Footscray Hockey Club

Congratulations to Flea Veitch on the safe afrrival of her baby boy on Sunday at 8.21pm. His name is Bentley Knox and he weighed 3.7kg and was 50cm long. Both baby and Mum and doing very well. There are photos on facebook if anyone can access this.

With 5 games to go we have 5 teams out of 7 in finals with 3 teams sitting 1st and looking at automatic promotion, 2 teams sitting 2nd and with a good run home – a chance at pinching top spot, and Metro 4 Red team just sneaking into the 4 for the first time for many years. Our PB and M2S sides, who both have been promoted to these grades in 2007 and 2008 respectively are holding their own and playing competitive hockey. If PB have a good run home, a finals chance.

The first 4 rounds have seen some mixed results across the ladies section, but pleasing to note that all grades have either dominated or been competitive. The attendance at training has been excellent—keep it up girls-we do not want it to drop off in the colder months!

Goal Keepers
Our main issue is contending with goal keeper shortages as two have sustained long term injury. We have been using the permit system, however recruitment is needed. If you know anyone wishing to put on the pads—please let me know!

State League Sponsorship
The success of the State League sponsorship program has resulted in Faber Castell winning the sponsor’s draw and having their logo on the front of the State League shirts. All West Auto Parts won the draw for Pennant B. We will soon see the top 28 girls dressed in new warm up tops, after match shirts and hopefully later this season tracksuits. The Match Day Programs will be on sale every home game for $2—they include ladies fixture, player/coaches profiles, sponsor’s details, venue melway refs and more! BUY YOURS TODAY!

Canteen & Umpiring
Rosters will be distributed after round 5—once HV release the entire season fixture for M4. Please ensure you complete your duty or arrange someone to cover you!

FHC are hoping to see many FHC supporters at the Ladies State League Pre-Season Tournament Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th March 2009. 12 Ladies teams will be competing across the weekend plus finals. A tournament helpers roster has been e-mailed out to all club members and if you are able to assist – please contact Nicole nicolevirtuoso@hotmail.com.
You can download the ladies pre-season fixture here: ladies-preseason-fixture.pdf

The ladies section has recruited well and the explosion of junior players wishing to play senior ladies is tremendous. At last count 120 ladies have committed to senior ladies, therefore we have entered an 8th team into Metro 4. SL3, PB, M1N, M2N M2S, M3N, M4N Blue, M4N Red. The only concern is that at present we do not have enough GK’s to fill all our teams. If you know any GK’s or are interested in putting on the pads yourself then let Nicole know!

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Fidz, our Metro Training Coach and Metro 2 North Game Day coach. Fidz will be training the ladies Metro 2, 3 and 4 players every Tuesday and Thursday Night. This is the first year we have had someone able to commit to two training sessions, so we encourage as many players to turn up to training from the Metro grades to make it worth his while. If numbers drop off then it will become difficult to justify coming to coach with only a handful of girls.

Practice Matches are under way—every ladies member please check your e-mails on Wednesday to see where you have been selected and FOR EVERY PRACTICE MATCH AND FOR ROUND 1—every member will need to reply to that e-mail to confirm you are playing.

IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE UNAVAILABLE—PLEASE LET NICOLE KNOW A.S.A.P – preferably before Tuesday night selection. 0424 132 715 nicolevirtuoso@hotmail.com

Apologies—there is a typo in the Ladies Pre-Season information pack. Easter Thursday there will be no training Thursday 9th April. NOT 16th April as stated in Info Pack.

FHC Ladies are currently seeking 2 METRO 2 COACHES for season 2009, the role involves committing to 1 training session per week to train all the Metro Ladies (if you can attend both – terrific) and game day coaching of M2.

Remuneration package available on negotiation.

Please contact Nicole if you are interested. nicolevirtuoso@gmail.com 0424 132 715

Special Grand Final Day Milestones
Congratulations to Lynda Thomas (450) and J.A Sheehan (400) who will be celebrating major milestones on Grand Final Day this year!

Coaching Announcement
After much consideration and thought, Paul Jones has decided not to put his hand up for next year’s State League Coaching Position. Paul indicated that he enjoyed his time at FHC and will be having a break from coaching next year. He thanked the members, coaches and administration who supported him throughout the year.
The FHC Ladies Coaching Panel has been approved by the board last Tuesday. The Panel will now begin the process of advertising and asking for expressions of interest for the State League position. I would like to commend Paul on making this decision very early after Round 18 as it allows the Coaching Panel plenty of time to appoint new coaches for season 2009.
On behalf of all the members and board, I would like to thank Paul for his efforts this year. Paul is welcome to come and support FHC in the future. All interested applicants are encouraged to contact Nicole.

