News for 11 January 2019
All the news for Friday 11 January 2019
2019 Indoor Test Matches SUI v RSA (W) - 1st Test
Various (SUI)
Result 10 January
SUI v RSA 1 - 5 (0 - 3)
FIH Match Centre
SPAR South Africa set for European Tests
The wait for hockey action in 2019 is only a week old and its over already. SPAR South Africa Indoor Hockey are in Switzerland for a five-match series before moving to Czech Republic for another series. The two series will be a great opportunity for the South Africans to see how far they have come over the past couple of years taking on teams ranked 7th and 5th respectively. South Africa are ranked in 16th.
2018 was a great year for the SPAR South Africa side as they won 13 of the 15 test matches they took part in, drawing the other two. In that time, they won the Croatia Cup, breaking a Record for the biggest victory in a 21-0 victory over Slovenia. They also defeated Zimbabwe 5-0 in the first ever indoor hockey series hosted in Zimbabwe, while triumphing 3-0 over African Champions Namibia.
SPAR South Africa completed the year taking part in a four match exhibition series against a World All-Stars at the Psi Nationals that saw them draw the opening game and lose the other three in highly competitive matches. The series allowed coach Lennie Botha and his team to prepare for the European Tour in front of capacity crowds, something all teams love to experience.
Switzerland prepared for the series with a two-match series against Belgium which they lost 1-0, losing the first game 4-3 and drawing the second 2-2. South Africa will have to be aware of captain Stephanie Walti who is a massive goal scoring threat, while Flurina Walti is a superb keeper.
SPAR South Africa themselves have some lethal talent in their line up and in the trio of Kelly Reed, skipper Cindy Hack and Edith Molikoe they have a superb fluid attack. Tegan Fourie has recovered from the injury she suffered in the final Psi game, while Jess O’Connor is at her best in the toughest games. South Africa can also look to Cheree Greyvenstein who has developed immensely as a keeper over the past twelve months and is in the form of her life.
Switzerland vs. SPAR South Africa Test Series (GMT +2)
1st Test – 10 January 2019 – 21:00
2nd Test – 11 January 2019 – 15:00
3rd Test – 11 January 2019 – 21:30
4th Test – 12 January 2019 – 16:00
5th Test – 12 January 2019 – 21:30
SPAR South Africa
No, Name, Province, Caps
1, Amy Greaves, KZN Inland, 42
2, Andrea Leader, Western Province, 0
3, Cheree Greyvenstein (GK), SPAR KZN Raiders, 17
4, Cindy Hack (C), SPAR KZN Raiders, 72
5, Edith Molikoe, KZN Inland, 10
6, Jamie Southgate, Western Province, 15
7, Jess Lardant, SPAR KZN Raiders, 5
8, Jessica O’Connor, SPAR KZN Raiders, 70
9, Kelly Reed, SPAR KZN Raiders, 44
10, Lilian du Plessis, Southern Gauteng, 5
11, Tegan Fourie, SPAR KZN Raiders, 14
12, Zimi Shange (GK), SPAR KZN Raiders, 8
Team Staff
Lennie Botha (Head Coach), SPAR KZN Raiders, 70*
Bright Mashaba (Video Analyst), Mpumalanga, 30
Robyn Morgan (Manager), Western Province, 14
*Caps only for SA Indoor Women, excludes caps as SA Mens Indoor Coach
SA Hockey Association media release
By sacking Harendra Singh from men's national team, Hockey India guilty of complete trivialisation of talented Indian coach
Sundeep Misra
In the dystopian and rather dysfunctional world of Indian hockey, the sacking of a coach doesn’t make you fret anymore. It’s passé. Photo: Hockey India
In the dystopian and rather dysfunctional world of Indian hockey, the sacking of a coach doesn’t make you fret anymore. It’s passé. But the consequences of such decisions from the debilitated, decaying offices of Hockey India (HI) will have far reaching consequences for the future of Indian hockey; if at all there is or there was a future. It’s not the sacking of Harendra Singh that is worrying anymore. For the ones inside that office, whether it the CEO Elena Norman or the high performance director David John, surrounded by the vapid Mushtaque Ahmad (president, HI) and Rajinder Singh (secretary-general), what is disquieting is the complete trivialisation of Indian hockey and its coaches.
