Footscray Hockey Club (FHC) Ladies section is searching for high quality players to join the LADIES State League 2 team for the 2010 hockey season. The season runs from mid March until end of September. Our coaching team is among the finest in Melbourne and is looking forward to an exciting year ahead. After successfully winning the best “Victorian Junior Girls Club Award” for the last 2 years and were the best overall Junior Club in 2009, we have a very bright future..

FHC is located approx 10-15 mins from the Melbourne CBD, actually in the suburb of Yarraville, and is easily accessible via public transport or by car. Check out our club website  http://footscrayhockey.com.au/

Footscray hockey club arguably boasts the best club facilities in Victoria, with one wet pitch and one brand new wet/dry pitch, extensive club rooms with canteen, bar & gym. We have also just installed a new warm up pitch (indoor hockey field size). We hosted the Australian Veterans Championships in 2009

International, National League or State League 1 experience would be desirable. We are known for our strong social atmosphere and can guarantee a great time for the right candidate. International students who have played for the ladies section have had an incredible time and were treated to supreme hospitality.
 
Airfares/Accommodation/Uniform/Subs/Remuneration will be negotiated for the right persons. FHC will actively seek employment opportunities if required.

Please send your hockey C.V to nicolevirtuoso@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you!

Please feel free to contact me should you have any further queries!

Yours in Hockey,

Nicole Virtuoso
Ladies Administration

Week 4

Saw an abbreviated schedule with Canada hosting India in the first 2 matches of the 7 test super series.

UBC 4
Burnaby FHC 2
- With both teams decimated by national team call-ups and the flu a less then stellar match was played at UBC's Wright Field. Richard Hildreth was the difference slotting a 2 corner goals. Burnaby took the lead early, but still show that they need their more experienced players to be competitive versus the big teams

Week 2 Results

Week 2 had its fair share of upsets and showed how tightly contested things will be this season.

VRC Jokers 3
Surrey Lions 2
- As I said in my last report, Jokers come to play and they had a great start vs Lions. They were up at half while Lions squandered chances. A wide open game that was entertaining to match

Burnaby FHC 1
Vancouver Hawks 2
- A tight game that saw both teams fight for points until the end. Ian Smythe scored the winner with 5 minutes left off the baseline. Both teams could have played better, but the match was close and saw some excellent goaltending from our 2 national team goalkeepers.

UBC 2
UVIC 1
- UBC gets the job done. They had numerous chances that saw them miss the net. UVIC has learned the way to stay in games.

UBr 4
India Club 1
- The early league leaders UBr have put their stamp on the first 2 weeks of the league. The self pas rule really suits their style of play. They spread the field vs teams and play some entertaining hockey. India club was missing some key components... put it is great experience for their young players.

Week 3 Matches

UBr
Surrey Lions
- Without some of their national team players this could be an interesting match for both clubs. Lions have played teams in Surrey tough.

Vancouver Hawks
UVIC
- UVIC has a double header this weekend, I think they will come out to play in this one. Hawks haven't looked sharp in their first 2 matches. They may be without the services of Dave Carter... could be closer then people think.

Burnaby FHC
UVIC
- 2nd half of UVIC's double header. Burnaby looks to be without Matt Peck and Taylor Curran while UVIC is wihtout Keegan Perreira and Kevin Laidman (red card). Points are up for grabs

UBC
VRC Jokers
- These games are always tight, give the nod to UBC

I'll be back with week 3 results and a week 4 preview midweek

what happened in the league this weekend? i haven't seen any of the results on the website....anyone know?

VPL Week 1 Results

Vancouver Hawks 2
Surrey Lions 2
- League champs drop points to a much improved Lions side. Lions goalkeeping kept them in the game... Hawks poor pc conversion rate hurt them.

India Club 6
VRC Jokers 1
- Many people's pre-season favorites show the rest of the league that they are ready to re-take the league title they owned during the 80's and 90's. Goals galore from a number of sources.

UBr 3
UBC 1
- Inexperienced mistakes in the backfield and some clinical finishing has done UBC in. UBr have perfected a style that will keep them in the premier for many years to come.

Victoria Selects 4
UVIC 3
- A game that saw 1 Red Card and 5 Yellows handed out to UVIC. This derby will only get better as UVIC improves. Rumours have a huge transfer between Mark Erickson in the works.

Burnaby Lake - Bye

Week 2 Preview:
UBr vs India
- The best rivalry in the premier has got even better with both teams improving their line-ups and both tied atop the standings after week 1. Rumours have Fernandes out of the line-up for next weeks tilt. That might be enough to sway the advantage in Ubr's favor.

Burnaby Lake FHC vs Vancouver Hawks
- Hawks are favored to take the points in this one. Hawks should be wary of this BLFHC, with nothing to lose... they don't want to be stung with another tie or loss to a 'lesser opponent'.

Vrc Jokers vs Surrey Lions
- The improved Lions will be thrilled by taking points from the Hawks last week and carry it over to this match. The resilient Jokers side is never to be counted out and has come up with some great performances after coming off of loses the previous week. This should be a wide open affair.

Victoria Selects vs UBC
- 2 well prepared and well coached teams. UBC struggles with teams that play wide-open hockey and can spread the field. Do the selects have enough fire-power to clip the T-birds wings. UBC is in tough trying to win on the road in Victoria.

UVic vs UBC
- UVic is always plays an inspired match against UBC... but they don't often end up on the better side of the score line. UBC hopes to take the points and add a few goals .. they score in bunches.

just a thought, but given our geographic location and the fact that the national team usually has to travel quite far for games, wouldn't it make sense that the league takes breaks when the national team travels so the quality of hockey doesn't drop?  i feel this would benefit not only the league but also the national team players to get more playing time...every other league seems to do this, why can't we start?

thoughts?

Hopefully all the teams can put out their full rosters, the leauge seems a bit more balanced in terms of team strength. It is essential that the leauge is of high quality to ensure the sucess of Canadian hockey. Looking forward to the season.

Agree with Lake show, this year will be a bit of a crapshoot. National team players will be away too much, and rarely will a team's best roster be seen on game day.

1) UBC - will dig deep to recover from losing key players
2) Hawks - with national team commitments for Carter, goaltending could be an issue
3) India - the top 3 are a toss-up I think. Any of these team could win it.
4) Selects - inconsistency in turn-out will hurt them

5) UBr - young kids will start to make an impact and help their aging team
6) UVic - Wiggins and Keegan are going to have breakout years

7) Burnaby Lake - will pull out some big wins, but when key players don't show up will drop crucial points
Surrey Lions - Have added Ranjeev, but he will be away too much to make an impact
9) Jokers - have put up flyers at Hamber advertising for new players, but unless De Nooijer responds I don't think it'll help them.

Burnaby Lake FHC is having open trials and its first premier trainings of the year.

If you are an older player looking for a fresh start or a young committed and promising player looking for quality minutes please come out to our open trial. Feel free to come out and just see what our team and club is about.

Eric Hamber
Wed Aug 26 8:30-10:00 pm
Fri Aug 28 7:00-8:30 pm

So Holland, started bad. But is doing very well right now! GO HOLLAND!