State League 2 have had a disheartening season, finishing 10th and being relegated. Although they remained competitive during games, the scoreboard did not reflect the efforts of the girls on the pitch. Well done to all the girls for persevering through a challenging season. It is time to re-group and look to at a re-building phase again in SL3. The Ladies Coaching Panel’s top priority is to secure a State League and Ladies Club Coach who will support the needs of our senior and junior players, the SL team and the entire ladies section.

PB finished 8th in a year where the main aim was to hold the grade. This team had supported SL and M1 with players throughout the year, especially in the second half. Again, coach Rod Lloyd developed the juniors through his side with the senior experienced players, all of the juniors in this team played at least 1 game in State League this year. 33 girls played through this side this year.

M1N finished 5th, needing a draw or win in the last round to make the finals. Unfortunately they conceded a goal in the last 5 minutes of the game to finish 5th. The entire group were very disappointed, however are keen to make amends next year. First year coach, Kara Vaina, did a wonderful job. One of the key priorities in 2009 will be ensuring this team are promoted into Pennant D – it is said the hardest promotion to attain in the entire comp!

M2N finished 4th and played a thrilling Semi Final Match against Pegs, unfortunately bowing out 3 -2 in extra time. Well done to all the girls. This team had one of the largest playing list of any team, 32 girls played for M2 this year. Thanks to Steve for coaching this team after Marianne Fridell went over seas. M3N finished 2nd on the ladder and are straight through to the Grand Final after a 6 – 0 win against top team Greensborough. The junior development in this team is outstanding and most of the juniors playing in out top 4 teams played their first years of seniors with M3. Good luck girls!

M4 Blue stormed through to the Preliminary Finals after beating Essendon 7 – 2. They finished 3rd on the ladder and have had a very consistent year and a consistent squad.

M4 Red Finished 6th and were for the first time, coached by a non-playing coach, Peter Grosz. The improvement of this team and sideline coaching enabled this team to secure a number of wins and draws. With continued support this team has the potential to make the finals in 2009!

Brief Thank-You’s

1. Ladies Members – thankyou for your support and encouragement.
2. Team managers Jenny Hilton, Jane McCulloch, Sian Owen, Steve Pattie/Emma Robinson, Marianne Pearce/Mark White and David Pearce
3. Coaches of our top 3 training sides: Paul Jones, Rod Lloyd, Kara Vaina & Peter Grosz – thank you for coaching in a difficult and sometimes challenging year at training, selection and games. To our Metro team playing coaches – Marianne Fridell, Lynda Thomas, Kelllie Blokkerus – thankyou for the wonderful game day coaching with last minute team changes and all the challenges.
4. Alison Clegg – Fee Collector and support from Lynn Gale & Heather Shaw
5. Lisa Anderson – Canteen Roster Coordinator
6. Marianne Pearce – Vote Counting and other administration jobs.
7. Anne Robinson –Umpiring coordinator…and did a superb job! You are the best!
8. Giulia Virtuoso – Team List Manager while I was on maternity leave!

State League 2 have had a tough and challenging season. Currently sitting in ninth spot on the ladder with 2 win,2 draw & 10 Loss’s. However they have continued to persevere through this second half of the season. With 4 more games left to play out the season, as they have a double header on rnd 18 with a game on Saturday and Sunday, due to the rescheduled game against Bendigo. The girls will be finding it a tough end to the season playing all the teams who are in the top half of the ladder.

PB 7th after 4 win 5 loss’s and 6 draws, the ladder is extremely close in this competition. A win will see them back in finals contention.

M1N 2nd after some exciting wins, this team has really come together. A very close competition for the bottom half of the ladder. They are one point behind Hawthorn who are on top of the ladder. Well done Keep up the good work !!!

M2N 4th after 7 wins 6 draw and 2 loss. Playing consistently well. Keep up the good work girls!

M3N 2nd on the ladder , 2 points behind the team on top. Well done keep up the good work!!!

M4 Blue – 3rd after 8 wins 5 loss’s and 1 draw this team has been playing consistently well. Well done girls!!! Keep it up!!

M4 Red – 6th with 5 wins 3 loss’s and 6 draws . Great work girls. Keep it up
These two teams continue to have sufficient players (especially when players give me enough notice to replace them!) and their success is due to the consistent squads on players and the great coaching assistance they are receiving! Well done girls keep up the Fantastic Work!!!