Posts Tagged Mens State League 1

The annual Waverley Hockey Club $1000 Club Day is upon us once again and is shaping up to be a great day around the club. WHC looks forward to playing five exciting games against Doncaster HC, hosting a luncheon for our current sponsors as well as socialising with a number of council members: local, state and federal.

WHEN – Saturday 31st July from 11PM.

TICKETS – $30 ticket for entry into the $1000 draw, two drinks of your choice and a sausage.

TARGET 1000 – Let’s aim for 1000 people to come through those gates on Saturday to show the proud and dominant force that Waverley HC is.

The day kicks off strongly with our two impressive under 9’s teams taking the field against Doncaster’s best under 9’s. The Under 9 Panthers will be looking to cement their 1st and 2nd places on the ladder – The next generation look strong! The club encourages parents and their kids to stay on for the day – We are supplying two jumping castles and have a Cub Card available for purchase on the day.

Cub Cards – $5 will get the kids one soft drink, a sausage and unlimited time on our two jumping castles.

Following will be an 120 strong minkey brigade taking the field to showcase the future of the club. Club members from State League 1, Pennant A and B will be down to help out coaching the minkeys program from 10:30am. Doncaster minkeys are also making the trek to Waverley HC to join in the fun. Again the club encourages the minkeys to stick around and to make use of the Cub Card!

WHC will welcome sponsors, supporters and council members at 12:00 noon to the club for a great day of socialising, food and hockey!

The third placed Pennant A Men will be looking for a win against the fourth placed Doncaster at 12:30pm – A win could potentially boost the team to first place!

2:00pm will showcase the clubs best Men’s talent with the State League 1 taking the field against Doncaster. The boy’s are coming off a strong win against Greensborough at home. They will ensure a fast paced, skillful and exciting game for the the home crowd to enjoy.

3:00pm Will see the $1000 draw begin, make sure you have tickets (ONLY $30!).

3:30pm the third placed Women’s Pennant A team will take on second placed Doncaster in what should be a well fought match to cement a finals spot!

5:00pm will showcase the final match of the day with the Pennant D Women looking to knock off a lowly PEGS to ensure a finals berth coming into the business end of the season.

Remember to show your support by getting down for the day to ensure we reach TARGET 1000.

Look forward to seeing you there

Waverley 3 defeated by Essendon 4.

The third placed Waverley hosted the fourth placed Essendon at home looking to cement a top two position at the half way point of the season.

The Panthers entered the game missing three of its stars: Tim Wischusen, Corey Joseph and Travis Brooks, due to AHL Viking commitments.

The Blue Boy’s showed no sign of instability, from the missing AHL representatives, with a clear dominance over the Essendon outfit. However, the Panthers kept the large home-crowd on edge with a couple of early chances failing to find the net.

It wasn’t until the fifteenth minute when Stephen Jarvis slapped a penetrating pass to Sparrow Swindells on the dot who promptly slotted a turn-around-jumper into the corner, 1-0.

This increased the ferocity in the game and history repeated itself showing that ‘no love was lost’ when Tim Thompson came off the pitch requiring stitches in his nose.

The Waverley boys rallied, bringing wave after wave of attack on the Essendon defence. Finally, the defence cracked with a well placed pass from young gun Lewis Mathews down the left gifting Simon Preston space to work, he didn’t disappoint, placing the ball past the keeper to bring the score 2-0 to Waverley.

Waverley continued its dominance with Stephen Jarvis again stepping up with a wonderful overhead pass which found Simon Preston in full stride. A cheeky mid-air tap to Danny Brennan saw him draw two defenders and outlet it straight back to S.Preston who slammed home the ball with a diving slap from the left to record his second – giving Waverley a solid 3-0 at half time.

After such an amazing first half the game looked done and dusted, or so we thought.

A rejuvenated Essendon re-entered with a point to prove. Essendon were able to convert two penalty corners from their Belgium corner specialist, which bought the scoreline to a very dangerous position of 3-2.

Waverley were under the pumped and held firm whilst trying to turn the tide. However, a full field overhead from Essendon found a free attacker who converted the field goal. Essendon pushed on and found a fourth goal from the field to take the lead late in the game, 4-3.