Hockey India very cleverly worded the press release that removed Harendra from his position as chief coach - “The Committee has recommended to reassign Dronacharya Awardee Harendra Singh as Coach for the Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team.”
There was no way Harendra would have survived unless he would have won the World Cup. It wasn’t a pipe dream either. But Harendra, not prone to emotional bursts when it comes to nuanced answers, reflected, “I knew I was out the day we lost to Holland in the quarter-finals.” His emotional outburst later in the post-match press-conference 'we played against 13 and not against eleven', pertaining to the umpires didn’t go down well with the FIH, headed by none other than Dr Narendra Batra. That later Ric Charlesworth, winning coach of the 2010 and 2014 Australian teams remarked that the umpires could have done a better job was of no consequence.
Honestly, it’s not the World Cup failure that ensures that Harendra is without a coaching job. It was the failure of India not winning the Asian Games in Jakarta that made Hockey India get the guillotine ready. There is no doubt that if there was a gap of six months between Jakarta and Bhubaneswar, Harendra would have been shunted out. But the question, in this rather purposeless hire and fire coach policy that Mr Batra, Elena and David John indulge in, is whether an Asian Games gold medal could even have saved Harendra. After all, Terry Walsh won the 2014 Asian Games gold and was sacked immediately by Batra. Fragile egos have always been the driving force behind most Hockey India presidents and officials – from the time of Ashwini Kumar, MAM Ramaswamy, R Prasad, IM Mahajan, KPS Gill and now even though he is the FIH president and IOA president, it is Batra who runs Hockey India.
What is galling is the complete trivialisation of a talented Indian coach. Talent or not can be differing opinions. It is up for debate. But numbers give you a fair bearing in any sport – sportsperson or coach. It was in 1994, Sydney that we finished fifth in the World Cup. After that we have finished 10th, 11th, 8th and 9th, the last two with foreign coaches – Jose Brasa and Terry Walsh. In 24 years, Odisha has been our best ever finish – 6th. The result of that finish is yet another sacking. More bothersome is that within six months of being appointed, Harendra is out of the job. And India start a search that will bring in the 12th coach since Jose Brasa was appointed in 2009-10; a coach every year.
In a sane world, in a saner hockey federation managed by sane people, Harendra would be called and asked – “I think we could have done better. But congratulations for finishing 6th and do let us know what all you need to finish on the podium at Tokyo and what are the plans for the next World Cup. You have four years on the job.” A progressive federation would have also told him – “give us your choice of a technical director and oh, by the way, we were thinking of Ric Charlesworth.”
Harendra, at the moment, is in Varanasi delivering a lecture on leadership at the Banaras Hindu University. In a moment that could be described as utterly disappointing for him, he still managed to laugh. His summary of the decision was a crisp ‘disappointing and unprofessional.’
What is mystifying and disconcerting is the fact that Harendra wasn’t given a hearing – a chance to explain a sixth position and an opportunity to show the path ahead? A professional organisation would do that. But that is like Burundi sending a man to the moon.
Harendra wanted a hearing. “Of course, I did,” he says. “I want to know where I failed. Tell me, where did I lack? And why didn’t they include me in the meeting? Wasn’t the meeting about me? Shouldn’t I be allowed to explain my report card? Even in a school, a child gets a hearing when the matter of his or her performance comes up.”
Harendra breaks off his line of questions by once again saying that his removal ‘was in haste and completely unprofessionalism.’ But to have asked for anything more from a committee that has the servile RP Singh (former World Cupper), the docile Harbinder Singh (Olympian) and the subservient BP Govinda (Olympian) would have been more ambitious than winning the World Cup.
BG Joshi, hockey statistician, puts forward some numbers pertaining to Harendra’s tenure as coach. Against the world’s top 16 teams, Harendra’s team has played 14 matches, winning six, drawing six and losing only twice in regulation time. Twice India went onto lose in shootouts against Malaysia (Asian Games, semi-finals) and Australia (Champions Trophy, final). Not bad for a coach who had always been interim coach or coached the junior side to some remarkable triumphs including the 2016 Junior World Cup.
