SUN SHINES ON BUSY CLUB
The club looked at its best last weekend when we once again hosted the East Club Minis. The sun shone down (and especially so on the Sunday) as hundreds of players and parents and other spectators used the club’s facilities to the full on two busy days of exciting hockey played in the best of spirits.
I take this opportunity to thank the many club members who helped to make the weekend run so well – by cutting the grass, strimming the verges, making and serving the excellent refreshments, manning the bar, spraying the water-based pitch (without drenching the spectators!), supervising the car parking and emptying the bins. They were two very hectic and tiring but financially beneficial days for the club.
Working equally as hard (for which many thanks) were the coaches of our U10/U12 Boys’ and Girls’ teams. On the Saturday the U10 Boys finished a highly creditable fourth while the U12 Girls also played well and only narrowly failed to progress to the second phase of their event. The next day the U10 Girls started with a 7-0 win over Ipswich and they went on to maintain their season long unbeaten record with a series of excellent performances eventually finishing second to Canterbury. Meantime the U12 Boys also played some good hockey and were unlucky to face an impressive Old Loughtonians team in the second phase of their competition. Well done to all our teams and their coaches. I hope they enjoyed the weekend.
FIH News
“The 2012 season will be one of the busiest and most important in recent history,” reports FIH President Leandro Negre. “Our regular schedule will be supplemented with the Olympic qualifiers and of course the Olympic Games themselves, making it non-stop hockey during the year.”
The first of the Olympic Qualification Tournaments will be hosted by India in New Delhi from February 15-26 with six men’s and six women’s teams battling for a spot in the London 2012 Olympic Games. The next Olympic Qualification Tournament will take place one month later, from March 14-25, 2012 in Beerschot, Belgium. It will be followed by the third Olympic Qualification Tournament in Kakamigahara, Japan from April 25 – May 6, 2012. All three tournaments will host the men’s and women’s tournaments at the same time. The trio of joint tournaments is the final opportunity for teams to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games with the winner of each men’s and women’s event earning a place in London.
The teams assigned to the qualification tournaments will not be known until the completion of all of this year’s continental championships, which will be after the Pan American Games, scheduled to finish on 29 October. Winners of the five Continental Championships earn an automatic berth to the 2012 London Olympics. NB. The two GB teams have already qualified as hosts.
Other news in brief
v Congratulations to skipper Melissa Hunter and all members of the Ladies’ 2nds on winning the East League Fair Play Award for 2010-11. Factors contributing to this award included ‘no red or yellow cards all season, excellent administration and a team which made their league manager’s job straightforward’.
v If you wish to attend the End of Season Disco and Supper Party at the Apollo Club in Harleston on Friday 6 May (7.30) and have yet to contact Jose Tibbenham (07881 811259) or Philippa Taylor (01379 852210) would you please do so very soon. Tickets are £15 each and will not be on sale at the door.
v Please note your diary for the 50/50 Auction to be held at the club on Friday 8 July. Details of this exciting event will be issued soon after Easter.
With best wishes
Mike Denham [email protected] 20/4/11