Waverley had last ditch effort with the Essendon keeper being sent off with three minutes left on the clock. Yet, Waverley were unable to find that final finish with various field goal attempts and two corner being stonewalled.

ZACBOG – Jarrod Glascock

The Skin Institute Award – Lewis Mathews

Goals – S.Preston 2 & Swindells 1.

The weekend saw the first ‘Super Saturday’ held at the State Hockey Centre, seeing all State League 1 games fixtured on pitch 1.  The Panthers faced up against Melbourne University a team recently promoted from State League 2.

Waverley was out to stamp their authority on the game early by placing MUHC under constant pressure, hoping to find cracks in their defence.  The past few weeks have seen the Panthers struggle to convert early ascendancy in games into scoreboard pressure but Aaron Swindells made sure that trend didn’t continue.  Two almost identical goals saw the striker slot wonderful diving back-stick shots, getting the Panthers off to a flying start.

The entire first half was dominated by Waverley and with constant pressure on their deep defence and midfield, the MUHC sidefailed to get any real penetration into their attack.  Patience and quality ball movement allowed Waverley forwards to manipulate the opposition’s defence and commence a goal scoring spree, banging in 6 goals up to the half time mark.

The challenge was laid down at half time to continue to attack and take the game to the Melbourne University team.  Only 2 weeks prior with a similar score line the Panthers had given the opposition a sniff after the break changing the entire flow of the game so coach Zac Hawes demanded his players ‘go on with it’ and bury the opposition.

Tim Thompson finished off a well earned penalty stroke and on his 21^st Birthday, Stephen Jarvis was on song finishing with a hat-trick of goals from well executed penalty corners, the Waverley goal scoring spree rolled on throughout the second half.

With complete dominance of the game, a disappointing late goal was conceded, however the Panthers had achieved what they set out to do finishing off the match and scoring another 5 goals in the second half to annihilate the opposition 11-1.

Goal Scorers: S. Jarvis 3, A. Swindells 2, T. Wischusen 2, J. Glasscock 1, D. Brennan 1, T. Thompson 1, T. Brooks 1.

Coach’s Best on Ground: Aaron Swindells

Skin Institute Best on Ground Award: Stephen Jarvis

The Waverley Panthers ventured out to Greensborough this week hoping to notch up their second win in 3 rounds. Waverley got off to another great start putting the Greensborough defence on to the back foot early. Simon Preston and Tim Wischusen were again providing strong attacks down the left and right flanks worrying the Greensborough defence with their elimination skills and superior pace. After having the majority of play in their attack Waverley found the scoreboard through a clinically executed penalty corner by Stephen Jarvis, drag flicking the ball low into the corner.

The goal seemed to rattle Greensborough and with the Panthers turning up the pressure, Greensborough found themselves making uncharacteristic mistakes in deep defence allowing the Panthers to continue penetrate their attacking circle. As Swindells, Wischusen began to tighten the noose on the defence, they provided an opportunity for Travis Brooks to capitalise on their hard work, with Wischusen dispossessing their Right Half, squirting an early ball to Brooks who found himself in acres of space and was able to waltz in and drill the ball past the keeper.

With Waverley having full ascendancy on the game and the Greensborough defence under the pump, Waverley had put themselves in an ideal position to run away with the game. Disappointingly and like weeks preceding, the final minutes of the first half saw the Panthers concede a late goal, giving Greensborough a sniff going into the second half with the scores at 2-1.

The second half saw Waverley continue to dominate with Wes Moore and Jarrod Page through the midfield setting up wave after wave of attack. However the number of opportunities that weren’t converted to goals became worrying and with each miss, Greensborough’s belief began to grow. They began stringing passes together and their off the ball running had the Panthers struggling to keep up. After having such a stranglehold on the game, a shocked Waverley saw the equalising goal slotted by Greensborough, and now it was the Panthers turn to ride out the storm.

The defence lead by Corey Joseph and Matthugh Freeman, stood strong, but there was only so much they could do holding off assault after assault by the opposition. Unlike Waverley, Greensborough converted their opportunities and scored twice in quick succession leaving the Panthers stunned with the scoreline 4-2 down with 10 minutes to go.

