for trials has been confirmed. If you're keen on playing for us this year put this in your diary!

SATURDAY 15TH MARCH
12pm-3pm
KYEEMAGH turf

It is short notice but unfortunately we couldn't get any other time before the season starts.

If you can't make this session please email Nat at womenshockey@suhc.asn.au asap.

Don't forget to bring
- stick
- shin pads
- mouthguard
- plenty of water
- a white AND a blue/black t-shirt (this is essential because we will be running games)

If you have any other questions email Nat at womenshockey@suhc.asn.au.

Congratulations to all of our Womens teams who have played throughout the finals - 6 teams in the semis, 2 in the finals, and 3 in the Grand Final!

In addition, our Womens Veterans team - the SU Rollers - has made it to the grand Final. Sydney Uni 5 are playing the SU Rollers in the Grand Final so the Club is guaranteed a win.  Finally, the Under 18 girls team from the Junior club has also made it to their Grand Final.

It is a great success for the club and so my congratulations go to all the players and their coaches for achieving this.

This weekend is the big one with all the teams fighting it out to become Major Premiers of their respective grades. It is what we've all been working towards this season and it would be great if we could get the support out to cheer us on to victory! So get your blue and yellow gear and we'll see you out there!!!

GRAND FINAL 16th Sept

Syd Uni 3 vs Moorebank 11am Field 2

Round 5: Draw 2-2
Round 14: Draw 2-2
Major Semi final: USYD win 5-4

Syd Uni 5 vs SU Rollers 1:45pm Ryde

Round 4: SU Rollers win 4-3
Round 10: SU Rollers win 4-3
Round 18: USYD win 2-1
Major Semi final: USYD win 3-0

Syd Uni 6 vs UTS Sting 2 5:45pm Ryde

Round 4: UTS win 3-2
Round 10: USYD win 1-0
Round 18: UTS win 4-0
Major Semi final: draw 2-2 (UTS through, higher on table)

As you can see for each grade the games have been tough, with the results swinging both ways, so we really need as much support as we can get!

Congratulations once again and good luck to everyone playing in the finals! Go Sydney Uni!!!!

Congratulations to our 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grade teams for all making it through to their respective semi-finals. It is a huge achievement for any club to have so many make it through.

Special congratulations go to our 3rd grade team who play in ML5, and our 5th grade team who play in SNWHA Pool B. They both came out on top, winning their minor premierships.

The times of the finals are set out below.

It would be great to get some supporters out to watch these semis to cheer our girls through to the finals. In particular, our 3rd grade team will be facing up against the one team they drew with in both round games, so this will be a tough semi final.

Good luck to all our teams!!

Syd Uni 2 (ML3) vs GNS 2 - 5:30pm Field 2

Syd Uni 3 (ML5) vs Moorebank 4 - 9am Field 2

Syd Uni 4 vs Syd Uni Youth - 4:30pm Ryde

Syd Uni 5 vs SU Rollers - 1:30pm Ryde

Syd Uni 6 vs UTS Sting2 - 6pm Ryde

Syd Uni 7 vs Nth Tigers - 7:30pm Ryde

History was made on Sunday 16th September with our 2 of our 3 Grand Finalists coming through and winning Major Premierships.

Our 3rd grade team consisting of Alex Julien, Alex Treloar, Anna Smith, Anna Lisle, Ceilidh McDonald, Danni Hudson, Edwina Hunt, Liz O'Connor, Kaitlyn Walker, Nat Stewart, Rachel Matthews, Rhianon Bickford, Sharon Bickford, Soph Brownhill, Wendy Au and coach Ben Chiarella (Remo) did something that no other Syd Uni Womens hockey team has ever done in the Sydney Metro League. They won the Minor and Major Premiership double.

All those that went out and watched their 6-4 victory over Moorebank agree that they deserve full praise for achieving such a feat.

The other winners for the day were our 6th grade girls, who battled it out against UTS to win 1-0. Our "sexy sixths" (as they've become known) have come on in leaps and bounds this season and it's a great achievement for them to emerge as the Major Premiers. Congratulations go to Adelaide Lee-Warner, Andrea Buchan, Camilla Sinclair, Chloe Hardwick-Jones, Eleanor Webster, Hayley Marks, Jacqui Murray, Josie Benecke, Karen Smith, Katie Fenwick, Laura Carter, Maddy Roche, Sara Scott, Sarah Mulcahy, Suzanne Macphillamy and the two super coaches Bradley Cooke and Luke Nuttal.

A special mention to our other grand finalists, the 5th grade crew, who had a tough game against the SU Rollers and unfortunately lost 1-3. It was a well played match and they should be congratulated for making it all the way to the Grand Final. It is no consolation to the players, but for the rest of us it might be just that little bit easier to bear when the winners are part of Sydney University as well...

Well done to all of our teams for the successes they achieved throughout the year, what a great way to celebrate our 100th year as a club! I'm looking forward to see what is in store for 2008!!

Congratulations to Louise Matthews who played in our First Grade team who, on top with 27 points, has won the prestigious Loretta Dorman Medal for ML1 Best and Fairest at the recent Loretta Dorman Annual Presentation Evening for the Sydney Womens Metro League. This is an award that is highly recognised and respected in the hockey industry.

Well done Lou!!

1st/2nd grade:
Tuesdays 8:30-10:30 Concord Turf
Thursdays 8:30-10:30 Kyeemagh Turf

3rd/4th grade:
Tuesdays 9:30-10:30 Concord Turf

5th/6th grade:
Thursdays 9:30-10:30 Concord Turf

For more details, contact womenshockey@suhc.asn.au

The season starts on Friday the 28th for the Mens' Premier squad, who play a double header on the weekend.

The Mens'  team lists for 1st-4th grade will be posted by training time on Thursday 27th. Management apologises for the delays in finalising selections - there is a very talented pool of players.  Team lists will be posted on the website

The season starts on Friday the 28th for the Mens' Premier squad, who play a double header on the weekend.

The Mens'  team lists for 1st-4th grade will be posted by training time on Thursday 27th. Management apologises for the delays in finalising selections - there is a very talented pool of players. Team lists will be posted on the website.

Do you want to see 80 or so of SUHC's finest in one afternoon? Including  - at absolutely no extra cost - seeing Kent Haigh move 10 men using only his voice, and seeing Heappy (the Albury legend) in live action? There's also the chance to catch - again for free- Nick Brown's grandstand commentary on the application of the laws of the game (best value-for-money deal in Sydney!), and see Khev and Kev seamlessly interchange. Or catch up with Chook, our ace columnist, who is back and brown?

It's all on at P2 this Saturday.  Mens 1st-6th grades are all playing there, starting with the 6ths at 12:30pm. 5ths at 2pm, 4ths at 3:30pm, 3rds at 5pm, 2nds at 8pm and the giant-maiming 1sts at 6:30pm. The 7ths play at Ryde at 3:30pm, but they'll no doubt be back at P2 afterwards.

Support your club, and come and watch us hammer GNS and Monterey. Wear your Blue and Gold or Sydney University gear, sit with the rest of us on the far side (opposite the technical desk), and after the 2nds finish join in as we head to the Roxbury. NB taking alcohol into P2 is not permitted, but there is a bar in the Hockey Grandstand. There's a brochure you can print and distribute here.

Club members are welcome to email other likely highlights of the day to webmaster@suhc.asn.au. Printable ones will be published.

Many current and past SUHC players, and many other friends and supporters of the Club, will soon be contacted by the Foundation as it launches its 2008 campaign for funds.

At the beginning of March 2008 just over $190,000 had been pledged to the Foundation. It is a good start, but not nearly enough to fulfil our objectives. The Foundation needs over $2m if it is to secure a home turf and build a capital base that can provide access to the infrastructure and facilities that the Club needs to be truly competitive.

SUS&F indicated last year that it intends to procure the balance of the necessary funds if the Foundation can raise just $500,000 towards the cost of a home turf. Our short-term goal is therefore to reach at least $250,000 by the end of June 2008, and then $500,000 some time this year.

If you are interested in supporting the Foundation (and in protecting the Club's future) and are not soon contacted, please contact the Hockey Foundation directly by emailing Brian Fitzpatrick at foundation@suhc.asn.au.

Every donation is welcome, and donations are fully tax deductible.

Six current and former players from SUHC Juniors played in the City Teams in Hockey NSW's annual Country v City Challenge at Moorebank on 16 March. They were:

U15 Girls
Hayley de la Motte
Cara Simpson

U15 Boys
Alistair Johnston
Edward Tilly

U18 Girls
Kate Johnston
Emma Scriven

Details of the Challenge results can be found here.

Fourteen juniors have also been selected in representative teams for Sydney in 2008. They are Renee de la Motte (U11/1), Felicity Brown and Kate Mostert (U13/1 Girls), Nicolas Johnston (U13/1 Boys), Mathilda Carmichael, Hayley de la Motte, Rhiannon Russell, Andrea Seymour, Mel Shoard and Fiona Tout (all U15/1 Girls), Alistair Johnston (U15/1 Boys), Cameron Rowland and Edward Tilly (both U15/2 Boys) and Shakti Rathore (U15/3 Boys).  For a small junior club, this is an outstanding achievement, and a great tribute to the quality of our team and skills coaches.

Congratulations to all players and coaches!

A company called Vantage has a client making a TV commercial with an Olympic theme and is looking for people to appear in the ad. Details are:

When - shooting 8/9th July 
Where - In Sydney
Fee - $250 to $600 per day depending on time needed
Ages - 16 to 39 male and female
Abilities - Must have good to excellent ability in any of the following sports: soccer, hockey (on turf, not ice), handball, weightlifting
 
They are looking for individuals or teams from any of these sports. A casting will be held in Sydney later this week - date and time to be confirmed.
 
If you are interested and fit the above description you are asked to email a current photo (reduced to low rez file PLEASE!!) along with your age and a brief sports resume to tvc@vantagemanagement.com.au. For other info the contact is Shan Railton at Vantage Management on (02) 9913 9596 or 1300 858 248.  See www.vantagemanagement.com.au

Our Junior club plays its second international match on Wednesday 2 July. The U18 girls team has been selected to play an invitational match against Coleraine College, a strong Irish team that is currently touring Australia.  The match is at Kuringai at 5pm, and everyone is welcome to come and watch.  We expect the team to be challenged a lot more than in their regular Sunday matches which they have been winning by substantial margins.

This international match follows a game last year between our Under 15 team and a touring team from Wakefield College in England.  SUHC won that match, so we hope to keep up our perfect record against the Irish.

