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News 18 July 2014

All the news for Friday 18 July 2014


Fabulous final four

Nelson guides Parker, Kenny & Nanscawen through their first Commonwealth Games



Wrapping up the women’s player profiles in the countdown to Glasgow 2014 leaves us showcasing the fabulous final four today.

Georgie Parker, Jodie Kenny, Georgia Nanscawen and Ashleigh Nelson carry a variety of different experiences and unique qualities between them. The group of four, alongside the rest of their team, will play a key role in the Australian women’s team over the duration of the 11 day tournament.

Under the guidance of Ashleigh Nelson who was part of the gold medal winning team back in 2010, Parker, Kenny and Nanscawen will make their Commonwealth Games debuts in the next week.


Georgie Parker #19

Caps: 63
Goals: 16
Debut: 16/05/2011
Date of Birth: 26/04/1989
Hometown: Berri, SA
Position: Forward
Twitter: @georgieparker

Tournament history:
2014 - World Cup, The Hague, Netherlands, 2nd
2013 - World League Finals, Tucuman, Argentina, 2nd
2013 - Oceania Cup, Stratford, New Zealand, 1st
2013 - World League Semi-Final, London, England, 1st
2011 - Champions Trophy, Amstelveen, Netherlands, 6th

Not to be confused with Australian TV actress and two-time Gold Logie award winner, Georgie Parker is the Hockeyroos’ resident muso and jazz fanatic. Her love for music developed over her school years when she learnt to play the piano and trumpet and joined school choirs.

A Journalism and Public Relations student, Parker played her first game of hockey on her eighth birthday. She discovered her love for the sport and soon began her progress up the ranks. She is known for her signature skill, the highly effective back-stick tomahawk.

Following the Hockeyroos’ World Cup silver medal in The Hague, Parker made good on a bet she made with a friend, getting the word “Hottyroo” tattooed on her body.

A country girl, she now makes the most of a coastal life in Perth; she enjoys waking up on Sundays and taking her dogs along the track to the local beach.


Jodie Kenny #7

Caps: 113
Goals: 57
Debut: 09/02/2011
Date of Birth: 18/08/1987
Hometown: Wamuran, QLD
Position: Defender
Twitter: @JodieSchulz

Tournament History:
2014 - World Cup, The Hague, Netherlands, 2nd
2013 - World League Finals, Tucuman, Argentina, 2nd
2013 - Oceania Cup, Stratford, New Zealand, 1st
2013 - World League Semi-Finals, London, England, 1st
2012 - Champions Challenge, Dublin, Ireland, 1st
2012 - Olympic Games, London, Great Britain, 5th
2011 - Champions Trophy, Amstelveen, Netherlands, 6th
2011 - Oceania Cup, Hobart, Australia, 2nd

One of six hockey-playing siblings, Jodie grew up with hockey the designated family sport.
Known for her powerful pin-point prowess from the penalty corner, Jodie is working hard to establish herself amongst the world’s most feared set piece takers. A tall and commanding figure on the pitch, she identifies with former Hockeyroo Angie Lambert (nee Skirving) who was of similar height and performed in a similar position during the national team’s most successful years in the early 2000s. 

Jodie married husband Shane in December 2013 at Pelican Waters on the Sunshine coast, describing the day as everything she’d ever dreamt of. Following her marriage, she took Shane’s surname, Kenny, in place of her maiden name, Schulz. 

Aside from spending time with her husband, Jodie enjoys indulging her dog, Bruce the Bull Mastiff. With a certificate three and four in fitness and currently studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science, she hopes to work within the sport and exercise industry in the future.


Georgia Nanscawen #2

Caps: 131
Goals: 24
Debut: 28/05/2009
Date of Birth: 27/05/1992
Hometown: Melbourne, VIC
Position: Forward
Twitter: @GNanscawen02

Tournament History:
2014 - World Cup, The Hague, Netherlands, 2nd
2013 - Junior World Cup, Monchengladbach, GER, 6th
2013 - World League Semi-Final London, England, 1st
2012 - Champions Challenge, Dublin, Ireland, 1st
2012 - Olympic Games, London, Great Britain, 5th
2011 - Champions Trophy, Amstelveen, Netherlands, 6th
2011 - Oceania Cup, Hobart, Australia, 2nd
2010 - World Cup, Rosario, Argentina, 5th
2009 - Champions Trophy, Sydney, Australia, 2nd
2009 - Junior World Cup Boston, USA, 6th

After first being selected in the Hockeyroos at the age of 16 and making her debut the day after her 17th birthday, Georgia Nanscawen is the youngest woman ever to play 100 matches for Australia. In reaching the milestone for the Hockeyroos she did so quicker than any previous centurion. At 20 years and 336 days old she took the title from the previous youngest 100-cap Hockeyroo, Karen Smith, who reached the century in 2000 aged 21.

