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The competition review will potentially have massive implications, and the info used in the responses will help HV make decisions about the future structure of the entire competition.  This will have ramifications for every player involved in Victorian hockey – so its in everyone’s interest to participate.

Let’s make sure that HV get as many responses as possible from a broad a range of people so the data they get takes into account everyone’s opinion.

Maximum Kudos to the boys. Less so for the milestone, than their unwavering loyalty. Every club needs players like this.

Keep dribblin’

From: Hockey Victoria 22.07.10

This weekend, two stalwarts of the Hawthorn Hockey Club play in milestone matches of the highest order. Sean Jenner – 200 State League 1 (SL1) matches and Charlie Tulloch – 150.

Jenner and Tulloch’s combined 350 games in SL1 do not capture the games played in Hawthorn’s top team in the mid to late ’90s when they started playing State League 3 (SL3) and State League 2 (SL2) hockey.

In the mid to late ’90s, the pair worked together for five years to lead the Hawks from SL3 to SL1, picking up two premierships (SL3 and SL2) along the way.

Since 2000, these lads have gone on to play a further 350 games (combined) in SL1, and were a massive part of the club’s recent success.

They played a big part in bringing Hawthorn to the top of the Victorian club ladder and cemented Hawthorn’s place in the top 3 on the SL1 every year between 2003 and 2008, the year in which Hawthorn won the SL1 Premiership.

Sean has played in 15 SL1 finals with the Hawks and Charlie has played in 13. Charlie also won the club best and fairest award in 1998 and 1999.

These two have been a long-time feature of our top side, playing positive and exciting hockey.

By Travis Brooks

Too often I see kids touted as the next big thing for their sport. Comments like: “This kid is so good”, “They’re going to play for Australia”, “they’re in a class of their own”, and so the list goes on, are common claims made by people.

I remember as I was growing up playing against kids who I had only heard rumours about. Some of the kids lived up to those rumours, others were just that, a rumour. I find it difficult to understand how someone can say that at around 13 years of age, this kid is going to be the next big thing.

My experience tells me that there are quite a few factors to take into consideration when making such claims. For instance, at 13 years of age, quite obviously kids bodies are going through a fair bit of change and what you find is that some kids bodies begin to develop before others. Some kids grow, some add strength and power, some put on weight or ‘fill out’ where others have a growth spurt and begin to look ‘gangly’ in their movements. What I have noticed is that it is during these years its the kids that bodies develop the fastest are the ones that begin to see an improved performance as a result of the changes that their bodies have gone through.At 13 I made my first state team and can remember having some interesting discussions at training. One of the boys in the team had a full chest of hair and was already shaving, something that I didn’t have to worry about for at least another couple of years!This kid was a ‘man-child,’ and if not our best player, then at least in the top 3. He was much taller and stronger than any of the other kids in the team. Now that I look back on my career since retiring, its people like these kids that I wonder what ever happened to them? This kid I talk of was touted as the next ‘big thing’, but by 18 years of age he was no where to be seen….

Then there’s the late bloomer, the kid that gets to 21 years of age then comes out of nowhere to be a world beater. A bloke who is the perfect example of this is Stephen Mowlam, the goalkeeper of 2004 Olympic Games, and a member of the 2006 FIH World 11.  The ‘Gimp’ was a freak in the net with amazing reflexes that produced save after save and saw him as a constant pest to international forwards. Stephen made his first state team at 21 years of age, a rare occurence in the field of hockey, but went on to play at the highest level and reap the greatest rewards possible, Olympic Gold. He shows that if someone has their mind on achieving something and the drive to achieve it, anything is possible.

Not only is there physical aspects to a childs development that need to be taken into account as to whether or not they will become the next big thing, but there’s also social and mental issues that will see some people fall short of realising their potential.

As a player reaches their later teen years, the social scene presents many issues a player will need to navigate in order to become the best they can be. From alcohol, recreational drugs and parties to peer pressure, I have seen all these issues result in what I call a ‘waste of talent’ occuring. The major factor in a player touted as the next big thing, actually becoming the next big thing, is in fact the player themselves and their attitude and drive to want to get there.