A third international match for the Juniors is scheduled for Friday 25 July.  Our Under 18 girls will play a team from George Watson's College in Edinburgh, Scotland.  We are hoping to find some Welsh opponents to complete the set...

The Juniors receive a number of reqests to play matches against visiting teams. These games are played purely for the sake of a good game of hockey. They are a lot of fun for those who participate, and a good way for our own players to broaden their own horizons.  Many thanks to the parents and players who make the games happen: this is not as easy as it sounds because ground shortages and school timetable clashes are not easily overcome.

Congratulations to Mathilda Carmichael, Hayley de la Motte, Melissa Shoard, Cara Simpson and  Fiona Tout on their selection in the NSW Under 15 Girls squad. Having five players -  more than 10% of the squad - from one club (let alone one U15 Metro team) is a huge achievement. These Juniors are already playing an important role with the Senior Women as well - it looks good for the future.  It's also a credit to their recent SU coaches, particularly Liam Dixon, David Hancock, Khevyn Williams, Matt Davey and Jess Blake.

The full squad is on the HNSW website.

Brian Fitzpatrick, Michael Irby and Phil Price have been selected in the HNSW Over 45 team. That's a great result for the Wednesday night crew. Congratulations to all three players.

Our Poker Night will be held at the Roxbury on Saturday 26 July. Smoz and the Social Committee are collecting bookings now. Its a big night - put it in the diary now.

Remember the Trivia Night too on Saturday 23 August at the Roxbury. 

Following the huge success of our last Men's Club day, the SUHC Fundraising and Social Committees have announced the next instalment of Club Day Fixtures.

On Saturday the 2nd of August 2008 six of our seven Men's teams will be playing one after the other at Pitch 2 Homebush (P2). 5th and 6th Grade will be pushing to smash uni(?) rivals UNSW, whilst 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades will be slugging it out against Moorebank. Full details are on the Hockey Club Day Flyer.

I played during our last Club Day, and it was an amazing feeling for everyone in the team to have a crowd of around 100 SUHC supporters backing every move we made and punishing any error the opposition made. You cannot believe how good it is to hear a crowd roaring at our games, or how much it really does lift the players.

Please join the Club's growing number of fans and come and support SUHC our way: fair, supportive and LOUD - just the way it should be.

Bring the noise and enjoy your game!

Scrappy

Club Captain

Baker's Delight has a sponsorship proposal that you may be interested in. Click here for details of the Baker's delight promotion. Unfortunately for the Executive it does not cover Blueberry and white chocolate scones.

NB The Biggest Losers are not allowed to participate in this proposal. We do not want one fundraising strategy to cancel the other.

DID YOU BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR PRESENTATION NIGHT? You did? You are in for a great night wih a few surprises. You didn't? Well, yes, you have made it very hard indeed, but you should still contact the ever-smiling Smoz asap.  Ticket sales closed on Friday the 3rd Oct but we are here to help.

If for some reason you have confirmed you are coming but not yet paid please PAY NOW and let me know - either via facebook, email (sarahemorris@hotmail.com) or mob: 0408656295. Remember you could log on to stickytickets.com.au .  If you don't have a credit card then you can pay me direct via netbank:
Sarah Morris
BSB: 732090
Account No: 771805 NB PLEASE CHECK THE ACCOUNT NUMBER IF YOU TRIED BEFORE.

Tickets are $90.

Smoz xoxox

The 2008 Camel Cup goes to the team that can raise the most money to support our Foundation. So by Presentation Night you need to have arranged for donations to go to the Foundation, and provided a copy of the donation form to the Secretary (Mel).  It's important to tell Mel which team(s) the donations have come from so we can tallly up the contributions. If you do not have completed forms and cheques or cash ready by Presentation Night you will need to convince the Executive that the funds will definitely be coming. Only genuine exceptions will be entertained by the officials. 

A copy of the form for making donations to the Foundation can be found by clicking here.

There is a strong rumour that the Under 11B team has been one of the hardest-working teams in this regard. It will be interesting if a "group" of primary school kids can do more in the year than teams full of university students and professionals! Watch this space.

Presentation Night on 11 October means it's awards time again. Forget the Biggest Losers - this is all about finding the people who gave their all during the year, and not just a couple of kilos. Each year SUHC presents a number of prestigious awards to recognise the achievements of players from across the Club. The awards include:

Rising Star
Coach of the Year
Social person of the year (female)
Social person of the year (male)
Best defender of the year (female)
Best defender of the year (male)
Most valuable player of the year (female)
Most valuable player of the year (male)
Clubperson of the year

You - the players and friends - know better than anyone else who ought to be considered for these awards. If you think someone deserves to be considered you need to nominate them now.  Its easy:  just email the Club secretary Melanie Platt (melsp@yahoo.com) and tell her the name of the person, the team they played for, the awards(s) you are nominating them for and a brief outline of why they should win the award(s).

Nominations are due by Friday the 19th of September.

There is no rule about how much info you need to supply or the format of the info. Just make sure you send Mel enough info for the Committee to have all the facts they need to make a fair decision.

Congratulations to Womens 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths and 7ths, Mens 5ths and 7ths, the Mens Vets 1sts and 2nds, our SU Rollers (the "veteran" women) and the U18 Girls, 15C, 13A and 11B teams from the Juniors. All these teams are into the semis.

The Juniors 15Cs and 11Bs have already progressed to their Grand Finals, and last week the U18 Girls won their Grand Final 7-1, thereby establishing a goal difference of over 100 for the season.

Also congratulations to Womens 1sts and the Juniors 15A sides, which both finished just one place out of the semis.

Although only two mens teams are into the semis, every team bar one finished higher on the table in 2008 than in 2007, so things look good for 2009.

As you know our Club is on a mission. It is - in one word - TURF!

In the past the Camel Cup has been awarded to the team which has made the highest contribution to the social values of the Club. This year the award has taken a new form. The Cup will be awarded to that team which does the most to embody the spirit of the Club by assisting the Hockey Foundation by raising funds to support hockey at SU. Funds can be raised in whatever form you wish - carwashes/ BBQs/ ebay/ sponsorships etc. The Executive will also take into account each team's creativeness and approach to promoting the club or improving club attitude in these efforts.

So far there have been a few crafty attempts to raise money, from the Biggest Losers to massive chocolate sales and even $$ for kisses on pub crawl.

The closing time for submitting your teams fundraising efforts is exactly one week before Presentation night ( 11th of Oct).

So get on to it, raise those last few dollars and give your team its chance to win the prestigious Camel Cup.

Good luck!

Correct weight has been signalled for the Biggest Losers' new challenge. This follows the official weigh-in on Thursday evening at Kyeemagh, overseen by race stewards, the RTA and WADA. The weigh-in took place in front of several packed tables of shocked team-mates, as well as a bar-keeper and some kids who came in thinking it might be a promo for "Free Willy".

The contestants wore socks, shorts and a cotton T-shirt for the opening ceremony. Mick Duck's shirt may have looked like lycra but that happens when you stretch things. Suggestions that the Biggest Losers had ingested unnatural quantities of substances ahead of the event were denied by Chief Steward Khevvie. "They are grown men and can eat what they want" he said. "No, they are overgrown men".

Luke Nuttal barely registered on the industrial-standard scales used for the weigh-in with a very petite 90.5kg. His supporters are concerned he may have peaked too early. Next in was Tugga at 93.75kg, thanks to a lunchtime raid on the school canteen. Moylo just missed a (reinforced) weigh-in podium position  with a svelte 95.9kg, while Brad "Biscuit" Cooke almost matched his equine namesake at 96.3kg for a bronze. Remo (its an anagram of "More") has clearly troughed, not peaked, and his efforts earned him a silver at this stage with 97.6kg. Gold in the scale tipping however went to Mick "2 Day" Duck, who came in at a very solid 104.1kg. "To Vega and beyond" cried Buzz Remington.

Club Captain Scrappy watched nervously from the rails. "Mate, we subdivide things smaller than that" he said.

Total weight for the Biggest Losers is 578.15kg.  Their average weight is 96.4kg, which is about 50% more than the average for the rest of the team. So how low can they go?

Sponsorship forms for the Biggest Losers challenge are available from the contestants or click here. Completed forms should be given to any member of Mens 2nds, your team captain or any member of the Executive.

Support a good cause and help them get it all off...

The Biggest Losers from Men's 2nd Grade are getting serious. Their official weigh-in has been set for Thursday 14 August at Kyeemagh, and they are bulking up in advance of the big day. Cookie says he has a fat chance of winning this one!

The RTA had offered a mobile checking unit for the occasion. This was declined because of safety concerns if its springs were stressed.

Everyone is urged to get behind these guys (you won't be seen) and support this innovative way to raise funds for the Foundation.

Tickets from Thicketek. Sponsored by beer. Spoken by G. Heasbig on behalf of the Australian Laboured Breathing party.

Going head to head with the Bledisloe Cup match a few suburbs away made it a tough choice for many regulars, but the Poker Night on the 26th of July was still a great success for those die-hard revellers, gamblers and drifters who made it. The National Poker League also said it was a great night and they would be happy to do it again with us at any time. Many thanks to Gash and Smoz for all their efforts. 
 
The main winner on the night was Gash (Andy Cowan). This was a great result for everyone because he immediately realised he was in a no-win situation if he kept the prizes - a World Series of Poker set, a bottle of wine, a bottle of vodka, DVD of James Bond Casino Royale and poker merchandise supplied by the NPL - so he them with the other players on the final table. Dan Field came 2nd (proving that Pokemon cards are good training for something) and Katie Fenwicke 3rd (another misspent childhood). Their prizes were more wine and vodka, more merchandise, box set of DVDs etc.

Everyone who made it had a good time, so next time round we encourage everyone to be part of it. Even with the reduced crowd it was still a good night for the highly social SUHC.

Remember Filthy (aka Tom Blyth) from 2007? Blonde hair, Sportslive, Mens 1s etc. 

He has just been selected in the Scottish U21 team. He does not say it openly, but Bill and Tom taught him everything he knows. Good on you, Filthy!

The Under 18 girls suffered a rare loss on Friday 25 July when George Watson's College, a visiting Scottish school team, won their one-off international by 3-2. It was a great match. The standard of play was exceptionally high, it was played in great spirit, and it was a real nail-biter.  GWC's winning goal came just seconds before the final bell.  SU should be extrememly proud of its performance because GWC is not your average touring team. The school has seven girls in the Scottish Under 16 and Under 18 teams, and they just won the Under 18 Scottish Youth Plate (without eight of their regulars being there). They set their sights high, too - on Wednesday they were at the Hockeyroos training in Perth.  Congratulations to GWC on a good win and to both teams on a great display.

