SJHA has confirmed the dates and times for the trials for the U11's at Cintra

BOYS:
Sunday 11 March 9.00am - 11.00am and Sunday 18 March 2012 9.00am - 11.00am

GIRLS
Sunday 18 March 11.30am - 1.30pm and Sunday 25 Mar 11.30am - 1.30pm

Remeber to send nominations to Katie or Rowan Johnston from North Area

Congratulations to all our U13 and U11 players who played in various representative teams at the U13 & U11 rep tournaments over the July school holidays. 

Tim Brand and Chris Culey played for the Sydney Under 13/1 Boys team, which won the HNSW U13 Boys State Championships - a fantastic achievement. Madie Urquhart played for Northshore 1, which qualified for the semi-finals in Div 1 at the HNSW U13 Girls State Championships, and Grace Dallen played for Parramatta, which qualified for the 3rd v 3rd Div 2 play-off.  At the U11 level, Hugh Dallen played for Sydney U11/2  Boys, which was runner up in Div 2 at the U11 Boys York Cup and Prudie Dallen played for Northshore, which came 3rd at the PWHA U11 Girls carnival.  

As noted before, Tim Brand was also selected in the HNSW U13 Boys team. (HNSW does not have  State Championships or State teams for U11s).

Thank you to those parents who completed the recent Club survey and to all the parents, senior players and coaches attended last Sunday's Juniors Planning Session.  The afternoon allowed for an open and frank exchange of views and ideas with a wide range of people who had various expectations of, and involvement in, the Club. 

It was agreed by the group that the three key issues that need to be addressed in the short term are:

·         Formation of a Juniors Committee to share the job of administering the Juniors club and to plan and implement strategies for future growth.  While a minimum of five people was proposed, these jobs could be deconstructed to allow for smaller contributions from a larger number of volunteers. This approach is no different to that adopted by other Junior sporting groups (eg. soccer, netball, etc).

·         Coaching.  The ideal scenario would be to have one skilled coach available for Monday night training and Friday/Saturday matches for the entire season.  This was not the case in 2011, and it was recognised that with competing priorities it would be very hard to achieve.  It was agreed that we should aim for two coaches (or a coach and a coaching assistant) per team.  We would look to recruit from current players in the seniors and vets teams, and well as hockey-playing parents (as occurs in other clubs).  We plan to hold `coach the coaches' training later this year, and have the Coaches Convenor meet with coaches to map out the year's training schedule in advance of the season.

·         Player recruitment.  It was recognised that given the current size of the Juniors club, each team consisted of players with a wide range of skills and experience.  It was felt that good coaching would play a part in resolving this matter.  In addition, involvement in other activities (either mandatory school sport or other winter sport) meant that many teams were left with insufficient players each week, sometimes resulting in forfeiture.  It was agreed that we will begin collecting information (at registration time) about involvement in other activities (as Northern Districts do). This will help inform coaches and managers upfront when it comes to team formation.  A medium term objective is to grow numbers to help with both sides of this matter.

The medium to longer term objectives/initiatives were as follows:

2011/12:     Establish the Junior Sub Committee. Set up junior recruitment program. 

2013:           Hold Junior Elite Athlete Sessions with the Junior Coaching Co-ordinator (as is currently done in the Senior Club).   Take over the running of the SUSF School Holiday Hockey Camps - recruitment of coaches, promotion of camps, curriculum, venue, etc.

2014:           Align the Junior Elite Athlete Program (EAP) with the Senior EAP (Pathways).

2015:           Aim to enter two teams in each age division in relevant Juniors competitions.  Develop a strong U17 Sydney Uni only Metro team (not combined with another club, as is currently the case). If required under SHA development criteria, be in a position to field an U17 boys team.

The first action item arising from the meeting relates to parent volunteers.  We are asking for volunteers for each of the following roles:

·         Juniors Vice-President (hockey experience would be helpful, but not mandatory)

·         Registrar - Field and Indoor hockey (no hockey experience required)

·         Equipment Convenor (no hockey experience required)

·         Umpires/Ball kids Convenor (hockey experience would be helpful)

·         Publicity/Social Convenor (no hockey experience required)

·         Team Managers (no hockey experience required)

·         Team Coach

·         Coaching Assistant

The attachment provides a high level summary of what each role entails.  As mentioned earlier, these roles can be split further - so find a friend and work together. Please let Sandy know how you can help prior to the Juniors Presentation Day on Sunday the 18th of September.  

SJHA is holding selection trials for U17 Boys in February 2012, and U11 Boys and Girls around the same time The U17s are on 5 and 12 February, and the U11 Boys and Girls had been set for 18 and 25 March 2012, although the dates for U11s are now uncertain because of the potential impact of a carnival in Canberra. SJHA will decide on this soon. It si not yet clear if there will be North Area trials for the Ulls becasue of the potential squeeze on timing.

In order to enrol for the trials, please email the triallists name, DOB, email address, preferred positions and phone numbers to Rowan Johnston at North Area as soon as yopu can. SJHA wants all nominations to be provided in advance rather than having players stroll in on the day.

Trials dates as previously announced were:

U17 boys Sun 5 Feb 2012, 9.00am - midday: Sun 12 Feb 2012, 9.00am - midday (Venue tba)
U11 boys Sun 18 Mar 2012, 9.00am - 11.00am; Sun 25 Mar 2012, 9.00am - 11.00am (Venue tba)
U11 girls Sun 18 Mar 2012, 11.30am - 1.30pm; Sun 25 Mar 2012, 11.30am - 1.30pm (Venue tba)

Congratulations to the U15 Mixed and the mixed U18 Mixed indoor teams, which have made it to the grand finals of the Northern indoor competitions this Friday 9 December. The Under 15s - managed by Nick Ellis - have played consistently well all season and have dominated many of their games.

The U18s are a seriously mixed bunch. We have two teams in this competition, and both have had some memorable wins. Holidays, absences and exams have seen both teams being short on many occasions, though. They have needed a number of U15s to play up, and some long-established school combinations have suddenly found themselves playing against rather than with each other as people have kindly filled in.   The Grand Final will be played against a strong team from Kuringgai, so manager Sandy Scriven is hoping to have a full team on the day!

Notwithstanding some spectacular stick saves on short corners, both teams have struggled through the comp without willing goalies. The club willl need to develop some more goalies to followw in the footsteps of our recent crop of high-quality indoor and outdoor keepers.

As always, thanks to Sandy, Nick and our other team managers, and to Alan Wiggins at SIHA for running this very popular competition.