Needing a spark to get the Panthers outfit up and about again, newcomer Lewis Matthews stepped up controlling the ball on a string through the midfield and kick-starting the Waverley fight back. Still defending a persistent Greensborough, Waverley needed to score and score fast. Stephen Jarvis found the net again with a powerful drag flick from a penalty corner, but it turned out to be too little, too late as the Panthers went down 4-3 to Greensborough.

Hola amigos de la bonita ciudad de Barcelona!!

For those that don’t know me, I’m Seb Mutimer from the Men’s State League 1 team and the new Sponsorship committee member within the club – I thought I would put up a post on the website

Since the end of the last season I have been in Europe: travelling, learning Spanish and playing hockey for around ten months – An amazing experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

My aim for the trip was to live in another country, become part of the culture, learn its language and discover a new brand of hockey to improve my game for Australia. In between all of this I have travelled extensively throughout Europe for 10 months including: Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, England, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Morocco, Portugal and Spain (where I live in Barcelona).

I have been asked a million times which is my favorite country, an impossible task to pick – If I had to choose though, it would be a dead heat between Portugal and Spain, purely based on the experiences, people and culture that these places hold.

During my time over here I have met some amazing people that will be lifelong friends as well as experiences I will never forget. The incredible music festival in Amsterdam on my birthday, La Carnaval in Sitges Spain, skiing the Dolomites of Italy, Las Fallas Festival in Valencia, Las Semanas in Sevilla, Oktoberfest in Munich Germany, Paris whilst it is snowing, New Years in Barcelona, watching the greatest soccer team of our time (Barcelona FC) playing in Camp Nou, the parties in Scandinavia, the mind-blowing culture shift of Morocco and the beautiful beaches of Portugal as well as skydiving over the Algarve coast – just to name a few!

On to the hockey!

The dream to play and live overseas was helped along by a good Spanish friend I met and played against a few years ago in Melbourne – Borja Campos who played for Doncaster SL1 and also plays for the National Barcelona team and is my roommate. He organized me to play for the Masculina Primera Barcelona Equipa, my registrations, licensing and accommodation – which made everything amazingly easy for me!

Before Christmas two of my best friends (from Amsterdam) and I were playing for the Segundo division, as we arrived 2 rounds into the season and due to licensing and international player rules we were not allowed to be promoted until after Christmas – during this time we bought the Segundo division to the top of the table.

We now play for the Primera Division in a tightly contested 12 team division where the next three rounds can decide between playoffs and relegation for 6 teams (two up two down relegation system). So the stakes are high at the moment and training as amped up a bit!

The Barcelona FC has been a great club for me and is well organized with 2-3 trainings a week, a physical trainer for an hour before training, two water base grounds (with one commencing resurfacing recently) as well as free access to the Barcelona physio (same one the soccer players use!) in Camp Nou. We also travel around Spain to play clubs in other cities, such as Valencia and Madrid. These trips are all expense paid over the weekend and are a fantastic experience.

I have around 3 weeks left in my trip and it’s going to be busy. A trip to Valencia to play Valencia HC, a flight to Nice to visit some Australian friends, watching the Champions league of Barcelona FC as well as the Handball for Barça, heading to Amsterdam for Queens Day with my Dutch mates and another skydive!

It has been something I will never forget and urge all younger players to consider it after their schooling or graduate programs as a gap year. If you want any info or have any questions im always around the club to have a chat and share my tips and experiences. I will be seeing you all around the club very soon!

FORÇA BARÇA!

Ciao ciao, bueno suerte equipos de Waverley!
Sebástian

Click on any picture for the full size, have toooooo many pictures to upload but here is a couple.

The mens State League 1 team are playing a practice game against Altona at Altona on Thursday night (April 1st) at 7pm. If you would like to take in a game of hockey then come along and support the team as it prepares for season 2010.

Under the guidance of new coach Zac Hawes, the Waverley Men’s Hockey Club have been hard at it starting their preparations for season 2010!