Cintra had one of its most motivated Friday crowds for the game. GWC came with its own cheer squad, who doubled as the GWC touring rugby team, and were perhaps more used to the cold and showery conditions than the locals. They proved to be the perfect means to show how sport can work to build international relationships, and at least one member of the SU team received a marriage proposal from at least one member of the GWC cheer squad after the game. To date, we are not aware of any acceptances.

Many thanks to Mathilda Carmichael (a non-goalie) for filling in as goalie at the last minute, and to GWC, Anne Simmons and Katie Price for organising the match. A special vote of thanks also goes to Garry and Gilbert Gough-Fuller from Briars. At the last minute we found we were short some goalie gear, but Garry and Gilbert dropped everything and came to the game just to lend SU a much-needed helmet. Thanks guys for some genuine sporting friendship!

The Under 18 Girls had a 6-3 win in their international match against Ireland's Coleraine College on Wednesday 2 July. The team started very strongly and scored 3 quick goals, but Coleraine fought back and scored some good goals. With 10 minutes to go the score we were leading 4-3. We found our opening form again in the last 10 minutes, though, and scored two more goals to end up as 6-3 winners.

Many thanks to Coleraine College for a great game on a cold evening at Kuring-gai. It was a great game played in the best spirit.  Its a pity the local kangaroos did not come out for the visitors - that would have topped off their evening. 

Many thanks again to the parents and players who made the game happen. 

Congratulations to Nicolas Johnston, who was a member of the Sydney U13/1 team that was crowned joint State Champions at the HNSW Boys U13 State Championships at Orange on 7 July.

Congratulations also to Abby Speyer, who was a member of the Parramatta U13 girls team that won the HNSW Girls North Half-State Championship at Coffs Harbour on 13 July.

Nicolas's Sydney team won all their round matches and their semi-final, and then faced Tamworth in the final. The score was 2-2 at the end of regular time, so the teams went to "golden goal drop-off". They played six scoreless minutes with 9 men a side, and then dropped immediately to 7 men a side. After another six minutes the scores were still locked at 2-2, so the title was awarded to the teams jointly.

Interestingly, Sydney U13/1s Boys shared the title with Illawarra last year after a similar process, and the U13B pool was also shared this year. The boys have nerves of steel. The parents are nervous wrecks.

Details on Abby's team's victory will be provided when our Coffs Harbour correspondent returns. We have checked of course on the HNSW website, but it continues to give "vacuous" a new meaning.

Congratulations also to Liam Dixon, who was coach of the Sydney U13/3 Boys team. Liam kindly stepped into the coaching vacancy for this team very shortly before the Championships and did a great job bringing his team together. They performed well, and were unlucky in losing some games very narrowly. Liam's shorts and thongs approach to Orange's freezing winter weather drew much attention to the Premier Squad hoodie that he proudly wore all weekend.

The cooler months have settled in and SUHC has decided to organize team hoodies to keep everyone warm, as well as providing another alternative for members to show their support for their favourite club!

This year we have designed a standard club hoodie, with the option of each team embroidering its team name on the front. Men's, women's and junior sizes are available and can be ordered at your next training session. The hoodies will cost $30.00 each, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the Foundation.

If you would like to order hoodies with your team name, please use the attached order form and nominate a team member to organise your order. Either Katie Burgess or Andy Elton will attend your main training sessions to take orders and collect money. All orders MUST be paid in cash by Friday, June 20th. Juniors should email orders to juniorhockey@suhc.asn.au .

Support your club and team! Order a hoodie this week and stay warm all winter  - and look Schhtop IT in it!!

Do you want to earn some drink money in your free time? Do you want an interest that will pay for your drinks for years to come? Do you want to know more about hockey? Do you want to help your Club out on various weekends? Contact Shiv if you do, and he will help you become a badged SHA umpire. Email is best - r.rathore@susport.usyd.edu.au

Our junior boys put in some great performances at the U15 State Championships in Wagga Wagga on 23-25 May, and had considerable success. 

Alistair Johnston was in the Sydney U15/1 team that emphatically won the A Division. The Sydney team scored 48 goals in their five games (with just 2 against), including a 5-0 win over Illawarra in the Final. 

Edward Tilly and Cameron Rowland played in the Sydney U15/2 team that won the B division, with a close-fought 1-0 victory over Macarthur in the final. Shakti Rathore also played in the Sydney U15/3s (in only his second seasn of hockey). Shakti and his team played exceptionally well to maintain their ranking in the B Division of the State Championships even though there are over 30 teams spread over 4 Divisions.

Congratulations to all these players. This is the most players the Club has ever had in boys Under 15 representative teams, so it is a credit not only to the boys but also to the coaches, parents and others who have assisted them over the years.

The Club's latest training schedule is:

Mondays
Juniors: 5pm to 7pm @ Ryde

Tuesdays
Club Fitness: 8pm to 9.30pm @ St Andrews Oval - Sydney University
Women: 3rd to 7th Grade - 9.30pm to 10.30pm @ Cintra
 
Wednesdays
Women: Premier Squad (1st and 2nd Grade) - 9.00pm to 10.30pm @ Cintra
Men: 1st Grade and 4th - 7th Grade - 9.30pm to 10.30pm @ Kyeemagh

Thursdays
Men: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Grades - 8.30pm to 10.00pm @ Kyeemagh

Our Annual Report for 2007 has been released. Click here to access a copy. Good photos, amazing statistics and recollections of some great team efforts.

Looking for a great way to stay fit and have fun over the next few months? Still wanting to play more hockey? Well, come and play indoor with us.  The season starts very soon and we will be entering a wide range of teams of various levels including:

Sydney Lions - Men's Premier

Sydney Lionesses - Women's Premier

Sydney Tigers - Men's A

Sydney Tigresses - Women's A

Sydney Ligers - Men's B

Sydney Mixed Cats - Mixed

The majority of the competitions go from September through to Early December and are played at various Sports Centres throughout Sydney. Some comps are also played early next year.

Contact Andy Elton (aelt5006@usyd.edu.au) by Wednesday 27th August to be sure of a spot. 

It is a breach of licensing regulations to bring your own alcohol into licensed venues like Olympic/P2. Closed circuit cameras have detected this occuring in recent weeks. SWHL and SHA have notified us again that people will be liable for massive fines if caught.

The club may also face action from the SWHL Executive should SWHL be forced by Sydney Olympic Park to employ security guards to check the bags of all people entering the venue.

Please note these rules, and pass this warning on to friends and family who come to support our teams during the finals series.

Our womens 5th grade team play in the Div A minor Grand Final this weekend at 1pm at Ryde. SUHC is guaranteed a result of sorts because they are playing against SU Rollers, our (unofficial) women's veterans team.
 
Womens 2nd grade are also in a Final on Sunday, as is 3rd Grade. The 2nds play against Macarthur at 11am on P2 at Homebush, while 3rds play their Final against North Sydney at 9am, also on P2.

Come and support them. Go the Blue and Gold!

Both Vets teams are unbeaten at the completion of the round games  and are looking forward to a strong finals series.After winning the pre season competition against UNSW the Firsts team has had three draws against their nemesis of last year.  These draws,  added to the three other draws during the regular season,  resulted in them being in 2nd position on the table.

The Seconds have also been performing strongly to this stage and are also unbeaten.  They are also in the top pairing on their table. With a strong squad of 19 players there will definitely be some selection dilemmas for Father Camel.

The finals series for the Vets will have major and minor semis for the first time, so both teams have two chances to make the grand final and avenge their grand final losses of recent years.

BF

Brief flash from Darwin says the NSW veterans teams did extremely well, with the Over 40/2s, Over 45s, Over 50s and Over 55s all winning, and the Over 40/1s losing the final only on strokes.

Paul Barrett, Phil Price, Brian Fitzpatrick, Michael Irby and Stu Kinsella are among the current or former SU players named in the Australian Vets teams. There may be be more - we will add more info when we get it.

The Men's Tigers and Lions indoor teams have made the finals. Team members and first round finals game details are:

Congratulations to the guys.   Please get out to Hurstville and support them: go Uni!

After an impressive season from the Tigers, the Men's A team unfortunately went down 5-4 in extra time in the Grand Final on Wednesday 4th.

It was a thrilling match with each side showing moments opf brilliance.  Uni started strongly and were soon up 2-0. A resurgence from the opposition (Random) saw them take the lead by 4-2 before Uni came back to be level at 4-4 at full time. The game could have gone either way as both teams had plenty of chances. Random missed numerous short corners and we missed our opportunities in open play.

Under the rules the match went straight to Golden Goal (drop-offs) and after a few quick chances from Uni, Random got up the other end and won a short corner. Their first attempt was saved, but a second short was awarded and they slipped one through.

The line up today - PJ, Tugga, Mitch Russell, Pat Haydon, Dan Paech, Bollywood and Andy Andy Elton - played well, but their efforts went beyond the game. For various good reasons we were short of players on the day, so. Dan Paech, who had been deal-making in Canberra all day, actually flew up  and caught a cab straight to Hurstville just to help us out for the game.  Top effort boys!  The usual suspects this season who were unavailable today but have contributed greatly to the team include Yong Su Kim, Zee German, Malte Bode and Al Johnston.

Congratulations to the Tigers, and many thanks to all players in the Men's teams this year. Thanks too to Andy Andy Elton for a great job as indoor convenor.

Selections for this week are set out below. We need a bit of focus on umpiring, though. Our duties are:

Lions: 7:50pm - Stefan Hese (thanks again Stefan)
Tigers: 7pm & 8:40pm
Cheetahs: 7:50pm 

Please let AAE know who is doing these matches. Step up and have a go: the same people should not be doing it every week!

This week's teams are here. If you're unavailable, please inform  AAE ASAP. Please note Men's A are playing on Wednesday and Thursday.  

Stef is doing Men's Prem umpiring. Last week  there was a complaint that no - one from the Cheetahs umpired, so the person down for umpiring this week should let  AAE know before Wed. If you haven't had a go already, please step up.

Thanks to all who've paid fees.  AAE is being chased by SIHA so if you haven't please arrange payment to him on or by Wed night.

Looking for a great way to stay fit and have fun over the next few months? Still wanting to play more hockey? Well, come and play indoor with us.  The season starts very soon and we will be entering a wide range of teams of various levels including:

Sydney Lions - Men's Premier

Sydney Lionesses - Women's Premier

Sydney Tigers - Men's A

Sydney Tigresses - Women's A

Sydney Ligers - Men's B

Sydney Mixed Cats - Mixed

The majority of the competitions go from September through to Early December and are played at various Sports Centres throughout Sydney. Some comps are also played early next year.