Many kids who have been identified to have talent at a young age and destined to make it to the elite levels, lose a perspective of where their performances are really at. Whilst the kid may be a world beater at the level they are playing at, they develop habits that are destructive in their development in the sport. For example a kid who is the best in their team who regularly runs from one end of the field to the other with the ball executing fantastic dribbling skills, misses out on developing other key areas of their game such as awareness for other players around them and the ability to execute the numerous types of passes. Whilst the kid may dominate their age group for a number of years, as they get older and the kids around them get smarter, they are going to need a much more rounded game than the one that they are currently executing and if this hasn’t been developed as throughout their career, they will find that playing field is eventually levelled!

So what’s the trick to helping kids realise their potential in a sport he/she is playing? Well I’d follow these simple steps:

1. Enjoyment- make sure whatever they are doing they enjoy it. If a kid isn’t enjoying what they like, then when push comes to shove and they require extra work to get to where they want to get to, because of the enjoyment factor they will be more inclined to knuckle down and get stuck into it.

2. Rounded Development- ensure that a kid constantly works on their ‘weaknesses’ in their game. If they have great ball skills but poor vision, at training put them in situations where they can develop these abilities and once this takes place, challenge them to put it into practice during a game.

3. Keep it Real- if a kid is touted as the next big thing and is dominating at their age group, compare them to the next age group and beyond to see where they are really at. This will ensure that they are always progressing their development and heading in the right direction. Its easy for a kid to believe the hype that they are actually good and loose perspective of where they are at and actually how much work there is to do to get to where they are ‘categorised’ as going! If they aren’t world beaters at 15 years of age, don’t panic, as long as they are developing their whole game (as described above) they put themselves in a great position that when their body fully develops and their mind matures, they will have every chance to reach their potential.

In finishing I’m not against kids being touted as the next big thing, inevitably many of the kids describe as this go on to achieve at this level. To me its more about keeping things in perspective as too often I see kids make the wrong decision for their development because they believe their own hype. I also don’t like it when a I see a kid that has everything going for them lose hope of achieving their potential or ‘dream’ just because their body hasn’t yet gone through their its development phase. Remember we are all unique characters and there’s no one set path that one has to follow in reaching their potential.

This article was written by Olympic Gold medalist Travis Brooks and is reproduced with his permission from his website Brooks 24.

By Travis Brooks

Over the years I’ve seen heaps of rules come in for the Australian Hockey League.  From changing the location of long corner free hits to having 1 vs 1 with a Goal Keeper awarded instead of a stroke, there’s been plenty of ‘experimental’ rules introduced.  The funny thing is, out of all the experimental rules that have been introduced, from the best of my memory and I’m happy to stand corrected, not one of them has been introduced as an FIH rule.  Then why do we keep doing it?

I look at the setup in Europe with the hoofdeklasse in Holland and the European Hockey League that is now the premier competition in the world, and notice that they never toy with the rules of the game.  People love watching the pure form of the game and when you’ve got tv rights, major sponsors for the competition and individual teams, you’ve got to admit that maybe they are doing something right.

But here in Australia, we struggle to get people to an AHL game, infact I’ve played in front of bigger crowds at club matches than what was present at some AHL games.  We also continue to change rules so that those new to the game or even ‘veteran’ players/watchers of the game, come along and spend the first half of the game confused as to the rules that are being applied.

So when I heard that the there was going to be a new penalty corner rule for this upcoming AHL, I thought to myself, here we go again.  To me the penalty corner is the highlight of a game of hockey.  It’s like someone having a shot for goal in AFL, it’s like a free kick outside the box in soccer.  It’s a moment of the game that gets people on the edge of their seats because it’s a moment that can influence the outcome of the game.  Now the excitement and spectacle associated with a Penalty Corner has been removed! For AHL season 2010, the penalty corner will be a 4 vs 3 (including Goal Keeper) with the ball having to travel outside the 23 metre line and then it’s normal field play from their with the attackers obviously having the number advantage.

I’ve heard various reasons for the change in this rule (am sure there’s more):

• for safety
• to reduce time wasting of defence having to put on protective equipment like masks and gloves, etc.
• for innovation

Whilst this rule may bring in one or more of the above points, if these are the reasons then there are other measures that can be brought in to address these issues. Like for safety, let’s make the shot have to go below the backboard, or that the ball has to be stopped dead, or maybe there needs to be a pass before the shot.  In terms of reducing time wastage, why don’t we get the umpire to stop the clock, or add a shot clock like basketball or the 30 second rule applied in Aussie Rules.  Lastly for innovation, well this really isn’t innovation. This rule has been changed previously where the ball had to come outside the 5 metre broken line circle before coming into play.  So its not really innovation, its just a re-hash of an old idea.  Of all the potential areas of innovation in the great game of hockey, why would we change the one part of the game that is a spectacle of the sport.