Nanscawen’s 100th appearance came on 27 April 2013 in a 3-1 defeat to Korea in Perth.

The proud business owner of Little Pippin Designs, Georgia studies graphic design and is a self-declared reality TV fanatic who has formed a close relationship with her couch. She can often be found tweeting about My Kitchen Rules as she catches up after training.

With her striking red hair, Georgia is an honoured ambassador for the Orangutan project, lending her image and profile to the cause to raise awareness of their conservation. 

Georgia started playing under nines hockey at Essendon hockey club at the age of five. She attended weekly sessions at her local hockey club growing up, idolising her Hockeyroos hero Melanie Twitt from a young age.

A passionate Melbourne Demons fan, Georgia insists she is also Roger Federer’s number one supporter. Proudly wearing her Roger Federer cap to training and matches, she even named her new puppy in honour of the great man.


Ashleigh Nelson #8

Caps: 155
Goals: 61
Debut: 18/07/2007
Date of Birth: 05/03/1987
Hometown: Wagin, WA
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Twitter: @nelson_ashleigh

Tournament History:
2014 - World Cup, The Hague, Netherlands, 2nd
2013 - World League Finals, Tucuman, Argentina, 2nd
2013 - Oceania Cup, Stratford, New Zealand, 1st
2013 - World League Semi-Finals, London, England, 1st
2012 - Olympic Games, London, Great Britain, 5th
2011 - Champions Trophy, Amstelveen, Netherlands, 6th
2011 - Oceania Cup, Hobart, Australia, 2nd
2010 - Commonwealth Games Delhi, India, 1st
2010 - World Cup, Rosario, Argentina, 5th
2009 - Champions Trophy, Sydney, Australia, 2nd
2009 - Oceania Cup, Invercargill, New Zealand, 2nd

Country girl Ashleigh Nelson hails from Wagin, WA. A midfielder and forward in the Hockeyroos team, Ashleigh’s been a member of the team since 2008 and has played more than 130 games, becoming one of Australia’s highest goal scorers in the process.

After missing out on a place at the 2008 Olympic Games, Ashleigh bounced back from the disappointment to win a gold medal at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games before going on to play for Australia at the 2012 London Olympics, the 2013 World League finals and 2014 World Cup, where the Hockeyroos took home silver.

At school she was head girl before embarking on a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy at Curtin University in Perth. A talented motivational speaker she regularly presents in front of schools, commercial and sporting environments.

As a 17 year old Ashleigh required a knee reconstruction, a set-back which ultimately provided her with good experience for her role as an injury rehabilitation consultant.

In 2011 Ashleigh was an entrant in the Western Australian heats of Miss Universe. A keen ‘foodie’, she spends her spare time blogging reviews of some of Perth’s better and lesser known restaurants and cafes.

Hockey Australia media release



Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games – England’s team histories


England play Scotland at the Investec London Cup

There’s just a week to go before over seventy nations descend on Scotland and Glasgow for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. We’ve taken a look at how England’s hockey teams have performed in the past, to give you an idea of how we might do this time around.

The Hockey events will take place at the new Glasgow National Hockey Centre, starting on the 24 July and finishing on the 3 August. England’s men will face Malaysia, New Zealand Canada and Trinidad and Tobago, while England’s women will go up against Australia, Malaysia, Wales and Scotland.

Men

England’s only medal was awarded to them in 1998 when they won bronze after beating India on penalty strokes following a 1-1 draw. In 2006 and 2010 England narrowly missed out on more bronze medals and had to settle with fourth place twice after defeats from Malaysia and New Zealand. England are on good form however, placing 4th at the recent Rabobank Hockey World Cup. They’ve got to look out for Australia, who are sitting firmly at the top of the World Ranking table and have won every Commonwealth Games title to date since hockey was introduced in 1998. India came closest to defeating them in the most recent games, but lost in the final by a staggering 8 goals to nil.

Women

England’s women have won a medal at every Commonwealth Games they have attended, but are yet to win a gold. The closest they came was in 2002 when they lost to India in the final in extra time, and they won silver in 1998 after losing to finalists Australia 8-1. 2006 and 2010 saw England accept bronze medals as a result of victories over New Zealand (’06) and South Africa (’10) in the 3rd and 4th play offs. Again, Australia hold the most impressive record in the games, winning 3 of 4 gold medals, with only India beating them in the 2002 meeting.

Of course, history doesn’t always repeat itself in terms of England’s success, but both of our teams are backed up by their experience: 13 players across the teams have played in a Commonwealth Games before, so they know what they’ll need to do to bring home the gold.

England Hockey Board Media release



Low expectations

By Jugjet Singh

THE Malaysia men’s hockey team leave for Scotland tonight with little hope of winning a medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Coach K. Dharmaraj’s men, who are in Group B, open their campaign against Canada on July 26 followed by England (July 27), Trinidad and Tobago (July 29) and New Zealand (July 31).