Contact Andy Elton (aelt5006@usyd.edu.au) asap to secure a place. 

Our 2008 Presentation Night was held on Saturday 11 October.  There are some photos in the Gallery to prove it (for those whose memories were rendered less than perfect). Another great night, with the Juniors, Seniors and Vets all well represented. The highlights of the night were Andy Andy Elton claiming the Clubperson of the Year trophy, and Brett Radcliffe becoming the Club's third 500 game medallist. After 500 games all that Brett wants, he says,  is to play just one game on his own home turf. The other highlight was seeing Remo genuinely touched that an award had been named after him and Sam Gow for their efforts in creating the club's juniors.

The Camel Cup was not awarded on the night because the donations from the teams are still being tabulated. There have been some spectacular effirts. The three teams that are serious contenders for their efforts are Womens 7th grade (over $1000 - mainly Cash for Pash, as far as we can work out), Mens 2nd grade (The Biggest Losers - they lost 37.05kg, and if they can sell that at prime cut rates rather than lard rates they could also be in the $1,000s) and the Under 11s, who have converted Baker's Delight Vegemite scrolls into a stunning $2,500.  

Thanks to Khevyn for some unusually short speeches, and to Smoz and Gash for being MCs as well as the organisers. Also thanks to the people who turned up at the last minute to make it a greta evening - but please remeber to pay Smoz so your clubmates fees don't have to subsidise your dinner as well as their own hockey.

The full list of the senior Club's awards for 2008 is:

Len Smith Clubperson of the Year Award                          Andy Elton
Cameron Whittaker Award for Coach of the Year              Ben Chiarella

Most Valuable Player (Men)                                                Kent Haigh
Most Valuable Player (Women)                                          Louise Mathews  
Best Defender (Men)                                                         Brett Radcliffe and Luke Turner
Best Defender (Women)                                                    Harriet Moore
Top Goalscorer (Men)                                                        Brett Radcliffe (19)
Top Goalscorer (Women)                                                  Alex Ryan (32)
John Dwyer Tenacity Award (Vets)                                   Andy Wright  
Social Person of the Year (Men)                                        Andy Elton
Social Person of the Year (Women)                                  Chloe Hardwick-Jones
Chiarella-Gow Award for Young Player of the Year (Men) Alistair Johnston
Liam Dixon Rising Star (Women)                                       Fiona Tout 

Best and Fairest   
1st Grade (Men)                  Kent Haigh
1st Grade (Women)             Louise Mathews
2nd Grade (Men)                  Stefan Hese and Andy Elton
2nd Grade (Women)             Hannah Baker
3rd Grade (Men)                   Ezra Locke 
3rd Grade (Women)              Fiona Tout         
4th Grade (Men)                    David McFadden
4th Grade (Women)              Sally Cooke
5th Grade (Men)                    Brett Radcliffe and Luke Turner
5th Grade (Women)              Sarah Jones 
6th Grade (Men)                    Cameron Rowland 
6th Grade (Women)              Sophie Marks  
7th Grade (Men)                    Hayden Valle
7th Grade (Women)              Jess Eddington 
 
Most Valued Contribution
1st Grade (Men)                      Sam Lobsey
1st Grade (Women)                 Katie Burgess
2nd Grade (Men)                     Chris Moylan
2nd Grade (Women)                Lucy Milner
3rd Grade (Men)                      Sunil Sajdeh 
3rd Grade (Women)                 Danni Hudson        
4th Grade (Men)                      David McFadden
4th Grade (Women)                 Billie Whitehouse
5th Grade (Men)                       Damian Cunningham
5th Grade (Women)                 Jacqui Taylor
6th Grade (Men)                       Dave Warton
6th Grade (Women)                 Chloe Hardwick-Jones   
7th Grade (Men)                       Lawrence Bye
7th Grade (Women)                  Andrea Buchan

MEDALS

500 Games  
Brett Radcliff 
     
400 Games 
Brian Fitzpatrick (Vets)

200 Games 
Paul Barrett
David McFadden
Ian Lo
   
100 Games  
Josef Visser
Emma Scriven
Tom Lobsey
Khevyn Williams
Mark Tannen
James Scott
Sarah Harrington-Birch
Georgina Carter
Johnathon Burns
David Henderson
Josie Benecke
Paul Johns (Vets)

100 Goals
Mark Matheson
Nicolas Johnston (Juniors)

Panic gripped officials at the Arena on Saturday morning as a barrage of knickers threatened to disrupt the Biggest Losers' final weigh in.

The storm erupted after the crowd saw Tugga Faulks strip down and weigh in at an amazing 83.9 kg, down 9.85kg in just 8 weeks.

"There was a strong sprinkling of "Sex in the City" devotees amongst the mostly female crowd" said an SUSF official. "We knew there might be a bit of trouble if one of the guys had got himself down to a reasonable shape. We just hadn't reckoned on anyone dropping 10kg and coming out like George Clooney with a flaming 6 pack. It was touch and go there for a while".

Officials tried to calm the crowd by threatening to delay the weigh-in, but that carried little weight with the crowd. "Who wants to see Remo in his jocks again, anyway?" they chanted. Order was briefly restored when Mick Duck was announced as the next contestant, but  the crowd erupted again when they saw he had dialled down 6.8 kg (6.5%) from 104.1 kg to 97.3kg. The renewed wolf-whistling and knicker shower stopped only when it was announced that Tugga would reappear at the end of the show.

And what a show! Moylo down 3.7 kg (3.9%) to 92.2kg, Cookie down 5kg (5.2%) to 91.3kg,  Luke down 5.5 kg (6.1%) to 85kg and Remo down 6.2 kg (6.4%) to 91.4kg. The average loss was 6.18kg per Loser, reducing their average weight from 96.36kg to 90.18kg.

There was no doubt though that the star of the show was Tugga. SUHC tried but was unable to get a comment from him on his tremendous loss. After the weigh-in he was quickly bundled into a small waiting car and driven away to a secret address. "Back off, all of you" said his agent, Mrs Tugga. "He's mine. All mine!  Spectators milled around the Arena for some time, and then a sizeable crowd of mainly women marched on the VCs office chanting "Who do we want? Tugga. When do we want him? Now!"

"Mate, those little 11 year olds have got no chance for the Camel Cup now" said Remo. "And what a captain's knock from Tugga! Losing 10.5% of his bodyweight for his team. I'd have to lose an arm or two to do that. Unbelievable!"

Club officials are frantically totting up the final amounts raised by all teams to determine who wins the Camel Cup. We just hope they are better at adding up than writing out bank account numbers. If not, the Cup could be anyone's...

Firstly, a massive thank you to all those who came out to support the men on Saturday in the swelter at Cintra. If it weren't for the adoration and abuse from the sideline the result would certainly have been less promising for SUHC. This was a match the boys had been dreaming of since Round 6. They lost 1-0 in their first clash with Bankstown and had proved to be their most enjoyable rounds game of the season. How appropriate they were to meet twice in the finals series.

This is the lead up, the path of the finals: A loss in the Semi to their eminent emerald enemies. Then to redeem themselves 5ths then trekked back into the depths of Bankstown to play Monteray who they'd lost 2-0 in their most-recent contest. In the dying 10 minutes of last week's game, with hyperthermia induced hallucinations kicking in the men scored their ticket to their season-long dream of a Bankstown Vs SUHC grand final showdown. Both sides have shown mutual respect throughout the season. Bankstown had won all three clashes 1-0, 3-1 and 3-2 (Semi-Final) and were intrepid adversaries. And what a gruelling and gallant game it was!

A sea-sawing tussle of a game, both sides went out with great hesitation not wanting to give too much, not wanting to be the hare, nor the turtle. Bankstown was unlucky not to score off a number of their near-trademark flash-breaks but it was young Cameron Rowlands who showed great fortitude and staved off most attacks, with some minor help from (silver-crowned) Captain GI, Scarface Turner and New England Red. It was Mikey Hodgkinson who broke the drought, however, just as he'd done a week previous. From the flanks it was difficult to determine the exact process of events... a funny angle, or it may be the Saturday night-induced amnesia, or the flash of his mane that got in the way of a clear vision. But there was sight of white-ball on tan-colour turf. GOAL!! 1-0 half-time to Sydney Uni.

Under the shade of half-time things weren't certainly looking dark for the men. They knew it was far from over, the worst was ahead of them. They knew Bankstown had the greatest fight in them of all teams they'd played all season. Discipline, determination and (what seemed like Cam Whittaker taking a page from John Howards chronicles) mateship. A slow and painful chuck from GI and a "harden-*censored*-up" consensus from his teammates they took the field for the second 35.  The tension started showing. Cheese was handed out on a platter with a taste of Indian. Bankstown certainly owned the second half. The scoreboard showed. Their lightning-breaks finally gave - stroke - after waves of attack had penetrated their 25 and inched ever closer to goals. Cameron went right as Bankstown went top left. Nice strike. Boys grouped during the penalty and quickly re-focused our game. Both teams were unlucky to score in the dying minutes of the game and so came Golden Goal..... ........

The first 5 was tight, reminiscent of the opening minutes of the game. Neither team wanted to give anything in the chance of a successful fast break. Disciplined and tentative hockey proved boring for the first 3 minutes of this and both teams started salivating at the sniff of victory of one goal... just one, and began wrestling for possession. 5 minutes blew sooner than either team anticipated. Again, a gruelling first 2 minutes of this second 5 block. Bansktown had several fleets of attack. A final surge by the Uni boys saw a long corner. Verdoni decided to take it. What the?! He's winger... he should be in the D! Nonetheless he rockets the ball to the spot to MJ who traps, attempts to drag goalie and defender through divine intervention earns a short-corner. Moments away from full-time: a clean battery trap, GI shoots the ball left, past the runners, thuds the backboard. YEEAAAHHH!!!! Scarface launches himself onto GI, along with the rest some with 50 yard run-ups. After a minute of ecstatic screams and GI convulsing at the bottom of the heap the men run to the crowd and relish in their victory.

Goals: Hodgkinson 1, GI 1.

Man of the Match (and finals series): Hammond.