If Harendra had to lose his position, then why wasn’t Chris Ciriello also asked to leave? After all, he is the analytical coach and it’s on his expertise that the chief coach would normally operate. A day after the defeat against Holland, I had asked Harendra about his own future and he was candid enough to say “I am ok with whatever decisions are taken. But I know I did a good job.” But out of the blue he said, “I don’t know about myself but Chris Ciriello would remain with the team.”
So then why does the high performance director David John still lurk in the vicinity of Hockey India when he had been publicly rebuked by being taken out of the World Cup selection committee for speaking about players just after the Asian Games?
Ciriello was brought in without any coaching experience. Yes, he was the hat-trick man in the 2014 World Cup final that Australia won 6-1 against Holland. But is that good enough to be an analytical coach or an assistant coach? It takes years of watching and poring over numbers, graphics to be able to understand and analyse a hockey match. Will RP Singh, Harbinder Singh, Govinda be able to explain the reason to retain Ciriello or David John? Or for that matter can John and Norman call a press conference and answer questions to India’s future in the sport after what they would probably insist has been a bad 2018? Normally, CEOs of companies do answer questions.
Under Harendra, India finished outside the podium once – the 6th place at the World Cup. India won the Asian Champions Trophy, finished with a bronze at the Asian Games and took silver at the Champions Trophy in Breda against the top nations assembled. When Oltmans won silver at the London Champions Trophy, it was hailed as a renaissance. Oltmans preened and strutted before the Indian media. Harendra struggles with an appropriate emotion after his sacking.
At the Odisha World Cup, most former players, all there to watch the tournament said “Harendra should be given the team till the next World Cup.” A few of those names were 75’ World Cup winning captain Ajit Pal Singh, Col Balbir Singh, Dhanraj Pillay, AB Subbiah, Ashish Ballal, V Bhaskaran, Dilip Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey, MM Somaya, Merwyn Fernandez. Another hefty who said Harendra was doing a good job was the incomparable Charlesworth. Do we weight in the collective experience, wisdom of all these players against David John and Norman?
At the World Cup, former Indian captain Bhaskaran had thundered when asked if India needed a coach change. “Why do you want to remove Harendra? What is the need? Yes, we lost the match against Holland but it’s not the end of Indian hockey. I can see the improvement. This team has played well. He is an Indian coach and when we have a chance to keep an Indian coach in the system, why not?”
It’s not known what decision Harendra will make. Technically, he hasn’t been sacked. He has been reassigned to the junior side. In just a year, Harendra has moved from the women’s team to the men’s team and now HI awaits his decision to move him to the junior men’s team. If Harendra says, ‘yes’, the image of the Indian hockey coach would be reduced to a frivolous figure, a pliable commodity. Looking at it from where Harendra is standing, the man loves to coach, to dream and create wins. Harendra is not a silver-tongued orator willing to sway audiences to keep his job. The team has inadequacies and one doesn’t need a Batra, David John or an Norman to point that out. Yet, there was enough hunger shown throughout 2018 to warrant the Japanese coach Seigfried Aikman say, “Its Asia’s best team with a very bright future.” Maybe, Harendra and HI couldn’t figure out how bright that future was.
Firstpost
Pakistan hockey needs attacking approach to excel: Coach
LAHORE - Newly-appointed coach of Pakistan hockey team Thursday said that participation of national players in the FIH Pro Hockey League will be a big way of learning and it will also provide them much-needed international exposure.
“Young players need to improve their game which is only possible if they get maximum opportunities to play against world top notch hockey players and pro league will provide them an ideal chance to face off with different hockey nations,” he said here after supervising the afternoon session of the national camp set up for the buildup of Pakistan team for Pro league being played in different countries later this month.
The former hockey Olympian was of the view that Pakistan team needs to change its style of play, switching to attacking game from its usual defensive approach during run of play. “Players have to drop this tendency (defensive approach) which has damaged Pakistan hockey in recent years and it is one of the main key reasons of downfall of our national sport,” said Saeed.
The team coach and manager said that in the ongoing camp, efforts are being made to change the mindset and approach of players and helping them to adopt fast track of game. “Attacking hockey helps in mounting pressure on opponents, creates ample opportunities of goal scoring and that is the reason why other hockey nations have progressed a lot in international hockey in last one decade, whereas we have a nose dive trend and stand nowhere at world ranking which indicates that we are a weak side at world level.”
