Attention all members

Please be advised that the 2009 Annual General Meeting of the Kew Elgar Whitehorse Hockey Club will be held at 7:30pm on 11 February 2010 at The Harp of Erin Hotel, 636 High Street, Kew East.

Club members should be aware that the date of the AGM has changed. It will now be held on February 11. It will begin at 7.30pm at the Harp of Erin Hotel in Kew as previously listed.

Agendas and proxy appointment forms have been posted to members for which we hold current postal addresses.

For those members who have not provided a postal address please find following links to the AGM agenda and proxy appointment forms.  Alternatively please refer the club website at www.kewhockey.com for further details.

2009 AGM Agenda

Proxy form

Lachlan Walmsley
Secretary
Kew Elgar Whitehorse Hockey Club

Following the Aussies securing their 10th Champions Trophy in Melbourne, the Kew Kids starting counting the six sleeps until they would actually meet their Kookaburra heroes, Mark Knowles and Jamie Dwyer.

Mark and Jamie have kicked off “1 & 9 Coaching”; a program bringing their simply awesome hockey talents to the grass roots; the local hockey clubs.  The big emphasis is having fun – Mark’s and Jamie’s coaching program is full of fun and some super secrets of hockey.

So the little KewCumbers gathered at the SNHC last Saturday – and what a fantastic day we all had.  After some intros, the lads got right into the secrets of top class hockey.

1.  Learn from the Best

Mark detailed the techniques of:

• The slap pass
• Hitting hard flat balls
• Trapping into space
• The spin (later re-named the “zoomer”)

Jamie focused in on dribbling skills, especially:

• Ball carrying position
• Head up while dribbling
• Drags, jinks and dinks
• Elimination skills

Following a rotation through Mark or Jamie’s session, the groups could immediately apply their learnings in mini-games.

2.  World’s Best Skills Demonstration

All the kids and parents were called in and the boys demonstrated some truly spectacular hockey skills.  Mark and Jamie thrilled the group with goal shots, chips, flicks and then some serious party tricks.  The main message was “DO try this at home – just NOT INSIDE the house…”

Jamie was asked to demonstrate his spectacular “Toma” goal from the Champs Trophy game v The Netherlands.  Mark quickly emphasised that it was a typical Knowles pass that set it up – so we saw the whole play re-enacted…

FIVE TIMES IN A ROW – BREATHTAKING – ALL UNSTOPPABLE.

Young hockey heads were inspired.  Old hockey heads nodded sagely, caught their breath and noted that:

a) in my day it’s back of the stick,

b) my back is sore just watching, and

b) it was ABSOLUTELY no fluke

The Kew Kids had their turn to show their own tricks – under the watchful eye of the Aussie skipper (Knowles) and the World’s Best hockey player (Dwyer).

This session finished with the biggest game of HOC-TOPUS you’ve ever seen; 40 kids bearing down on Mark and Jamie with their dribbling skills.  Seems that the Kew Kids skills were too sharp for the boys through the first phase – and then Mark and Jamie’s tackling skills seemed to warm up!

Then Jamie tried to take them all on – however he didn’t count on the perfect Eliza B tackle (see the photo).

3.  Q and A

The lads spent some time answering lots of wide ranging questions from the kids, including enquiries re their training program, their beep test results (high 15s, low 16s), their hockey highlights and the most goals Jamie’s ever scored in a match (22).

One very interesting point came out of this Q&A.  Aussie coach Ric Charlesworth has been emphasising to the Kookaburras the incredible importance of the trap, the hit and the slap – especially the trap.  No use having fancy dribbling and shooting skills if you haven’t trapped it.

4.  Hero Time

To wind up Mark and Jamie were wonderfully generous with their time following the sessions, with all the kids making sure they got everything signed, and the Mums and Dads taking hundreds of photos.

What a fantastic opportunity to meet, learn from, and tackle the World’s best players.  Mark and Jamie, seeyou next year and

GO THE KOOKABURRAS IN THE 2010 WORLD CUP

Thought hockey was over for the year? Think Again!

Kew Junior Hockey Club is holding four hockey clinics on consecutive Sunday mornings in November at Elgar Park.

All Kew Juniors and potential Kew Juniors welcome to participate.  Parents and other adults with an interest welcome to observe or ask questions—particularly for Session 2 on the Rules of Hockey.

Program

Session 1: Sunday 8th November 9:30—11:00am

“You’ve paid for it, you might as well use it all ” – Stick skills with every part of the stick.  With assorted talented senior players who can do assorted talented things with hockey sticks.

Session 2: Sunday 15th November 9:30—11:00am

“Was that really five metres?” – The intricacies of the rules—don’t be tricked.  Rules you need to know, uncommon applications, rules you can use to your advantage.  With Pete Hovenden, senior umpire, veterans’ supremo, club legend.  Interested adults very welcome.

Session 3: Sunday 22nd November 9:30—11:00am

“Cumber IQ ” – Strategies and Set Plays—some tactics for playing smarter as well as better.  With club coaches/players.

Session 4: Sunday 29th November 9:00—10:30am (Earlier start due to Champions Trophy that afternoon)

“The Secrets of Hockey” – (rescheduled) Our own Mr Hockey (Joe Hassall)  reveals the skills and attributes needed to be a successful hockey player.

There will be: practice and coaching of basic skills, guest presentations on hockey topics and some informal mixed “scratch” matches across various age-groups.

Make sure to bring: Stick, mouth guard, shin guards, water bottle, a hat and sunscreen (we are Sun Smart), and a coloured shirt and a white shirt (to distinguish teams for the “scratch” matches).

Cost: $5 donation per session, to cover basic expenses.

So if you are an experienced player wanting to refine aspects of your game, a beginner starting out, or anywhere in between, come along, have some fun and exercise on any or all of these Sunday mornings and develop your hockey skills.

Enquiries

Peter Bleakley: peterbleakley@iinet.net.au
Lauren Bleakley: laurenbleakley@iinet.net.au

The Kew Hockey Club is excited to announce that Men’s State League skipper, Peter Bunting, has been selected in the Open Men’s Victorian Indoor Team and Carrington “Chopper” Morwood has been selected in the Men’s U/21 Victorian Indoor Team as one of its goalkeepers. The selections of PB and Chopper cap fine seasons on the field and  in the net and we wish them well at the Championships. We know you’ll represent the Cumbers with distinction.

The teams will play in the Australian Championships, 6th – 12th December in Adelaide.

Teams and Schedules

The Kookaburras will be well and truly flying the Aussie flag when they meet England on Tuesday 3 December at the ABN AMRO Hockey Champions Trophy.

While the Kookaburras arguably have stronger rivalries with the likes of the Netherlands and Germany, there can be no doubt the players, and the entire Australian sporting public will have one thing on their mind when we face England – Revenge!

Revenge for what you may ask given the last time these two counties met was in 2006? The revenge the Kookaburras will be seeking comes from a different sporting event close to the heart of every die hard Australian sports fan – The Ashes.

Every time these two nations meet there is a fierce rivalry, and the Kookaburras will have the chance to get one back on the Poms when they meet at the Champions Trophy!

Although England has been the whipping boys for the Kookaburras in the past, they will be no walk overs this time around.

Now ranked 7^th in the world, England are in rare form, defeating powerhouse countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Spain to win the recent European Championships and gain direct access to the 2010 World Cup.

Make sure you get behind the Kookaburras when they face England at the Champions Trophy and let them know that while they may have the honours in the cricket, we are still the team to beat in hockey!

Tickets for this match on Tuesday 3 December are still available and can be purchased at Ticketmaster on 136 100 or click HERE.