_{And many thanks to Michael Johnson for his great match reports through the season}

Sydney Uni Veterans have won both their preliminary finals on 17th of September and now play in the Grand finals. The results this week were:

"A"  Sydney University beat Ryde   3-1
"B"  Sydney University beat Briars  5-1

Grand Finals will be played at Homebush on Wednesday 24th of September. Sydney Uni will play in the top two:

"A"  UNSW v Sydney University  Olympic Pitch at 8.30pm   
"B"  UTS     v Sydney University  Olympic Pitch at 7.00pm     

Good luck to both teams.  May the real university beat the pretenders!!

There was a great atmosphere off the field at Club Day on 2nd August. SU had a good contingent of lively supporters, while Moorebank, who were coming 3rd and 2nd respectively in Premier 1sts and 2nds, compared to SU's 10th and 6th, came thinking this round was another walk in the park. How wrong could they be!
 
The Firsts lead for most of the game but had a painfully close, after-the-bell loss when Moorebank converted the last of a series of controversial shorts to win 4-3. Uni had lead 2-0 after the first 20 minutes through some fantastic work from YSK, Tom, Garth and Pete. Moorebank plugged one back from a short to go 2-1 at half time, and then scored twice more from shorts to lead 3-2 with 15 minutes to go. Two minutes from full time we were awarded - and then converted - our only short of the game (despite numerous forays into the opposition D). That made it 3-3, which seemed an okay reflection of the match, even though Moorebank had expected all decisions and goals to be awarded based on the league table. Moorebank whipped the ball into the D in the last seconds and immediately earned a short, but a draw still seemed a proper outcome as the Moorebank shot was deflectled over the sideline by a SU Defender.  Unfortunately  it came off a foot and Moorebank were given a second chance... and this one went according to their script.

An honourable mention goes to YSK. He was down on the turf for a couple of minutes after colliding with a Moorebank shoulder behind play, and had to spend a long time on the sideline with a lip the size of a Brad Cooke eyebrow. He still came back on late in the second half, though. They breed them tough in Korea.

As in every sport, at the business end of the season higher placed teams assume it is their right to win, and they play with that attitude. It's an assumption that can impact others on the field, including players. The competition draw sees us playing mostly higher placed teams from here on in, and as underdogs the team will need all the skill and spirit it has to get a win in the face of this assumption.  Saturday's game showed the SU team does indeed have all the skills and the spirit necessary to win against even the best in this competition, even if this time the opposition had that one extra lucky break over us.  It was a bitterly disappointing way to see a good team lose. Sadly, we did help the Moorebank cause more than necessary with occasional loose passes and easy turnovers, and by earning only one short in 70 minutes. On the other hand, the SU pressure forced Moorebank into numerous small mistakes. The 4-3 loss simply highlighted how crucial little mistakes can be, and the impact of any unevenness in hockey's numerous 50-50 calls. 
 
In the last game of our six consecutive Club Day games the Biggest Losers defied the ladder and gravity to record a 4-3 win in front of a dwindling but still vocal crowd. The game was almost a mirror of the 1sts, with Moorebank going out to a 2-0 lead early on. Moorebank's first goal was true genius and perhaps showed they had earned a high place on the ladder. It was a backstick shot from the edge of the circle and right on the baseline. Even the Lobseys would have rated it. Uni clawed one back to be 2-1 down at half time, but Moorebank scored early in the second half to have a good lead. Uni's defence held well, though and the forwards started working the ball into the D consistently and  - thankfully - earned a fair share of shorts. The Biggest Losers showed some real class here and scored twice: once from some very fancy footwork and once from a Moylo thunderbolt. Moorebank knew a loss would move them from 2nd to 3rd or even 4th on the table, and the pressure was on. At 3-3 it was tense, but when Uni went 4-3 up from yet another short with just seconds to go an upset seemed to be on the cards. Moorebank quickly took advantage of an SU lapse, though, and worked the ball for an immediate short as the hooter sounded. Their first drag was again well defended by Dan and the team... and that was it. No second chances despite the pleadings. 2nds had won! The win moves them to 5th, just 5 points behind Moorebank, who slipped to 4th. Go the Blue and Gold!

The other games during the day were all close. Our 4ths and 5ths won but 3rds and 6ths lost narrowly. Not a bad day for Club Day.

Thanks to everyone in the impressive crowd of noisy SUHC supporters who were at P2 over the 9 hours we were playing. Star attractions were the  6' cut-out "S", "U", "H" and "C" in blue and gold that stared across P2 at the small Moorebank contingent, courtesy of some late-night artistry and early morning traffic blocking from Dan, Matt, Peter and the rest of Sportlived. Andy Andy Elton was chief whip while Chloe Hardwick-Jones stepped right up to the mark as the new fundraising queen and sold hundreds of raffle tickets. Add in the Juniors and Veterans, the bongo players (thanks Garth), the horn players (thanks AAE), the handclappers and the people tucked up in their sleeping bags up the back, and it was a another success for the Social Committee. Thanks in particular to Chloe, Rachel Smith and Wendy Au for all their work in arranging the day.

The shortest day of the year was the longest and worst for Ryde. Our Mens Firsts and Seconds dished out the rare double of beating them at home, and on one of their special club nights to boot.

The Firsts started slowly against 5th placed Ryde, but improved once Scott Heapy found the ground and his touch. Kent Haigh kept out some early Ryde forays, and then a Uni goal midway through the half stirred the crowd into seeing that Uni were well and truly in this game. The game see-sawed for the balance of the half but Ryde held Uni out and then scored a lucky equaliser right on the half time bell from an end-to-end move. In the second half the Uni team controlled the ball at the back, ran the Ryde attackers ragged, and then opened a number of gaps. Scott Laird's and Pete Cornell's lightening pace caused Ryde lots of problems. With some 10 minutes to go Tom Lobsey capped one of Scott's moves with a backstick goal that was impressive even by Tom's own high standards. Just as a 2-1 win was looking secure, Tom shattered the last fragments of Ryde's spirit with a goal from a diving deflection to make the final score 3-1. Three wins in three matches - a roll!

The evening got even better when the Seconds played. A disjointed start saw Ryde score an early goal from a short corner, but the team settled down, held the ball well, used the wings and were soon getting oppportunities in the D. We scored our first goal just before half time, and then carried the momentum into the second half with sustained pressure. A second goal came after 20 minutes, and Uni was looking in control. Some Khevvie magic set us up for two more team-effort goals in the last few minutes of the game as Uni exploited its speed and tactical advantage. Final score: 4-1 to the students.

The Ryde spectators stand was a tale of two halves. At the Leagues club end there was the silence of disbelief, like in the Colosseum when the Lions lost. This was not what they'd paid for. At the other end there was a younger, raucous and excited crowd, with effervescent coach Bill Greenlees (yes, we have a poetic licence) and his team being congratulated on a great effort and a memorable result, and Tugga's team already reliving every moment of their crushing win.

Many events during our Centenary celebrations have contributed to our dream of owning our own turf, having a home base, training at friendlier times, reducing fees and attracting more elite players.

We launched a Foundation and it has searched high and low for players of the past to help in achieving these goals. Now we come to you - our current players of all shapes, sizes, ages and sexes - to ask for your help, too.

Our Club is on a mission. We are the oldest hockey club in the State and we are going to use our recent Centenary to reinvigorate our club values, our club traditions and our club culture, including establishing the Foundation as a basis for future development. And in 2008 the team which does the most to further the cause of the Foundation will be specially recognised.

`The Camel Cup' is awarded each year to the SUHC team making the highest contribution to the social values of the club. This Cup is named after "Camel" Newman, (a recent father) who was the epitome of club values.

This prestigious award will take a new form in 2008. The Executive has agreed that the Camel Cup will be awarded to that team which does the most to embody the spirit of the Club by assisting the SUHC Foundation raise funds to support the Club. Funds can be raised in whatever form you wish - carwashes/ BBQs/ ebay/ sponsorships etc. The Executive will also take into account each team's creativeness and approach to promoting the club or improving club attitude in these efforts.

Every SUHC team from Juniors to Vets is eligible to win. Your coaches and managers should already be aware of the award. Please speak to them and your team mates and decide how you might make a contribution. Consider it a bonding exercise... but please don't take it too far! We still want you to have the energy and focus needed to win games. 

For more information on how best to make donations within your team or to submit your team's donations, please contact Brian Fitzpatrick at foundation@suhc.asn.au. Remember, donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. Nominations (and donations) will be accepted now, but the closing time for submitting your team's donations and if you wish an account of its activities will be exactly one week before Presentation Night for 2008.

Good luck!

Congratulations to Jess Blake, Amanda Hese, Emily Hurtz and Harriet Moore on their selections in the NSW squads for 2009.

Jess, Emily and Harriet were selected in the NSW AHL squad, and Amanda, Emily and Harriet in the NSW U21 Squad.

Fantastic effort for the Blue and Gold!

The Club's Under 15 Juniors continue to blaze trails through the representative ranks.

After the State Championships on the weekend Mathilda Carmichael, Mel Shoard and Cara Simpson were selected in the NSW Under 16 Girls Indoor team. In addition,  Andrea Seymour, Hayley de la Motte and Rhiannon Russell were selected in the NSW Under 15 Blues team.

Cam Rowland was also selected in the NSW U16 Boys Blues team.

Congratulations to all seven. It is good to see how well the hockey club is doing in broadening community participation in sport through SU, as well in building so many elite athletes.

SLICS will be running a Goalkeeper & Striker Academy during February at Cintra Park, Concord.

Players of all levels 13 years and older are invited to attend. This is an opportunity for players to prepare for the 2009 season under the guidance of SLICS' quality coaches. Players will be grouped according to their age and ability levels, with Advanced, Intermediate and Novice groups all available.

STRIKERS PROGRAM
WEEK 1: Hitting Technique & Accuracy
WEEK 2: Power shooting, lifted shots - chipping and squeezing
WEEK 3: Quick shots, reverse stick shooting, PC's & PS
WEEK 4:  1v1's, rebounding, deflections

GK PROGRAM
WEEK 1: Technique, ground saves and circle orientation
WEEK 2: Hand & stick saves, saving of wide shots
WEEK 3: Dropping & sliding, PC's & PS
WEEK 4: 1v1's, dynamic & reaction saves, multiple saves

Location:        Cintra Park, Gipps Rd, Concord
Dates:              February 1, 8, 15, 22.
Times:             4pm - 6pm each week
Cost:                $150 (includes $50 discount equipment voucher for any purchases over $150. Valid for 12 months)

To register, log onto www.sportslinkaustralia.com.au and go to the "Camps & Clinics" page. REGISTRATIONS CLOSE 26th JANUARY 

Family & Club Discounts also available:
1st Player - Normal price
2nd Player - 10% discount
3rd+ Player - 20% discount

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Ken Wark Senior, one of Glebe's and Sydney's hockey greats. Ken had been ill for sometime and passed away on 4 February.

