With Waverley Hockey Club getting a brand new playing field in the exciting new color of blue, it’s great to hear that the pitch is being named after club legend “Hedley Hull.”

Hedley is well known around the club and someone that I certainly have appreciated his support during my playing career. I will always remember receiving a surprising letter at the time just before going to both Olympics wishing me all the best on behalf of himself and the club, an all round great bloke.

Hedley a well deserved recognition of the important role that you have played in helping build the Waverley Hockey Club.

Big night tomorrow night down at the Footscray Hockey Club as I meet and greet the playing group for the first time. Looking forward to it.

Going to layout my expectations of the group and what I’m expecting as we get stuck into preseason and beyond. I have some big plans for the group over the next two years (and potentially beyond) so looking forward to sharing my thoughts with the group and getting stuck into things after weeks of planning.

Good times!

Congratulations to Jamie Dwyer on being annointed into the Australian Institue of Sport’s “Best of the Best” Hall of Fame. He is an amazing player to watch and was certainly one of the best, if not the best player I ever played with. Lucky thing for me was I had the best seat in the house at times seeing him work his magic (playing along side him)! He certainly is one of the most enjoyable players to watch when he has the ball, not many people can turn defenders inside out so easily as he can.

More info here: http://www.hockey.org.au/index.php?id=90&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=827&tx_ttnews[backPid]=88&cHash=7fb48c91be

Congrats JD, another accolade in your already impressive career.

I’m excited to announce that I have signed on with Footscray Hockey Club to coach their State League 1 team for the next 2 seasons.

Originally I was thinking about playing in season 2012 unless an opportunity arose that really grabbed my interest. With Waverley having a shot at a 3rd straight premiership I was seriously thinking about getting myself fit again and pushing for selection. I’d spent this season (2011) coaching Pennant A working with some of the young kids at Waverley to ensure that the club had the depth for sustained success in State League 1 for years to come.  It was such an enjoyable and rewarding experience to see such a young group of players develop as individuals and contribute to the success of the PA team in winning the Premiership.  So if I wasn’t able to play SL1 or even PA in 2012, I would have been happy playing PB or lower so as long as I wasn’t taking the place of a younger kid in the team I played and continue to work with this group of kids.

So after wrapping up season 2012 my initial plan was to get back into playing unless something that really took my interest came along.  I’d been thinking if my body didn’t come up to an acceptable standard (with a lack of cartlidge in various place I was never 100% sure) I would like to continue on coaching.

After thinking that I may pick up the stick again, I also thought about what would make me turn my back on playing and continue coaching.  With season 2012 seeing no side relegated from State League 1 as part of  Hockey Victoria’s expansion program, an offer from a club that was in the lower part of the competition or coming into State League 1 would certainly gain my interest as it gives you a good time frame to not only develop a good game plan, but an extra year to develop some individuals in the team to become better hockey players.

Here’s what I was looking for in a club to take me away from my aspirations of playing in an attempt for a 3rd straight premiership at Waverley:

1. A club that has a good depth of junior teams as this is important for having sustained period in State League 1 as it provides continuous feeding into the senior programs
2. An ambitious club- a club that is clear on where they want to go and what they want to achieve
3. A club that has talented players with an abudance of potential to work with and develop going forward

Thinking about this there was 2 clubs that really had me interested, but I was also very happy at Waverley working with the group I had in season 2012. Footscray was certainly one of those clubs and the other I will not name but they certainly fitted all three categories.

So when I was approached by Footscray to come and coach them I was very interested in the job, to say the least.  From a distance I think they are a sleeping giant in Victorian hockey.  They won the best junior program for season 2011 which certainly fitted with my 1st criteria.

From meeting with members of the club, they certainly were clear on what they wanted to achieve over the next few years, not only on the pitch but also intiatives they wanted to begin around the club.  In season 2011 they wanted to get into State League 1 and they achieved it, yes they were very ambitious and did it in ways that people probably don’t agree with, but history will say they had a plan to get into State League at the end of season 2011 and they did .  So that was the second criteria marked with “check”!

The biggest thing though that excites me about the opportunity at Footscray is the talent.  There’s a group there that has huge potential that I think I can bring along in leaps and bounds over the next 2 years and create a nucleus for a strong future at the club.  Also the quality of the younger kids and the potential to develop them is something that I’m looking forward to as after playing at the international level I feel a sense of responsibility to impart my knowledge and learnings on to the next generation of Vikings/Australian players to ensure that the State and Country continue to have success.  I’m hoping that I can work with this younger crew so that they find themselves part of these teams in the future.

I can’t wait to get into preseason and start on this journey over the 2 years.  I’m sure it is going to be a challenging process but one that

I’m excited sink my teeth into and see where it take me.

Who knows what the future holds?