He said another reason which contributed to the overall decline of the hockey was suspension of international hockey at Pakistani soil in the last one decade. “If foreign teams are not visiting the country on regular basis, how come our players will be lifting the level of their game as arranging foreign tours on regular intervals is quite an expensive venture,” said the team official.
To a query, he said that the team management has no such information that the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has decided not to participate in the Pro League owing to paucity of funds. “I am optimistic that the PHF will arrange necessary funds to ensure Pakistan’s participation in the league to revive the sagging fortune of the hockey.
“Due to the same scenario, question mark was posed on participation of Pakistan team in international events in the recent past and eventually, the PHF was able to get the funds to send its team abroad and hopefully this time, it will also secure funds for ensuring team’s participation in pro league,” he added.
The Nation
THT ready for UniKL challenge
By Jugjet Singh
KUALA LUMPUR: Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) hope to utilise home ground advantage to snatch the Charity Shield from Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) at the Batu Berendam Stadium in Kuala Terengganu on Friday.
THT coach I. Vikneswaran knows that it will not be easy as UniKL will have their foreign players for the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) season opener, unlike in the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup.
"UniKL have many good players and we know they can be trouble if underestimated. They also have an international goalkeeper from Ireland (David John Harte), and I believe they will start as the favourites," said Vikneswaran.
"However, we have our own plans and I believe in the capabilities of my players to give UniKL a tough fight.”
However, Batu Buruk has been a Charity Shield 'graveyard' for THT as they lost all three Shields to Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) with scores of 2-1 in 2016, 2-2 (lost 6-4 on shootout) in 2017 and 2-2 (lost 5-4 on shootout 5-4) in 2018.
"Playing at our home turf is an advantage and with local fans backing us, we hope to get it right this time around."
UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj hopes to make it fourth time unlucky for THT.
"Two of our foreign players (Valentin Verga and Robert Kemperman) will only arrive after the Charity Shield, but still, we hope to snatch it from THT. If KLHC could win three consecutive titles at THT's home turf, we can also cause an upset," said Arul.
Results
Women’s Malaysia Hockey League: Tengku Mahkota Ismail 0 Terengganu Ladies 5, KL Wipers 0 Blue Warriors 4, PKS Uniten 8 PSHA-MSSP 0.
Fixtures
Malaysia Hockey League
Friday
THT v UniKL (Batu Buruk, 4.45pm), Tenaga Nasional v UiTM (National Stadium, Pitch I, 6pm), Maybank v NurInsafi (National Stadium Pitch I, 8pm).
New Straits Times
Skipper Fitri wants to end Charity Shield hoodoo
By Aftar Singh
KUALA LUMPUR: Skipper Mohd Fitri Saari (pic) aims to end Terengganu’s jinx in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Charity Shield.
The East Coast team have failed to win the match in their own backyard for the last three years. They lost to KL Hockey Club (KLHC) on all occasion.
Last year’s Premier Division league champions Terengganu face overall champions Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) today, but the hosts are ready to get it right at the Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.
Fitri said UniKL were the fancied team as they would be represented by four foreign and a few national players.
“We lost to KLHC for three consecutive years at home. But we hope to be lucky in our fourth attempt against UniKL,” said Fitri, who has been Terengganu’s skipper since 2014.
“The university team have made great strides by winning the league title.”
The national midfielder admitted that their abysmal penalty corner conversion rate stood out like a sore thumb.
“We earned 16 penalty corners against Tenaga Nasional in the final of the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup last Sunday and our specialist Jang Jong-hyun of South Korea failed to sound the board not even once,” added Fitri.
“But we’ve been working on our penalty corner set pieces and hope to get it right against UniKL.”
Terengganu also squandered a penalty stroke and lost 2-1 to Tenaga Nasional in the final of the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup.
UniKL coach A. Arulselvaraj said they would be banking on Irish goalkeeper David Harte, Australian Kieran Govers and Dutchman Martin Havenga to add spice in the match.
“Govers and Harte played for us last year, and they have a good understanding of our playing structure. Havenga is new and he will play in midfield and defence,” said Arulselvaraj, whose side were beaten 4-1 by Tenaga Nasional in the semi-finals.