Ken was a life-member of Glebe and its patron. He was a great competitor and represented hockey at the highest level, playing for Australia.

SUHC is deeply saddened by his loss.

Funeral details are:

Tuesday 10th February at 1.30pm
Camellia Chapel, Crematorium Section
Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium
Corner Delhi and Plassey Roads
North Ryde
 
After the service, all are welcome back to Drummoyne Sailing Club, 2 St Georges Crescent, Drummoyne.

SUHC is one of Auistralia's oldest hockey clubs, and our longest-standing opponent is Melbourne University. SUHC played a number of teams in those early years, but Melbourne University is the only one that has stood the test of time and still exists as a hockey club.  Our first inter-varsity game was against MU in 1909, and nigh on a hundred years of competition between the two clubs is an extraordinary achievement. What makes it even better is that the MU players are very similar to us, and the small geographic dislocation is just an interesting way of dividing us up.  Off the field its a party where everyone gets on brilliantly...but on the field we are fierce competitors: a real battle between brothers, of Olympian or even Lobseyian dimensions. 

So every year, when a cohort of SU players put on the blue and gold to play at the Australian University Games, the freshers are fired by the same passion and inter-varsity rivalry that has inspired great games for 99 years. Over that time we have taken on MU and every other hockey-playing university in the country and we have had more than our fair share of victories. Those other universities can only dream, though,  of a history of on-field battle and off-field celebrations like the one we share with MU.

SUHC and MUHC both celebrated centenaries in 2007, and our next milestone is the keenly anticipated Centenary of Inter-Varsity Hockey Match between MUHC and SUHC in Sydney in 2009. MUHC won in 1909, and even though SUHC won in 1910, we'd like to think its our turn to win the big one(s) next year too.

As a lead up to the Centenary match we organised two special 99 year games for the Mens and Womens teams as an adjunct to the Australian University Games that are currently on in Melbourne.  The games were played at MU on Sunday 28 Sptember. For the history books, SUHC was represented by:
 
Women:
Alexander Julien
Alexandra Griener
Amanda Hese
Amelia Parker
Annabel Probert
Ella Shannon
Hannah Stanley
Helen Hathaway
Holly Sheer
Jess Blake
Katie Burgess
Kirsty Andersen
Rebecca Reardon (C)
Sophie Brownhill
Sophie Curtin
Stephanie Anderson
Victoria Johnson

Men:
Andrew Elton
Andrew Tulloch
Ezra Lock (GK)
Garth Lawrence
Henry Keeling
Liam Dixon
Michael Johnson
Phillip Schacht
Rhys Gray
Rishiv Rathore
Scott Laird
Stefan Hese
Thomas Lobsey (C)
Wouter Leurnik
 
Again for the history books, SU won the Men's match 5-4, while in the Women's game we had a narrow 5-2 loss (goals to Amanda Hese and Bec Reardon). The proposed barbeque was transformed into a much nore entertaining pub session. Watch us do better on every front in 2009.

Many of the SU players are continuing on at the Australian University Games, and hoping to match or exceed their successes from last year. Good luck to the teams and to the individual players when it comes to Australian rep selection time.

Applications can now be lodged for SUSF scholarships for 2009. The closing date for applications is 28 November 2008.

Click here for access to the online SUSF application forms.

On 31 May 2008 Brett Radcliffe played his 500th game for SUHC and earned his status as a Living Legend.

Congratulations to Brett on an inspirational achievement. To play 500 games in any sport is extraordinary, and to play that many for the same Club is truly amazing. 

Brett's enormous team spirit is perhaps highlighted by the fact that he did not tell anyone about the importance of the game until after his team had won... in case it distracted them!

Congratulations to Tom Lobsey on the recent announcement of his selection in the NSW AHL squad for 2009. It follows his selection in the NSW Indoor team late last year.  Go Tom!

SUHC's First Grade mens team play Moorebank on Wednesday 11 February in the first of their pre-season matches.

Head coach John Bessell will be interested in seeing how the team is shaping up. The talent is certainly there for a huge year.  The absence of Scrappy, Filthy, Cranky Franky and other notables from previous years will be felt, even if only in having on average a smarter set of nicknames.

We hear that last year's mens coach - Bill Greenlees - will be coaching at Ryde this year. Bill has been one of the greatest supporters of SUHC for more than a decade, and Ryde will be a fortunate club if they receive that same level of support. 

O-week is approaching and the freshers are on their way. We desperately need some volunteers to help out with the SUHC Stall on the Front Lawns during O-week (Feb 25th -27th).

The stalls are an important part of recruitment and we need to guide wayward freshers who play hockey towards the light. Whether it's for an hour, half a day or the whole day, we would greatly appreciate your assistance. Remember fellow club mates:

Ask not what your club can do for you -- ask rather what you can do for your club.

If you can help please contact Masto (0421 656 516) or Andy (0421 973 019) ASAP.

Congratulations to Tom Lobsey on his selection in the NSW mens Indoor team. The team will compete at the Australian Open/U21 Indoor Championships in Perth on December 8th-13th. Go Tom!

Click here on HNSW Indoor for the official team list.

Rego Day for men and women is Saturday 28th February at the Studio at HK Ward, on the Sydney University campus. Club officials will be there from 9am til 4pm to help you register and purchase uniforms.

This year the fees will increase on 2 March 2009, so if you register and pay on or before Sunday 1 March the fees will be:

Seniors $430 + 2009 SUSF joining fee of $55
Students  $330 + 2009 SUSF joining fee of $55
Others below 18 $230 + 2009 SUSF joining fee of $11
Our fees for the Vets comp are still to be finalised, but will be advised shortly.

We will also have club uniforms for sale at Rego Day. The prices are Shirts $35, Shorts $30, Skirts $40 and Socks $10.

Cheques are to be made out to 'Sydney University Hockey Club'. Please write a separate cheque if you are buying any items of clothing as these are processed separately.  If you wish to pay by Credit Card, you can do so only at SUS&F facilities (i.e. HK Ward/Arena/Aquatic Centre).

All fees must be paid by the 14th of March. Unfinancial players cannot take to the field or be considered for selection after that date as they will not be covered by SUS&F policies.
 
Please get in touch with Rishiv to organise an alternative means of sorting out your payment for 2009 if you have difficulties getting to any of the SUS&F facilities to pay or cannot attend training in the next month.

Early Bird Club Registration Fees

For the first time we are offering club members the chance to pay last seasons prices through our early bird fees. The early bird fees apply to anyone who pays their club registration fees on or before Sunday 1st March. After this date fees for 2009 will be increasing by $15. Fees can be paid by cash, cheque, eftpos and credit card from Tuesday 27th January on campus at The Arena and The Aquatic Centre. You will also be able to pay your fees on Rego Day by cash, cheque, eftpos or credit card.  No credit card payments accepted after Sunday 1st March unless paid at one of the points of sale, ie The Arena and The Aquatic Centre.

If you want to use this option you must first get in touch with the Club's Admin Assistant Rishiv (r.rathore@sport.usyd.edu.au) or with Jess Blake (Registrar) to organise a membership form. The form then needs to be taken to any of the Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness facilities for payment. Do not visit an SUS&F facility without talking with Jess or Rishiv first as the SUS&F staff will not know you are an SUHC Early Bird and will not let you in.

Juniors Registration

Players from last year should complete the attached SU Rego Form 2009 and post it with a cheque payable to Sydney University Hockey Club to:

SUHC Juniors,
c/o 24 Shirley Road,
Wollstonecraft 2065

by Friday 6 March 2009. Players will be asked to complete the Sydney Uni Sport form at training because we cannot yet provide a soft copy.

New players can register by sending a copy of their birth certificate or passport with their completed form and cheque to the address above.

Registration fees for 2009 are $175 for U/9 players and $225 for U/11 to U/18 players in our Junior teams. (The fees are lower than seniors because juniors pay slightly less to hire turfs for their games). These fees include $11 Sydney University Sports Union membership, accident insurance and GST.

Please remember to tell all your friends about playing hockey with Sydney Uni.  We want more players in all age groups for 2009 - from U9s and U11s (younger brothers, sisters and their friends) to older players who are beginners or have played hockey before.

Veterans Registration

Vets players will be emailed the registration forms as in previous years, but they are also welcome to come to  the Senior or the Junior Registration Days to fill in forms and mingle. Vets uniforms will be available at the first pre-season game on 2 Feb - see the Vets section.

Interested in Hockey at Sydney Uni? Come register and join our BBQ this Saturday, Feb 28th at HK Ward (between No. 1 and 2 Oval).

Visit our stall during O-week if you have any queries...we are located right near SUSF at stall 160.

Already signed up or keen to get social? A few of us will be at the Cooper's Hotel this Friday from 7:30pm. May catch you there. Otherwise, we look forward to meeting you soon.

Andy Andy Elton and Masto xx

SUHC has  achieved another first with Remo running a fitness session.

Sounds oxymoronic, and looks unusual, but despite all the protestations ("I'm too old for this" , "Geez this hurts") he runs a tough and useful session. After a little while even Remo gets puffed and he actually stops talking for a minute or two from time to time. That's unusual, and its unprecedented when he has centre stage.

Be at the Square at 6:00 on Wednesday to share the pain and enjoy the fun. All players and stakeholders welcome!

Australian hockey reaches a milestone on Saturday 7 March when we play Melbourne Uni at Olympic Park.

The match between the men's teams will mark 100 years of competition between the two clubs, and the match between the women's teams will mark 98 years of games between them.

This is Australia's longest running hockey competition for men and for women.

It is also seen as the longest running club team competition in Australia where the men's and women's teams have equal billing. For more information see HNSW's story here, or Hockey Australia with our 1912 Men's team.

Be there to support your club!  Admission is free.

There will be a round-robin of games that day between the men and women from SU, MU and UTS. The highlight games - the SU vs. MU men's and women's games - will take place at 12.50pm for the men and 2.00pm for the women at the No 1 Olympic Pitch, Homebush. The full draw is:

10:30am SUHC vs UTS (men)
11:40am MUHC vs UTS (women)
12:50pm SUHC vs MUHC (men)
2:00pm SUHC vs MUHC (women)
3:10pm MUHC vs UTS (men)
4:20pm SUHC vs UTS (women)

And from 6:30pm onwards the students will all be back at Cooper's Hotel in Newtown.

More info is in the SUHC/MUHC press release.

Do you want to be paid to spend time with fellow hockey players? Or for helping your mates?