The new rule around penalty corners baffles me. If a forward breaks and the umpire catches them, that particular player is sent back to the half line but can be replaced by a teammate. What a waste of bloody time?  I believe the umpire should reverse the decision or the attack is 1 man down??

On the flip side if a defender breaks their team is penalised by reducing the number of defenders of the PC from 5 to 4 (includes GK).

This to me is a serious imbalance of justice in this rule.

I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts.

I’m lucky enough to find myself in a position where I coach the elite (Victorian Vikings) and a club side (Waverley PA) and have made some interesting observations around the difference between the 2 levels……apart from the obvious such as skill and fitness levels.

The first major one is communication.  At Vikings training I can stand there and explain a drill to the group and if need be, draw it on a whiteboard and say to the boys “let’s go” and it just happens. They just get it! The drill is well executed from the first repetition and it continually improves from there as they develop strategies from there.  On the flip side, it is amazing to see the results after explaining it to a group of players at club level (normally Pennant A/Pennant B and few Pennant D players as well).  People are running everywhere, the ball is being passed to the wrong person it was as if they weren’t even listening to the instruction (which I have found may sometimes be the case!). Whilst I appreciate people have different learning styles (e.g. visual learner vs a ‘doing’ learner…apologies for non-technical terms) but I’m sure at the elite level there are players with the same learning styles as those that are at the lower levels but it is just an interesting observation that I have noticed.  I find myself having to repeat the same message different ways at the lower level just to ensure everyone is clear on what needs to be done…..eventually we get there!

But I have to admit, I enjoy the challenge of having to explain the drill in multiple ways so that all people understand what needs to go on. It also allows me to develop a skill that will allow me to try different things with players that I can use at the top level when a player is struggling with concepts that require explanation.

The other is the intensity levels. Take out the actual execution of skills, the level of intensity between the 2 levels are worlds apart.  I think that the players of lower levels have all the opportunity to train at the higher intensity, but there is just something in their makeup that sees them happy with ‘cruising’ through sessions.  For instance I’ll set up a drill with the Vikings and straight away they are in to it, no matter how simple it is like a bull at a gate.  Everyone has 2 legs and 2 arms (at least those playing hockey) and they can all run and move at the same intensity irrespective of their ability to hit and trap but for some reason, even after giving a good ‘spray’ and rev-up, there is a clear gap in level of intensity which I can only put down to the individual’s internal desire to improve and compete.  This to me is one of the most important things that sets good players apart from best.

So that’s the challenge I face each week is to not only set up structured, purposeful drills but also ensure that I can get my players of a lower level competing at the right game intensity to ensure they improve under those conditions. For the elite, it’s about putting a foot up their backsides to make sure they are at a higher intensity than a match so they find normal match tempo a lot more comfortable.

Merry Christmas to all! Enjoy the break. Have had a bit of a quieter finish to the year with my blog after stringing  a few together for a while. Next year I hope to pick it back up and keep regular posts coming!

Thanks to those that read and make comments.

Enjoy the break with your family and friends, I know I will

Ho Ho Ho!

Trav.

I love playing finals, they bring the best out in you.  After a long home and away season, your body’s tired but you have to somehow get yourself up for the ‘big’ games. Normally there’s not much separating the top teams so each game is always a tough encounter and sometimes 70 minutes isn’t enough for the 2 teams to get a result.

During the warm up for my final matches, I encountered a couple of games being decided by penalty strokes.  There is nothing more heart breaking than losing a premiership on a penalty stroke shootout, a feeling I’ve witnessed a few too many times in my career! A lot of it comes down to luck, does the goalie guess the right way? Does the striker put the ball in the right spot?  Don’t get me wrong, whatever sport you play from winning an olympic gold medal  down to wining a club premiership you need a little bit of luck, but I sit here and think why do we choose this path to win a game of hockey by such means when there’s a better way.

From speaking to most players they hate the idea of having a game decided on a shootout, I agree. To me whether your playing hockey or football (soccer) you want win or lose the match playing the game.  From all the ‘experimental’ rules I’ve played with the best one invented has never been implemented by the governing body. At the end of full time if both teams were locked in a tie, 2 players from both sides would sit out and the match would be become a 9 v 9 with a golden goal deciding the winner. If at the end of the first period of extra time, both sides were still locked in a draw, another 2 players are ‘removed’ and the game becomes a 7 v 7.

On about 10 occassions when playing this rule I have seen the match go to 7 v 7 once, with the game sorted out in the 9 v 9 scenario.  By removing players, more space is created and that means more scoring opportunities. Whilst it is exciting to watch, the best part about it is that people are playing hockey instead of just standing there pushing the ball at a stationary keeper. This way of determing a winner is exciting and for the crowd as  they are on the edge of their seat and with such an open field, it becomes a battle of fitness and skill execution.

