Club News

The annual Bert Batch Cup is played between Victorian club rivals Waverley and Camberwell, in memory of Bert Batch and his significant contribution to Victorian Hockey and the Waverley Hockey Club. Bert began with the Waverley hockey club in 1973, a coach and mentor to thousands of players in the state. This memorial cup represents his involvement, values, the rivalry, respect and history between two of Melbourne’s great hockey clubs.

Colin is the youngest of the four brothers, who all played for Waverley during the early years when the club was first promoted to “A Grade”. With 175 international caps, Colin played at the LA and Seoul Olympics, was part of winning teams at the World Cup in 1986 and four Champions Trophies. He was assistant coach of the Kookaburras from 2001 to 2008, the most successful period of Australian men’s hockey, the team winning gold in Athens, bronze in Beijing and silver at two World Cups. Colin played in eight State League 1 grand finals for Waverley against Camberwell between 1981 and 1991. Both clubs dominated Victorian hockey in this period and where the rivalry was born.

We contacted Colin to find out how he is enjoying Belgium, his new role as the national men’s coach, his memories of Bert and his thoughts on the significance of the annual cup:

Hi Colin. Congratulations on your appointment as Belgium national men’s coach. You have been in Belgium for a little over two years now, how are you enjoying your work with hockey and life in Europe?

It has been a great opportunity to live & work in Belgium. As you would be aware, Belgium is very close to a number of major hockey playing countries, Spain, England, France, Ireland, Germany & of course Holland. Players & teams regularly travel to these countries for weekend matches & it is not uncommon to play visiting teams from eastern European clubs. Recently, the Australian school girls’ team played against the Belgian U18 national team. So there are many opportunities on our doorstep, it is so different to Australia when travelling within the country can take a long time & is expensive as well.

I’m still Head Coach of my club Dragons, until we finish the season, end of May. Then I have full concentration on Belgium. With Dragons we play in the EHL in a few weeks time, we play Rot-Weiss Koln, which is basically the German gold medal team from 2008, should be interesting match!

Living in Europe has also been a great experience with so many counties within driving distance. Winter is extremely cold. You can’t imagine how cold it can be. Then spring arrives & it’s like living in a different city. People who have lived indoors for the best part of 4/5 months are now active & take every opportunity to experience the warmer weather & long daylight hours. I live in Antwerp & we have experienced good snow falls for the past two winters, which has been really enjoyable but I do miss Australia, particularly the beach & the consistent outdoor living.

You were appointed as the national coach in December, 2010 after working as the Assistant National Coach for two years. What have you been doing with the program since your appointment? Belgium is currently ranked 13^th in the world rankings after missing qualification for the World Cup in 2010. What are the team’s prospects over the next 12 months leading up to London?

We are preparing for the European Championship to be played in Germany in August, which is our Olympic qualifying tournament. In February we toured New Zealand beating them 2 – 1 in a three test series & also playing Korea twice with a win & a loss. Both NZ (7) & Korea (6) are ranked above us, so we are making good progress. However, we face a difficult challenge to qualify directly from the EC as we must finish in the top 4 and we face Germany & Spain in our round matches, so we must win two matches to qualify for the semi finals. Russia is the other team in our pool.

The Bert Batch Cup on Saturday recognises Bert and his involvement at Waverley and in Victorian hockey. What are your memories of Bert’s time in hockey & the teams he coached?

Bert had a great love of all sports. Hockey became his passion but his first love was waterpolo. He played for the strong Richmond club & won many club premierships, he also represented Victoria.

He was a patient & giving person, who coached my brothers & I in our junior years. He also coached Waverley’s top side in the late 70’s & junior Victorian teams in the early 70’s. However, he didn’t stop there, long after his son’s finished playing junior hockey he was back coaching the next generation of players for the club. Dani Roche & Travis Brooks, both Olympic gold medallists were coached by Bert as juniors. He enjoyed his share of winning junior premierships but he truly loved the game & helping young players.