If so, consider being a mentor for visiting students in 2009. See the SportsLived ad for details. (Good find, Andy Andy Elton).

SWHL will be holding an Umpires Meeting on Wednesday 11th March from 7:30pm in Auditorium 1 at the State Sports Centre. Auditorium 1 can be accessed through the main entrance of the State Sports Centre. Parking will be available in P7 next to the State Sports Centre. If the boom gate is down, please advise your umpires they can buzz the Reception area using the button on the boom gate and advise they are attending a meeting in Auditorium 1.

SWHL will be introducing the new FIH rules as of Round 1 and it is imperative all umpires attend this meeting to gain an understanding of the new rules, as well as being provided with relevant information for the 2009 season. Club delegates are also welcome to attend. The meeting will be conducted by Lisa Roach, SWHL Umpires Convenor.

One of the objectives of the FIH and therefore of the Hockey Rules Board (HRB) is to decrease the number and duration of interruptions to the flow of play and to increase the length of time the ball is in active play.  A "self-pass" from a free hit has therefore been introduced.  It enables the player taking the free hit to play the ball again after taking the free hit which will encourage free-flowing hockey.

As with other actions on the hockey pitch, this must take place safely.  Other aspects of the free hit rules have therefore been reviewed.  The HRB is concerned that the ball is often played hard, indiscriminately and therefore potentially dangerously into the circle from free hits in the attacking 23 metres area.  In future, these free hits must not be played directly into the circle.

FIH believes these are indications of the way it wishes to see hockey develop.  Exciting innovations will take place but there will also always be a concern that the game should be as safe as reasonably possible.

These Rules changes above are referred to as Mandatory Experimental Rules.  They are mandatory because they must be played throughout hockey; they are experimental to show that they will be reviewed after experience before deciding if they become permanent Rules. 

Internal trials will be held for both Men's 5ths-8ths and Women's 3rds-7ths players on Sunday March 15th @ Olympic Pitch Homebush from 8.30am - 3pm
 
Women's
8.30am - 10am - Women's 3s and 4s
10am - 11am - Women's 5s / 6s / 7s
11am - 12pm - Women's 5s/ 6s/ 7s
 
Men's
11.30am - 3pm- Men's 5ths - 8ths
 
Please turn up well before the start time for your session.
 
If you can't make these trials please speak to your respective coach/manager or Vice-President(menshockey@suhc.asn.au or womenshockey@suhc.asn.au ). Non-attendance without notice will result in non-selection.
 
Ben Chiarella
Club Captain
 

Our latest training schedule is:

Monday
Juniors: 5pm to 7pm @ Ryde (from Monday 2 March)
All: Fitness -  6:30 to 8:00pm @ The Square (from Monday 2 March)

Tuesday
Women: 1st to 4th Grade - 9.30pm to 10.30pm @ Cintra
 
Wednesday
Men: 3rd and 4th Grade - 9.00pm to 10.30pm @ Cintra
Men: 5th to 8th Grade - 9.30pm to 10.30pm @ Cintra

Thursday
Men: 1st and 2nd Grade - 8.30pm to 10.30pm @ Kyeemagh
Women: 1st and 2nd Grade - 8.30pm to 10.30pm @ Kyeemagh
Women: 5th to 8th Grade - 9.30pm to 10.30pm @ Cintra

Please contact Khev, Bucko, Ben, Nick or Anne with any questions. If you (or they) don't know where the grounds are you can find the grounds location info here.

Up to 1 March 2009 our fees were:

Seniors $430 + 2009 SUSF joining fee of $55
Students  $330 + 2009 SUSF joining fee of $55
Others below 18 $230 + 2009 SUSF joining fee of $11
Vets  $220 + SUSF joining fee of $55 ($220 only in is addition if you play Mens or Womens)

From 2 March all fees except Vets increased by $15.

Club uniform prices are Shirts $35, Shorts $30, Skirts $40 and Socks $10.

Cheques are to be made out to 'Sydney University Hockey Club'. Please write a separate cheque if you are buying any items of clothing as these are processed separately.  If you wish to pay by Credit Card, you can do so only at SUS&F facilities (i.e. HK Ward/Arena/Aquatic Centre).

All fees must be paid by the 14th of March. Unfinancial players cannot take to the field or be considered for selection after that date as they will not be covered by SUS&F policies.
 
Please get in touch with Rishiv to organise an alternative means of sorting out your payment for 2009 if you have difficulties getting to any of the SUS&F facilities to pay or cannot attend training in the next month.

You read it here first! We are excited to announce that our new sponsor pub for 2009 is the Cooper's Hotel, Newtown. Coopers is at 221 King Street, Newtown - near the intersection with Hordern Street.  Check it out - see www.coopershotel.com.au.

Our new "Clubhouse" will be the hub of most social activities this year. With its ideal location close to uni and a host of events planned for 2009, don't miss out on the off-field action! The atmosphere and staff are wonderful, as is the quality food and beverage menu.  Andy Andy Elton, 2009 Social Convener, has some great events (new and old) lined up for this season and we encourage you to get down to the Coopers regularly after training or games, for team dinners, on a night out and even for a cheeky schooey or two.

The SUHC Executive and the Coopers Hotel Management are excited to have entered into this new partnership. Our new sponsor pub promises to offer a pleasant and inviting atmosphere.Head to Coopers for the friendliest service and the cheapest beer in Newtown. "The Cooper's Hotel has traditional Aussie charm and a trendy Deck and Bistro with a menu and wine to match!!" (Ed Malouf, Owner)

We warmly welcome the Coopers Hotel as our 2009 Sponsor Pub.

Hotel Hours Monday - Friday 7am-Midnight Saturday 9am -Midnight Sunday 10am-10pm           Bistro Hours Monday - Saturday Midday - 10pm Sunday Midday - 9pm What's going @ the Cooper's Hotel? Monday - Happy Hours & $7 Bangers & Mash Tuesday - Trivia Night from 7:30pm Wednesday - Cash Badge Draw & Happy Hours Thursday - Happy Hours Friday - Traditional Meat Raffles & Happy Hours Saturday - Tipping Comp for the races Sunday - Sunday Roast & Free Pool For more information see  www.coopershotel.com.au

Good week for the club: 11 wins, 4 losses, 3 draws, 32 for, 19 against.

A rare opportunity to play Ryde HC away from their home turf on Saturday saw SUHC hold a Club Day at Cintra Park, Concord - with 6 of the club's 7 grades playing back to back from 12:30pm.

In front of a cheering Uni crowd our Men's 2nd Grade took to the pitch to start the day's proceedings and did not dissapoint. They downed Ryde 2-1 in a well fought match. Uni looked impressive throughout the game and is was fantastic to see Dougal 'Dags' Alexander wearing the Blue and Gold at the back - something not seen since the 2007 Australian University Games.

Following 2nd Grade, our Sydney Uni Lions 1st Grade team took to the field in what was always going to be a tough and highly charged match. Going into the clash Ryde HH sat 1 place above Uni in the points table and the game proved to be a very tight affair. Both teams were held scoreless for the vast majority of the game and the second half turned into a heart pounding affair for both Ryde HC and SUHC supporters as opportunity after opportunity was cleared by both defences. Our Lions played with their supporters' nerves by turning over a lot of ball and conceding a couple of short corners late in the 2nd half. Our defence held strongly and to the delight of the students we won a short of our own with only minutes to spare. Up stepped Wouter 'I Eat Drag Flicks for Breakfast' Leurink to slot home the winner and send the masses on the sidelines into a cheering frenzy. SUHC 1-0 victors.

It was great to have Kent Haigh back on the field, not only for his prowess between the sticks, but also because he is still one of the only men to really know how 'Our Varsity' should be sung. Personally, I like it sung in any and every tune possible - so long as we get to keep singing it!

Next up were our 5th and 6th Grade teams who had the tough challenge of facing the strong Ryde Div 3 teams. Despite controlling much of the game in both grades we failed to capitalise on our chances and Ryde's ability to finish their attacks with a result in the D frustratingly took the games from us. 5's down 2-1, 6's down 2-0. There were some positives to take from both games - good structural play and some excellent defensive cohesion, however we need to score more goals to win games.

4th Grade took to the field in the penultimate clash of the day, following some last minute selection alterations! From the start they looked strong and the mix of experienced Vets and speedy youngsters proved too much for Ryde.  SUHC was awarded a short in the first minute of the game and it was converted to give us the best possible start. Through continued hard work and excellent passing play SUHC managed to control the game and scored regularly to maintain a strong grip on the outcome. 4ths finished 4-0 winners. They remain unbeaten and head the Div 1.2 Table.

Last but certainly not least were the mighty SUHC 3rd Grade. They were up against the team that won the Competition last year and which had not been beaten in 12 months. Coach Brian Gunner gave the lads a thorough tactical run down before they took to the field, formalising the structure for 3's in 2009 and setting them up for a fierce battle. The first half played out like an arm wrestle with both sides attacking and defending with strength, but neither conceding a goal. SUHC was slowly adapting to the game plan and finished the half with an excellent display of goalkeeping from Peter Sidwell. The second half started badly with Ryde taking the lead after a slick passing move down the left. But refusing to give up on the game plan, Uni woke up after this goal and sent a barrage of attacks into the Ryde half. They scored  2 goals in open play and converted 2 Short corners to take out the game 4-1.

To top off the weekend, 2nd Grade played their rain deferred game against GNS on Sunday and won 4-1, making it 5 from 5 for PL and Div 1 teams this weekend.

Fuel to get to Cintra on Saturday - $1.64. Ticket in the SUHC Beer Case Raffle - $1. Pre-Game Powerade - $3. Watching Men's Top 4 Grades beat Ryde for the 1st time in memory - Priceless.

UP THE STUDENTS!!!!!

NB, MVP

The SHA tables have not yet been updated for all of last weekend's results, but for the first time in many years Sydney Uni Mens 1st teamis in the top 4 of Sydney's Premier League competition.

It is not just the 1sts who are showing their true form. Men's 2nds and 3rds are probably both in 5th position in their competitions. 4ths, and 7ths look like they will be on top, with 5ths close to top even after their weekend loss. 6ths are 6th but only on the narrowest of goal differences.

Go the Blue and Gold!

Another SUHC milestone was reached last night. SHA approved our request to field a team in Division 2 of the Men's competition, so we will have eight men's teams in 2009. This realises our long term goal of getting Division 2 representation and being in all four SHA divisions.
 
The opportunity arose after GNS withdrew from Div 2.2 late last week. SUHC was able to offer to stabilise the competition and replace the GNS team with one of our own.
 