Read more…

Big things are on the horizon for the Waverley Hockey Club.  The appointment two years ago of Brett Thompson to SL 1 Mens coach consolidated the senior group and provided a springboard for the future of the Mens unit.  Brett brought his passion, skill and expertise to the group and developed and nurtured younger players as well as guiding members of the older brigade.  Unfortunately, as happens to most in amateur sport, due to career and family commitments Brett has has stepped aside as SL1 coach.  The Waverley Hockey Club, and the Men’s Unit in particular, wish to thank Brett for his tireless efforts and for the expertise he bought to the game as coach and previously as a player.

Consequent to Brett’s decision the chase was on in earnest to secure the right people to continue Brett’s work and guide the future of the senior unit.  After much searching, including speaking to past legends of the club and others, Waverley has appointed Zac Hawes as the Mens SL1 coach.  Zac brings a solid background as a player at the AHL, State and SL1 club levels and much experience in personal coaching and development. He is the current Victorian U21 Mens coach: his coaching performance at the recent U21 Australian championships where the group finished 2nd, was duly noted.  We see his ability to develop youth and manage senior players as critical to his appointment to the role.  It can also be said he has been seen as somewhat a nemesis to opposition clubs.  Waverley sees this as a good fit to its culture.

In conjunction with Zac’s appointment Waverley have also secured former State and SL1 player, Adrian Kucyk as Pennant A coach and former Waverley player Stephen James as U17 Boys coach. Adrian brings a hard edged passion to the sport with much experience at the elite levels.  The combination of Zac and Adrian will consolidate the senior group and provide opportunity for players young and old to develop and be challenged in their hockey.   Stephen James is a hard task master who expects much of younger players as they seek to develop and make the transition in to senior hockey.

As if the appointment of quality coaches were not enough, Waverley Mens Unit is excited that former Australian player and Athens Gold Medalist Travis Brooks will return to play for the Panthers in 2010.  Travis’ exquisent hockey skills and innate coaching ability will complete the coaching  triumvirate and playing resurgence of the club.  Continuing on from the solid foundation started by Brett, he will help guide, develop and mentor younger players around the club to ensure the strength of the club will continue for years to come.

Go the Panthers

Waverley 0 defeated by Greensborough 6.

Greensborough handed the Panthers their departure ticket on Sunday with a 6 nil drumming at the State Hockey Centre in front of a large crowd, to end a great season in disappointing style.

After a promising season the Panthers were able to finish third and carried high hopes entering the finals. However, a well-versed Burra jumped the Panthers from the outset with an early goal leaving Waverley in a state of shell-shock.

Waverley courageously sought to fight back in the second half to reclaim the three goal deficit. However, the Panthers were unable to buy a goal on the day whilst Greensborough continued its march. Three goals in each half were more than enough to plummet the Panthers out of the finals race for 2009.

The season of 2009 has been exceedingly successful for a team who is looking to rebuild the invincible dynasty of old. The not so distant future looks bright with several young guns stepping up and becoming dominate within the team and Victorian hockey – whilst the older crew continues to provide invaluable experience and knowledge to an exciting lineup.

Finals would not have been possible without the efforts of Coach Brett Thompson whose experience has proved invaluable.Thanks must also go to Trav Brooks for ’specialist coaching’ throughout the year as well as Helen Joseph and Ken Moore for contributing their time and expertise to the team – the boys are forever thankful.

Great season boys.

Congratulations to the Pennant E boys who won their qualifying final 1-0 against Doncaster to catapult them straight into the Grand Final. This team has had considerable success over the previous years and will be looking to continue this in 2009. We will be down there supporting in 2 weeks!

Goals:

Team: Scott, Greaves, Glasscock, Brennan, Freeman, Thompson, Jarvis, Joseph, Preston, Wischusen, Mutimer, Young, Swindells, Dallimore, Fooks and Moore.

The following teams have had considerable success during the 2009 season and will now compete in the finals for the ultimate glory.

Please head down where possible

Saturday 12.15pm Mens Metro 2 East  V  Hawthorn at Hawthorn 1

Saturday 2.00pm   Mens PE  V Doncaster at Waverley

Saturday 3.45 pm Mens Metro 3 East V MCC at MHS

Saturday 5.30pm Mens PA V Doncaster at S1

Sunday 2.30pm Mens State League 1 V Greensborough at S1