Rumour has it is that the FIH aren’t even looking at changing the penalty corner rule, then why are we?  Australia just won a world cup on our ability to score off of one.  I can remember riding the ball from the edge of my seast into the back of the net as it left Luke Doerner’s stick in the final.

Let’s just leave the game how it is and if we really need to look at changing rules, lets look at the rules that non-hockey people fail to understand and try and make it easier or more simple for these people to ensure that this great game of ours can be enjoyed by more.

This article was written by Olympic Gold medalist Travis Brooks and is reproduced with his permission from his website Brooks 24.

By Travis Brooks

A common question I get asked is how do you teach someone to hit a hockey ball? “Should we teach them Australian style or should we teach them European style?”

What’s the difference you may well ask? Europeans are a lot lower then they hit the ball. If you envision more of a baseball type swing with the player standing further away from the ball, the swing is more in a rounded type motion. Australian style on the other hand is the basic opposite of this, the player’s front foot is a lot closer when addressing the ball to hit and the swinging motion is more of an up and down type motion. As cricket is a huge sport here in Australia, I believe that is where we come to develop our technique for hitting the ball, its more like a cricket ‘drive’ than a baseballer’s swing as outlined when describing the European style above.

Personally, I don’t think  you should teach them any particular way. I’m of the opinion that an individual will have a basic swinging technique and rather than making the person change the way they hit to something that doesn’t feel ‘natural’ to them, let’s use their ‘natural’ technique and build from that, unless this is the major reason for the player’s inability to hit the ball consistently at a high level.

When teaching someone how to hit you should always keep it simple. Here are some of my tips when teaching someone how to hit a ball.

• Whatever the style, the left ankle should always be inline with the ball.
• Get the player to hit the ball from a stationary position before getting them to hit it on the move. This ensures that they are consistently getting their feet in the right position.
• Get them to point with their left shoulder to where they want to hit it.
• Once they can consistently hit the ball straight and firm, begin to include movement in the drill.

Hitting is one of the most underrated skills in the game. If someone is able to deliver the ball firm and flat to their teammates, their a huge asset for their team. Below is a little trick I use to help people who are struggling with their hit:

1. Using only their left hand and standing 1 metre from a wall or fence, get the player to grip their stick about halfway down the stick.
2. Then, using just their left hand, get the player to hit the ball against the wall/fence.
3. The aim here is to get the player, using just their left hand to hit the fence and have the ball come straight back to them off the fence. Once they can do this get them to do it 10 times in a row.
4. After 10 times, get them to put 2 hands on the stick and repeat the same step.
5. After hitting the fence/wall STRAIGHT 10 times, get the player to step back 2-3 steps and get them to move their hands up the stick a little.
6. Continue following the steps 1 through to 5 so that as the player is about 10-15 metres from the fence/wall, they are at grabbing their stick at the top and hitting the ball consistently flat and accurate into the fence.

If you’ve got any tips you use to teach hitting – post a comment below.

This article was written by Olympic Gold medalist Travis Brooks and is reproduced with his permission from his website Brooks 24.

To those of you out there who have an opinion about something that is happening in hockey and want the opportunity to voice it – your time has come.

In case you haven’t noticed the crew that created The Hockey Show have been very busy with a lot of things that aren’t to do with The Hockey Show, which has meant we haven’t been posting many articles of late. Unfortunately it looks like this trend is set to continue – so instead of doing nothing, we thought we’d ask you to do the work for us.

We are looking for interesting articles exploring current issues in the hockey community – if you are interested please submit your article to us by email.

With your help we are hoping we can reinvigorate community discussion of the hockey issues that are dear to your heart.

The Hockey Show would like to wish everyone a great start to the season.

For some it’s been a loooo00ong preseason, for others, we hope you enjoy your first training session last night. Whatever grade you play, have a good one.

See you on the forums, and keep dribblin’

THS

We hope your summer comps are kicking along like a dream…(ours sure is!) and we’ll see u in 2010.

Keep Dribblin’

Woot Woot!