“We hope to play better in the Charity Shield after losing in the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup.”
The Star of Malaysia
Hotshot Fatin delivers two goals for Police Blue Warriors in hockey league
By Aftar Singh
Fatin Naimah (left) in action during last year’s league. - Chan Tak Kong/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Fatin Naimah Zaki scored a brace to steer Police Blue Warriors to a convincing 4-0 win over KL Wipers in the opening match of the National Women's Hockey League.
Police powered by eight national players took the lead in the eighth minute through Norbaini Hashim at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Fatin doubled the score in the 17th minute off a penalty corner before she was on target again to net her second goal and her team's third goal in the 34th minute.
Police, who won the overall title last year, kept up the pressure and completed the rout with a field goal by Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli in the 55th minute.
Police coach Zulkhairi Ariffin was satisfied with the win but said there was lack of understanding among the players in the match.
“It was our first match in the league and the players made some silly errors in defence but luckily we did not concede a goal,” said Zulkhairi.
“I hope my players will be able to combine well and play better in the next match - a tough one against PKS-Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) on Saturday,” said Zulkhairi.
National player Nuraini Abdul Rashis was the heroine for PKS-Uniten as she scored a hattrick to help her team thrash hapless Penang State Hockey Association (PSHA)-Penang State Schools Council (MSSPP) 8-0 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Nuraini was on target in the ninth, 22nd and 23rd minutes.
Hanis Nadiah Onn (17th), Surizan Awang Noh (29th), Nur Zafirah Aziz (32nd), Kirandeep Kaur (34th) and Nurliyana Mohd Kip (38th) contributed the other goals.
In the third match of the day, Terengganu Ladies powered by three Indian and two Kazakhstan players, outplayed Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) 5-0 at the SSTMI pitch in Bandar Penawar.
Fatin Shafika Mohd Sukri (third), Nur Syafiqah Mohd Zain (13th), Siti Noor Amarina Ruhani (19th), Wan Norfaiezah Mohd Saiuti (20th) and Juliani Mohamad Din (38th) delivered the goals for the East Coast team.
RESULTS
SSTMI 0 TERENGGANU LADIES 5
KL WIPERS 0 POLICE BLUE WARRIORS 4
PKS UNITEN 8 PSHA-MSSPP 0
The Star of Malaysia
China club aim to be champions and nothing less
By Naqib Nor Said
SEPANG: Liaoning Infinite Space, the club from China that have been invited to take part in the Malaysia Women’s Hockey League, have sent out a clear warning to the other teams by saying that they do not intend on finishing their inaugural season here other than being crowned champions.
The China league champions arrived on Tuesday and have chosen to set up base in Cyberjaya, apart from making the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil as their official venue for the 12 league matches that they will play.
Gao Lihua’s squad look like they are all set to put up a strong fight for the coveted league trophy, as they have arrived with an almost full strength squad, led by China international midfield lynchpin Chen Yang who starred in last year’s Women’s Hockey World Cup, as well as China’s former 2016 Olympic squad player Yu Qian.
Apart from the duo, they also have three former internationals in their ranks, Wang Feixue, Guo JiaJia and Wang Libin, apart from a few China youth team players as well.
For Lihua, their team are not competing to be second best, despite the fact that they are missing a couple of key players who are tied up with international commitments, with the Pro League beginning soon.
“Our target for our inaugural season here is to emerge as league and overall champions,” stressed Lihua, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games during the height of her playing career.
“We have brought along a few former internationals but we have no clue as to the level of competition for the Malaysia Women’s Hockey League. What we know is we will give it our all to ensure that we do not end up empty handed.”
Liaoning will be making history as the first invited team to take part in the Malaysia Women’s Hockey League which was revived in 2015, and for their first match, they will take on KL Wipers at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow evening (Friday).
In fact, Liaoning Infinite Space are seen as favourites along with defending champions Blue Warriors and the Terengganu Women’s Hockey Team, who have invested heavily for the new season by bringing in five players from India and Kazakhstan.