At the end of the day, both sides walk away saying they lost ‘playing’ hockey rather than par-taking in an occassion that provides a quick and easy result.  Let’s hope this scenario is implemented sometime in the future as it will make our sport an even better spectacle than it already is.

Say no to strokes!!

Lately I’ve had a few discussion with people about different systems that people use.  These people discuss to me passionately why their system is so much better than playing a traditional 3 striker, 3 midfield fielders, 3 defenders, 1 sweeper and a goal keeper.  Its very interesting to hear people’s rationalisation for playing these systems, some have merit and others I must admit, bring a smile to my face.

No matter what the system is, they all have strengths and weaknesses, and this post isn’t about what’s the best one to play, its about understanding that no matter what system you play you will always have to adapt to what the opposition team is doing.

I always like to think of hockey in its most simplistic form.  In the case of discussing systems, I like to think of the game from 2 aspects:  having the ball, and not having the ball.  To me it makes sense to think of it this way for a few different reasons.

First of all, if my team has the ball then we have the ability to move around the pitch at will as the opposition has ‘chases’ us to try and get the ball back. This is where whatever system that your team is playing becomes important.  As you have the ball, you can do whatever you want.  You may choose to have an extra player in the midfield, or if your game style is attacking, maybe a 4th striker, whatever the system clarity and understanding of the plan will be a major factor in your team’s success.

Without the ball, does it really matter what system you play?  No.  I can answer this quite confidently because when you don’t have the ball, you have to react to what the opposition is doing.  If you don’t you’ll get hurt on the scoreboard!  For instance there’s no use playing 3 midfielders when the opposing team has 4 midfielders and they are able to easily come out of defence and launch attack after attack.  Your team has to adapt to this challenge and there is a lot of ways to handle this, e.g play with only 2 strikers and have the extra striker back in the midfield, or instead of having a sweeper, push them forward to pick up the extra midfield.

So in a nutshell, it isn’t important what system you play, instead the importance is the ability for your team to transition from having the ball and playing your structure to not having the ball and countering the oppositions structure.  The faster and more fluent that this transition is handled, the more likely the result will end up your team’s way.

A few weeks ago I was invited along to watch Waverley’s U9 teams battle it out in a top of the table clash.  It has been some 21 years since my last game of U9 hockey so I was excited about the entertainment I was going to see. Whilst hockey may be the reason the kids are there, it’s not always the centre of attention.  Remembering back to my U9 days, when the ball was up the attacking end, I remember full backs making mud castles to fill in the time between ball appearances.  It wasn’t unusual to see a goal keeper taking a well earned break either sitting on the backboard of the goal as their team streamed forward with the ball.  So as I drove to the match, I was looking forward to a fun filled morning!

Both teams took the pitch and away they went. Well, not straight away, someone had forgotten their mouthguard in their bag, and after going through 3 bags to finally work out what was his, the game started!  The first half was an action packed game with both teams creating chances to score.  On the reduced size pitch, it didn’t take long for one team to be moving into attack and troubling the defence.  Between the hockey brilliance on the pitch, there was the occassional laughter as kid’s turned to their parents to wave and make sure they were watching them.  Those players alloted wing positions had their concentration limits tested as lines on the ground had more appeal at times than the white ball rolling across it.

Half-time struck and the score was 1-0 in favour of Waverley Blue.  Half time to me rings lollies and sports gels to try and get some sugar back into the body to replace some lost energy.  Instead I was sent out on the pitch with a gourmet platter of watermelon and oranges, another memory of my junior days.  The kids were hilarious, scoffing piece after piece of fruit into their mouths and whilst holding 2 others in each hand.  To be honest I’m not sure how some kids were able to run in the second half after eating the amount they did!

Full bellies and a pep talk from the coach saw the kids take pitch, the whistle blow and off they went!  It wasn’t long till the action again started.  Terrorising full pitch runs from fullbacks saw a fast and furious game play out.  The scores were levelled up by Waverley White and the match looked destined for a draw!  However a brilliant goal from the top of the circle saw the Waverley Blue goal scorer run up to his parents and yell something funny out! (I didn’t quite hear what he said but no doubt it was something like “Dad you owe me 5 bucks for that goal!”).

Thinking that was the ball game as we were in the final minute or 2 of the match, the team down a goal Waverley white team broke into attack along the right sideline. A beautiful cross found a snoozing centre- forward all alone in the attacking circle. As they wound up their stick to smash in the equaliser, the umpire broke the hearts of the crowd as he sounded the full time whistle.  End result saw the Waverley Blue team win by about 2 seconds!

All in all a cracking game of hockey.  Thanks to the Under 9s for inviting me down to be part of the big intra club match was great to watch.  Brought back some great memories for me and reminded me that hockey isn’t always about winning, just getting out there, having fun and most of all eating as much food as you can in the 5 minute half time break!