And when the dust settles, they might just have three points off Trinidad and Tobago.

This is because many regulars were rested after the 12th place finish in the recent World Cup, including skipper Azlan Misron and No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar.

“I have selected many players from the training pool to give them a chance to prove themselves ahead of the Asian Games.

“The Commonwealth Games does not offer any ranking points, and many teams will also be fielding their youths for exposure.

“The main aim this year now is the Asian Games which offers the champions a ticket to the 2016 Olympics,” said Dharmaraj.

There will be 11 teams for the hockey event at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea on Sept 19-Oct 4.

Defending champions Pakistan, who did not qualify for the World Cup and skipped the Commonwealth Games, will be the front-runners with South Korea and India.

The others are Malaysia, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Oman, Singapore, Iran and Qatar.

“Some of the players heading for Scotland have been bogged down by injuries and I need to test them ahead of the Asian Games.”

German-born Kevin Lim, who played in the Champions Challenge 1 but was injured days ahead of the World Cup, is one of them.

“Even though Kevin is still recovering, I need to assess his performance in another big event before the Asian Games.”

New Straits Times



Victory for U16 Boys over Belgium


England U16 Boys, Santander July 2014

England Under-16 Boys beat Belgium 2-1 in their final group match of the Four Nations Tournament in Santander, Spain, on Thursday morning.

Strong defence underpinned their victory, and after a poor first half they grew in confidence and held off a Belgian side who they will meet again in the Bronze play-off match on Friday morning (9am start).

“Brave circle defence was the highlight of an otherwise poor first half,” said Head Coach Charlie Bannister. “We scored from our only penalty corner of the game, and a much better second half performance gave the lads a well-deserved victory.”

Reading’s Jack Whelan gave England the lead after 31 minutes when he scored from a goalkeeper rebound at a penalty corner.

Belgium hit back when Jules Noten’s shot deflected off a defender’s stick on 47 minutes, but the very next minute England re-took the lead with Euan Gilmour scoring a fine solo goal after dribbling along the left baseline.

England defended well as Belgium had six penalty corners and were left frustrated at all of them, while England found the net with their one corner chance.

England Under-18 Boys

Leading at half time, England Under-18 Boys went down to a 3-1 defeat against Belgium in their final group game at the Four Nations Tournament in Santander, Spain, on Thursday.

Marlow player Jack Clee gave England the lead on 15 minutes when he spun round in the circle and unleashed a good shot, and England continued to dominate play and possession.

But after half time it looked a different England side which came out, and Belgium hit back through Tommy Willems on 45 minutes.

Another goal came from TH van der Putten on 55 minutes, and two minutes from the end they added a third through Corentin De Trez as England stretched themselves too thin in search of an equaliser.

Head Coach Jody Paul said afterwards: “The game went to plan in the first half and brought its just rewards and England were one-nil ahead, but good chances were created that could’ve extended that lead.

“In the second half the performance was below that expected and following a turnover the Belgian’s were let back into the game when we were down to ten men. Our energy levels were not as high in the second half and it allowed Belgium back into the game resulting in defeat.”

England will now play in the Bronze medal match at 11am tomorrow, against wither the Netherlands or Spain.

England Hockey Board Media release



Women’s development tour

Women's Australia ‘A’ squad for tour to China and Japan



A squad of 20 athletes has been announced for next month’s women’s development tour to China and Japan. The group, which has been selected from the National Development Squad, National Junior Squad and National Training Centres, will play 11 matches against China and Japan.

The tour will provide valuable competitive international experience to the next generation of potential Hockeyroos with China ranked fifth in the International Hockey Federation’s world rankings and Japan tenth.

Athletes (alphabetical order by state)  
Tamsin Bunt (Aylmerton, NSW)
Mariah Williams (Teralba, NSW)
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW)
Elizabeth Duguid (Darwin, NT)
Murphy Allendorf (Mount Gravatt, QLD)
Jacqui Day (Mountain Creek, QLD)
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD)
Ashlea Fey (Sunshine Coast, QLD)
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, QLD)
Jordyn Holzberger (Ipswich, QLD)
Stephanie Kershaw (Townsville, QLD)
Kazzia Lammon (Brisbane, QLD)
Audrey Smith (Wynnum, QLD)
Gabrielle Nance (Adelaide, SA)
Samantha Snow (Blackburn, VIC)
Kate Denning (South Perth, WA)
Kyra Flynn (Hillarys, WA)
Kathryn Slattery (Como, WA)
Penny Squibb (Tambellup, WA)
Katy Symons (Attadale, WA)                  

Reserves (alphabetical order by state)                 
Jocelyn Bartram (Albury, NSW)
Kyah Gray (Bomaderry, NSW)
Kristina Bates (Melbourne, VIC)

The tour will be led by National Junior Coach Craig Victory with Assistant coach Mark Hickman (Hockey Australia Women’s High Performance Program). Sandy Pisani (South Australia) has been appointed Team Manager while Kylie Thomas (Victorian Institute of Sport) is the Analyst.

