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The Kookaburras have won their first World Cup in 24 years, defeating Germany 2-1 in the 2010 World Cup final in New Delhi, India. The match was the third consecutive World Cup final to be contested between Australia and Germany, with Germany winning the two previous encounters. The victory is Australia's second ever World Cup title, and puts the Kookaburras back as the world's number 1 ranked team. 
It also goes some way in enhancing coach Ric Charlesworth's status as one of Australia's greatest coaches. Since taking over the Kookaburras at the beginning of 2009 the team has won the two biggest international events on the hockey calendar, first the 2009 Champions Trophy and now the 2010 World Cup. Charlesworth, who was a player during Australia's previous World Cup victory in 1986, now becomes the first person to ever win the World Cup as player and coach. With both teams ranked first and second in the world, it was always going to be a tense final but the Kookaburras were strong in their mission and continued to press to German's, Eddie Ockenden's 6th minute goal set up a good opening score line. The intensity of the second half saw some brilliant hockey; the German's levelling 1-1 with a penalty corner. The Kookaburras withstood the German attack and countered it with a penalty corner and with 10 minutes remaining Luke Doerner converted his 8th goal of the tournament to put the Kookaburras back in front in the dying stages of the match.
Despite some close calls Germany could not break through the determined Kookaburras defence, with Australia holding on to win a memorable final and re-establish themselves as the best team in the world.
Congratulations Kookaburras! Read all the match reports at www.hockeynsw.com.au
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The 2010 F-H-E Country V City Challenge will be underway from Narellan tomorrow morning! Almost 300 of NSW best junior hockey players will take to the fields at Macarthur Hockey Complex, with the U18 and U21 age groups christening the brand new water based turf facility. Players will be striving for top performance under the watchful eye of NSW selectors. The Hockey NSW Country V City Challenge is an annual event which pits country origin players against city origin players in the age groups of U13, U15, U18 and U21. In 2010, two games will be played in each age group series to determine the winners of the perpetual girls, boys and overall champion shields. 
Get down to Macarthur Hockey Complex, Millwood Ave, Narellan from 10am Saturday and 8.30am Sunday to check out all the action! View full draws and schedules here. The 2010 Country V City Challenge is proudly sponsored by F-H-E - go to www.f-h-e.com or chat to Lee at Macarthur on the weekend for all your field hockey equipment.
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The Hockeyroos have gone down in their first two encounters with world number two ranked nation Argentina in Townsville mid-way through the four-test series. The squad features six NSW Arrows athletes; reigning World Young Player of the Year Casey Eastham will be joined by Fiona Johnson, Kate Hollywood, Alison Bruce, Emily Hurtz and goalkeeper Toni Cronk. NSW star forward Megan Rivers is recovering from a stress fracture injury suffered late last year and has only recently returned to training, hence making her ineligible for selection. Read the match reports and more national team news here. 
With this series giving the team a great opportunity to perfect their game plan against a quality team, the team still needs to qualify for the 2010 World Cup which will be played in Argentina from 29 August - 11 September. After suffering a surprise loss in the final of the Oceania Cup to New Zealand in August last year, the Hockeyroos were denied direct access to the 2010 Women's World Cup. They will need to win the BDO World Cup Qualifier to earn a spot at the World Cup. Their opposition will include Chile (ranked 16th), Ireland (ranked 15th), Malaysia (ranked 22nd), Scotland (ranked 23rd) and Trinidad & Tobago (ranked 26th). |
Hockey NSW officials had their pre-season training over the weekend with the Officials Training Course which prepared officials for the 2010 state championship season. Tournament directors, technical officials, umpire managers and umpire coaches who have been appointed to Hockey NSW State Championships gathered at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday to go through a series of sessions to help them in their role as officials. The officials were exposed to information sessions on the Member Protection Policy, the use of HockeyNet and a number of other guidelines being introduced in 2010. The officials also participated in a Conflict Resolution course run through NSW Sports Federation. 
Carlie McCall, Hockey NSW Events Manager said the training day was a great way to ensure everyone is given consistent information and support. "It was a good day to get together the officials that work so hard at events and equip them with the information and skills to assist each of them in their roles. "Our officials are volunteers and their efforts are invaluable, so it is hoped a course like this can provide them some support for when they are out there at Hockey NSW events." The Hockey NSW state championship season gets underway shortly with the first men's veterans championships in late March with the U17 boys kicking off the junior season on April 30 in Lithgow. For all the venue information and dates for the state championships, go to www.hockeynsw.com.au and look under Events > Field State Champs. |
Inverell Hockey Association had a visit from former Hockeyroo and NSW Arrows star Rebecca Sanders last week as part of their promotion of hockey to the local schools. Inverell Hockey Association, with a water turf less than one year old, wanted to take hockey to the local primary schools and coordinated the junior development day in conjunction with Hockey NSW. Coaches conducted skills sessions with approximately 300 kids from Inverell Public and Ross Hill Public School who were able to 'come and try' hockey. The skills sessions were led by Beck Sanders with the assistance of newly appointed New England Development Officer Kate Frizell and Sydney Development Officer Michelle Willey as well as some Inverell hockey club players and coaches - Barry Sansom, Kent Chaffey, Glen Baker, Di Collins, Jo Ireland. 
The school students participated in skill development sessions of passing and dribbling, goal shooting, tackling and a modified game. In the afternoon (after school) there was an open skills session for any locals who wanted to be involved. About 40 kids came along, many of whom had already attended the school sessions during the day - some youngsters keen for a taste of more hockey. The day was organised and coordinated by Inverell Hockey's Dick Hudson and anyone interested in registering for the Inverell Hockey Club should email barrysansom@bigpond.com A huge thanks to Inverell hockey for their wonderful organisation efforts and to Beck Sanders for assisting in the development day. |
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After the wonderful coverage of the FIH Men's World Cup from India, Fox Sports will show the ABN Amro WorldHockey television magazine program at the following times: Thu 22 Apr at 1430 AET on Fox Sports 3
Sat 24 Apr at 0800 AET on Fox Sports 1
Mon 26 Apr at 0830 on Fox Sports 3 See details of how to subscribe to Fox Sports at: http://www.foxsports. com.au/subscribe Hockey NSW expresses sincere thanks to Fox Sports for their continuing support of hockey.
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Hockey NSW Men's Veterans are encouraging all ex hockey players to give veteran's hockey a go! With vets age groups from O35 or O70 - there are teams and opportunities for all and it's never too late! Read the article from the Men's Vets sub-committee - 'The game we play all the way to heaven' here. The first men's vets state championship for 2010 gets underway this weekend with the O55s age group kicking off at Albion Park today - view the draw and info here
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