Men's VP Nick Brown proudly noted: "Our case to move up into Division 2 was greatly strengthened by our position as reigning 2008 Champions in Division 3.1, by our very strong club numbers and by our good results in 2009. The move to 8 Grades is being actioned immediately. Our new Div 2.2 team will take to the field for the first time this Sunday."
 
"The move into Division 2 at this stage of the season signifies a fantastic opportunity for us to grow and develop as a club" added Nick. "We have wanted Division 2 representation for a while. Now that we have it we must embrace the opportunity with both hands. It will be a challenge to all players and coaches, though, because everyone from 5th Grade down will now be in a more competitive environment. That's nothing we can't handle."
 
Nick urged all players in these grades to push themselves at training and during matches to maintain our goal of making the Top Four in each grade. This would be a huge endorsement of all the moves the club has been making to strengthen its base and expand its team numbers to cater for the interest in hockey at SUHC.
 
The new Division 2 team means that in 2009 SUHC will have eight men's teams, eight women's teams, three veteran's teams and seven junior teams. This is an extra team in every part of the club compared to 2008. The total of 26 teams is a believed to be record high in all our 102 years.  SUHC has occasionally had eight men's teams (late 1980s/early 1990s and 2001, 03-04) but never the depth elsewhere in the club.

"The Club is doing everything it can to make Sydney University as powerful in hockey as it is in other sports" said a spokesman. " All we need now is for SUSF to find how to fulfil its 2007 promise to provide us with our own pitch.

"Just the dream of a pitch has had a powerful impact. We have been building our numbers and our strength even though SUSF provides no training or playing facilities for us. Its not a question of shared facilities or dated facilities or even poor facilities: the club simply gets no facilities. We already have a great club, though. The point to remember is that the combination of our own Sydney University hockey facility and our current coaching will make us even better given the depth of hockey at Sydney University and its community. It will make us one of the great sporting clubs at Sydney University, as well as one of the great hockey clubs in Sydney"

Just as winter crawls in and those training nights seem that bit colder, SUHC Hoodies are back by popular demand! Don't miss out!! Cosy and warm, the perfect fashion accessory to warm up in or cheer on your team mates...

Standard SUHC club hoodie (similar to last year)

Navy blue with embroidered logo on front left chest and yellow print on the back.

Men's, women's and junior sizes available.

$40 each

Portion of proceeds goes towards SUHC Foundation.

Orders can be made at training sessions from 8th of June and at Men's Club Day. Wendy Au will be there at the start of lower grade mens and womens training to take orders. For premier squad, please place orders with Katie Burgess or Andy Elton.

All orders MUST be paid in cash by Thursday, 18th June 2009.

Any queries, please email social.suhc@gmail.com or call Wendy on 0400 107 067.

Support your club by ordering a SSSTTOP IT hoodie today!! Go Uni!

There was much to smile about for Sydney Uni men's vets players at the NSW over-40s titles in Newcastle at the weekend.

Australian over-45s player Mike Irby, on his 48th birthday, led the Sydney No.2 team to the B Division title, downing Newcastle No.2 on strokes in Sunday's final after scores were locked at 1-1 following extra time. Mike also scored the winner in the last pool game against Penrith.
Ian Jessup led the Sydney goalscorers with 4, while new boy Trevor Lee also netted one and put away the winning stroke to cap a great debut in veterans rep hockey.

(The Sydney No.1 team lost their semi-final to eventual A Division champions Newcastle in sudden death penalty strokes.)

Looking ahead to the Australian championships in Melbourne later this year, Ramon Rodriguez made the NSW No.1 team while Cameron Whittaker and Dale Aitken (vice-captain) made the 2s and Mark Matheson was named in the 3s to add to his medal earlier on Sunday.

IJ

PJ was the last SUHC vet left standing when it got to the finals of the Over 45s State Championships. His Illawarra team won 2-0. The bulk of our players (no pun intended) dipped out when Sydney lost to Sutho early on.

Even better news was in the State team selections. Mick Irby, Paul John and Phil Price were selected in the NSW Over 45/1 side, and Ian ("Tootsie") Jessup in the 45/2s. Congratulations to all four. We hope to find even more ex SUHC players sprinkled through the full team lists when we see them.

And finally, congratulations to Peter Pether, who was vice-captain of the Sydney over 45Bs. Form is transient, but quality is forever.

The Samsung Women's Hockey Champions Trophy is in Sydney from the 11th to the 19th July.

If we get more than 11 people together we can get a 10% discount on tickets.  Normal tickets range from $35 for the initial round games to the 1st vs 2nd place teams for $45.

It will be a great chance to watch the world's best and to support hockey, as well as having a good time with your clubmates.

Please contact Bucko on 0414 987 210 or on womenshockey@suhc.asn.au if you are interested. We can then get some numbers and organize something.

I know you've all been waiting patiently for your SUHC hoodies, but freeze no longer.. they have arrived!!
Wendy Au will be coming to your next couple of training sessions to hand them out to those who've ordered, so wait no longer, start looking HOT today!!   

Bucko x
Women's VP

* we were leading NWS (the clear competition leaders) by 2-0 with 14 minutes to go, but we couldn't get over one bad decision, lost momentum... and the rest is history.

The league stage of the season is drawing to a close, so the hard-working Club Secretary has a few reminders about awards at the all-important Presentation Night. Please send Katie (secretary@suhc.asn.au) your nominations for the following:

Team Nominations -   two nominations for `Best and Fairest' and then `Best Contribution'

Club Nominations - please send in your nominations for:

Club person of the Year Award
Coach of the Year
Most Valuable Player (Men)                                            
Most Valuable Player (Women)                                          
Best Defender (Men)                                                         
Best Defender (Women)                                                    
John Dwyer Tenacity Award (Vets)               
Social Person of the Year (Men)                                        
Social Person of the Year (Women)                                  
Chiarella-Gow Award for Young Player of the Year (Men) 
Liam Dixon Rising Star (Women)                                       

Presentation Night details are yet to be finalised, but it will be on the weekend of 23rd/24th October (and may be a Friday night). Please watch the website to see full details when they are available including how to buy tickets in advance.

Congratulations to the managers and players of SUHC Men's 4th and 8th Grade teams (Div 1.2 and Div 4.2 respectively) who have toiled hard this season to finish as Minor Premiers in their repsective grades.  Both teams secured wins on the weekend which puts them out of reach of the second placed teams.  At the end of the 2008 season, our 4th grade team finished in 11th position and our 7th grade team (now our 8s) finished in 2nd - so both have managed to grow from last year with 4th grade completing a truly remarkable turnaround.

Well done to Cam Whittaker (4s) and Marcus Tjiong (8s) for leading your teams to the finals.

These are just two examples of the growing strength of Men's Hockey at SUHC. With just 2 rounds to go, there are another 3 teams still in the running to make the top 4  - but it will take more hard work and some good wins to secure these finals berths. Good luck to all involved.

Congratulations again to 4th Grade and 8th Grade and good luck in the finals!

As the season is coming to end it can only mean one thing socially...Preso Night.

Please save the date: Saturday October 24, 2009. This is a brilliant evening when SUHC comes together as a club to reflect upon on the season that has been, celebrate out teams and athletes achievements and enjoy each other's company once again.

Arrangements for the evening will be released shortly, but for now lock the date in and stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, keep winning so we have plenty to celebrate about.

Juniors will have their Presentation Day at 4pm on 20th September at Primrose Park.

Each of the vets teams has one game to play before the semis. Check the tables here

In recent games 1's played UNSW twice in two weeks.  They came back last week for a solid 1-1 draw after a big defeat the previous week. 1 goal to Chowney in both games.  2's played a revamped Penrith in a high speed affair and had a 2-3 loss.  Penrith are finishing very strongly after defeating the highly fancied Northside 6-2 the previous week.  Our goals came from Matho and David Clarke.

3's played lowly ranked Easts last night for a 3-0 win. 2 goals to Camel and one to Craig Tomko.
 
1's will finish second,
2's will finish 3rd, 4th or 5th depending on final round results.  If they beat Northside running second this will secure either 3rd or 4th.
3's will finish 4th or 5th and are vying with Macarthur for 4th spot, both play Northern Districts who will run 3rd.  3's will get in with a draw or a win.

Latest Results.

Wed 29 Jul Sydney Uni 1 v UNSW A 1-3
Wed 5 Aug  Sydney Uni 1 v UNSW A 1-1
Wed 5 Aug  SYDNEY UNI 2 v PENRITH B 2-3
Mon 10 Aug SYDNEY UNI 3 v EASTS  3-0
 
Final Games:
Mon 17 Aug Concord   7.30 NORTHERN DISTRICT v SYDNEY UNI 3 C
Wed 19 Aug Homebush - Olympic  6.15 NORTHSIDE v SYDNEY UNI 2 B
Wed 19 Aug Homebush - Pitch 2  7.40 Sydney Uni 1 v SUTHERLAND A
 
Camel

An extraordinary last round has seen Women's 2nds reach the finals in their first year in ML2.

SUHC was promoted from ML3 last year and its early ambition was to avoid relegation. After a season exemplified by wins against the top teams and losses against the bottom teams, 2nds needed to win the last round by 5 goals or more to make the finals. After trailing 0-1 against  Macquarie Uni early on, SUHC levelled the score at 1-1 by halftime, then scored 4 incredible team goals in the second half to take the game to 5-1.  SUHC was awarded a short corner with 10 seconds remaining, and scored after the siren to win 6-1 and achieve the magic 5 goal margin. We have made our first finals in ML2!

Full report to come

On Monday 31 August the Vets 3 team lost a hard fought semi to Glebe 0-1.  This knocks them out of contention.  Glebe are red hot competition favourites having won 14 of 15 games now.  They will play Northern districts in the final who we defeated both times we played them.

The Vets 1s and 2s are in action on Wednesaday 2nd at Homebush:

On Pitch 2 at 7:00 pm our 2's play Macarthur. And our valiant 1s play Ryde. on Olympic at 8:30.

Both are sudden death semi finals.

Go Uni!

HNSW is looking to take on a trainee in Sports Administration for 12 months. Full details are in the attached notice. Applications close on 4 September 2009.

Congratulations to Liam Dixon, who has been appointed as Assistant Coach for the HNSW Under 15 Girls team.

Liam was one of the original SUHC Juniors and has played for us for most of this decade. This coaching appointment comes after he has coached many of our club and Sydney teams to great wins, as well as having coached many school and other teams. Great effort, Liam, and great to see a SUHC person putting so much back into the sport.