Tour details
11 August – depart Sydney, arrive Dalian (CHN)
12-20 August – five matches in Dalian
20 August – depart Dalian, arrive Nagoya (JPN)
21-27 August – three matches in Nagoya
27 August – depart Nagoya, arrive Hiroshima (JPN)
27 August – 2 September – three matches in Hiroshima
2 September – depart Hiroshima, arrive Sydney and Melbourne

Hockey Australia media release



Shahnaz wants tough foreign tour for Pakistan ahead of Asiad


Pakistan will take on three of their toughest rivals — Malaysia, hosts South Korea and arch-rivals India — in the Asian Games. -File photo by Sara Faruqi/Dawn.com

ISLAMABAD: Head coach of national hockey team, Shahnaz Sheikh said on Thursday that he has suggested to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to immediately arrange a hockey tour for the national outfit to a foreign country in order to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of players ahead of the Asian Games.

“Our team has not featured in any international event for the last nine months while our rivals in the Asian Games have played the World Cup and will now appear in Commonwealth Games. They will get a lot of practice and exposure before the Asiad,” Shahnaz said on Thursday.

“I have suggested the PHF to either arrange fixtures with strong Asian teams such as Korea or Malaysia or organise a series with any of the leading European sides,” he said. “I have even proposed that we can play against top European clubs as playing against them too can benefit us a lot.”

Pakistan will take on three of their toughest rivals — Malaysia, hosts South Korea and arch-rivals India — in the Asian Games. The Games scheduled to be held in Incheon, South Korea in September, will also serve as qualifiers for the 2016 Olympic Games to be staged in Rio de Janeiro.

Thirty-seven Pakistan players are currently going through tough training at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium in the second phase of the camp for Asiad which will end on Friday.

Shahnaz said the members of his coaching team have been trying hard to make the camp really productive.

“Like the first phase of the camp, the second phase has been very productive. In the first phase we tried hard to improve our players’ game through fitness and skill-enhancing drills. In the second phase we’ve given them a lot of practice,” he said.

“We will resume training for the third phase on Aug 3 while the trials for team selection will be held on Aug 13 and 14,” he added.

Dawn



Second phase of national hockey camp concludes today

ISLAMABAD: The second phase of the ongoing Pakistan national hockey team training camp for the Incheon Asian Games 2014 concludes at Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium Islamabad here on Friday (today). The camp will resume after Eid-ul-Fitr at the same venue on August 6. Head coach Shahnaz Sheikh is supervising the camp that started on July 2 to enhance the game skill and fitness of the 35 probables who will compete at international level.

Names of probables:

Imran Shah, Imran Butt, Mazhar Abbas and Amjad Ali (goalkeepers), Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Khalid, Aleem Bilal, Kashif Shah and Zahid Ullah (full backs), Mohammad Rizwan Junior, Mohammad Tousiq, Rashid Mahmood, Fareed Ahmad, Tasawar Abbas, Mohammad Sohaib, Mohammad Irfan, Faisal Qadir, Ammad Shakeel Butt and Zohaib Ashraf (half backs), Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, Ali Shan, Mohammad Umar Bhutta, Mohammad Rizwan Senior, Mohammad Dilber, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shakeel Abbasi, Arslan Qadir, Waqas Sharif, Kashif Ali, Hafiz Mohammad Rizwan, Asad Bashir, Muzammil Ishaq, Umair Rana and Rizwan Ali (forwards).

The Daily Times



Monkstown receive new pitch boost

Euro Hockey League newcomers Monkstown have received a big boost ahead of their maiden campaign following a successful application to the Irish government for capital funding to help them build a new pitch.

Their bid for €200,000, in conjunction with their host school Rathdown, was accepted and is part of an ambitious overall project to lay a floodlit, water-based pitch with a stand which will cost a total of €768,000 all told.

Work on the new pitch is likely to start in 2105. It was part of a total of €1,134,775 in capital funding in Ireland across 13 club-based applications. The announcement was made by the Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring who announced a total of €40.5 million in grants for 880 sports projects across the country.

The news of the funding was welcomed by Irish Hockey Chief Executive Mike Heskin who said: "I am delighted to see this much needed investment in Irish Hockey. I hope other clubs will take heart from this and submit applications in the next allocation of Capital Grants.

"While we will always want more, this is a good start and it is up to hockey to make sure we have our applications in for consideration. I would also encourage clubs considering applying to contact those clubs who have had success as I have no doubt they will get invaluable assistance."

Euro Hockey League media release

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