The Cup is a tribute to Bert as a hockey person and for his time at Waverley and I’m sure he would be delighted to know that the traditions from the late 70’s & 80’s have continued through to today.

What are your thoughts about the tradition between the two clubs and which was the best match you played in against Camberwell?

The two clubs played many great finals, so it’s too difficult to narrow down to one match. Waverley’s first premiership was in 1981, we won 3 – 1 against Camberwell, the first premiership is always special & I still have a clear memory of the day. It was the last club final played on grass at Manningham. We lost in 1984 against Camberwell with a great team, so that was a huge disappointment. Then the next year we played again & were losing 2-0 at half time after winning the semi easily. We played a great second half to win 3 – 2. In 1989, Camberwell had been the leader all year but we won in extra time, so I feel we stole that one. The other exceptional match was in 1990, Camberwell were cruising at 3 – 1 with about 2 minutes left & we scored twice to take the match into extra time of 2 x 15 mins. I think both teams were exhausted after the match, we lost 6-5 but it was an extraordinary decade for both clubs. Between 1981 & 1991, I think we played each other 8 times, with 4 wins each.

Other than the obvious results suggesting a historical rivalry, why do you think the two clubs play great matches against each other?

For me when you have two successful clubs that regularly play each other in finals there will always be strong rivalry & great competition. You see this in many sports. The clubs are located close to each other, which I also believe adds to a healthy rivalry. There were some extremely tough matches, some as hard as many international matches that I played in. Both clubs of course had many national & state players in their lineups, so the quality & skill level was also high. There were times when we hated each other but there was also respect & off the pitch the players could still be friendly & I believe that is what binds the two clubs together. In hindsight, Waverley was good for Camberwell & Camberwell was good for Waverley, the rivalry challenged both clubs to continue to improve.

Finally, despite living in Perth & now in Belgium over the past 10 years, I still have a strong desire to check the results each Monday to see how Waverley played on the weekend. I would like to wish the club another great year following up on the success from last year with both men’s & women’s teams winning.

Kind regards to all

Colin

Thanks Colin, all the best for the coming period with the Belgian team.

Men’s and Women’s Registration Tues, Wed, Thursday at the club rooms 7pm – 9.30pm

Registration forms will be available. Please bring credit card, eftpos, cash or cheque. Students please bring student cards.

Despite HV increases fees are the same as last year.

If you are unable to pay the amount in full, please contact Graham Eddy(geddy51@gmail.com), to discuss a payment plan that works for you or see club representative who will be down during the above times.

Please note that you are not a financial member by Round 1, you will not be selected in a team.

Junior training has commenced for all age groups as of Monday 21st February. The Junior training schedule for the 2011 session has been finalised and can be found under the Junior section of this web site, http://www.waverleyhc.org.au/juniors/training

If you are yet to register, a pre-populated registration form is available at the clubrooms for players from last year. Payment can be made by cheque or by card at club

Round 1 is on April 1st & 2nd.

Women’s pre-season starts TONIGHT Feb 1st.

Club rooms at 7.00 pm.

Please contact womens president Danita Eastman on 0430 110 682 for further details.

Training will be Tuesday & Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.

Further details to follow …….

Click here to download a form and be part of this amazing experience!

Click on the image to find out more details

All are welcome.

All you need to bring is two drink bottles and a towel and an enthusiasm craving success. (The 2 drink bottles and a towel required to be bought along to EVERY session is a RULE that everyone needs to abide by. My leniency with this ruling will be non-existent throughout this pre-season with anyone forgetting will be asked to complete a fitness task before and after the session.)

Pre-Season kicks off at the Waverley Hockey Club on the 24^th November 6.30pm start, please ensure that you get there up to 15-20mins prior to begin warming up.  Sessions will be held on Monday evenings, Wednesday evenings and Saturday Mornings.

A few photo’s from the Grand Finals of our top teams – will be updated as we photos are uploaded

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