Another interesting fact concerning the team from China is that Eric Zacharias is Liaoning Infinite Space’s manager for the coming Malaysia Women’s Hockey League campaign. Eric is a former Malaysia international player who featured for the national side during the Asia Cup in 1990, and he also played in the 1989 World Youth Cup alongside legendary winger Mirnawan Nawawi.
It is understood that the move to invite Liaoning Infinite Space to play in the local league was sparked by a local businessman who will also bear the cost for the China league champions while they are here.
New Straits Times
Jacqui Potter Cup opening phases throws up plenty of thrills and spills
Big guns Railway Union and Loreto both got over potential banana skins in midweek to be the first sides to reach the last eight of the Jacqui Potter Cup with the next six ties taking place on Saturday.
Railway scored four times in the second half to beat Three Rock Rovers 4-0, the EYHL side getting over a sticky first half against the Leinster Division 2 outfit.
Isobel Joyce deflected in a corner to set the ball rolling with her twin sister touching home from Zara Delany’s intervention on a Lily Lloyd reverse-stick cross-shot.
Delany whipped in a cracking first time shot to the top corner after Kate McKenna’s good run before Kate Orr completed the win with a drag-flick from a corner.
Loreto knocked out the Railway II on Thursday night with a 4-1 success despite the absence of several front-line players, either with the senior Irish team in Chile or the Under-21s in Spain.
Sara Twomey put them one up; Aisling Murray’s reverse made it two and Jessica Meeke added the third. Jessica McGirr made it 4-0 before Railway got their consolation.
Round two follows hot on the heels of an eventful round one with plenty of drama. Our Lady’s got their first result of the season when they knocked out Avoca – Aoife Kelly cancelled out Molly Cole’s goal for 1-1 in normal time and they went on to win the shoot-out 3-0.
Pembroke II were another to win a shoot-out, eliminating Monkstown after another 1-1 draw. Amber Barnwell had Town ahead in the 27th minute via a corner drag but an Elaine Thompson set-piece flick tied the game up and the Division 2 side won the shoot-out 3-2. Our Lady’s face Pembroke II in round two as a result.
Old Alex II set up a date with UCD thanks to a shoot-out win over Clontarf. The Milltown side from Division 2, though, could potentially be lining up a big performance over their illustrious opponents who will take the field without Lena Tice and Bethany Barr as well as seven Irish Under-21s in Alicante.
Pembroke’s firsts enter the stage with a trip to Naas while Muckross take on North Kildare, 4-2 victors over Monkstown II last Saturday. Kate O’Connor’s double powered Glenanne by Dublin North – on Jacqui Potter Cup debut – 5-2 with further goals from Niamh Lyons, Sarah-Jane Kelly and Audrey Westlake.
Jacqui Potter Cup
First round: Dublin North 1 (C Mulligan) Glenanne 5 (K O’Connor 2, N Lyons, S-J Kelly, A Westlake); Our Lady’s 1 (A Kelly) Avoca 1 (M Cole), Our Lady’s win shoot-out 3-0; Old Alex II 0 Clontarf 0, Old Alex win shoot-out 2-1; Monkstown 1 (A Barnwell) Pembroke II 1 (E Thompson), Pembroke won shoot-out 2-1; North Kildare 4 (N Delaney, E Neary, E Ryan-Doyle, R Neary) Monkstown II 2 (S Grehan, S Woodroofe); Muckross II 1 Loreto II 4 (J Stewart 2, S Evans, A-M Byrne)
Second round
Monday: Three Rock Rovers 0 Railway Union 4 (I Joyce, C Joyce, Z Delany, K Orr)
Thursday: Loreto 4 (S Twomey, A Murray, J Meeke, J McGirr) Railway Union II 1
Second round fixtures
Saturday: Loreto II v Old Alex, Beaufort, 2pm; Our Lady’s v Pembroke II, Terenure, 2pm; UCD v Old Alex II, Belfield, 2.50pm; Naas v Pembroke, Caragh Road, 1pm; Muckross v North Kildare, Muckross Park, 3pm; Genesis v Glenanne, St Raphaela’s, 2.30pm
The Hook
Lifting The Ball Elimination
Coaches Objective:
To teach the attacker to eliminate the defender at pace by lifting the ball and changing the direction of it when it's in the air.
Purpose:
When the ball is lifted, the defender will stand more upright, reducing their reach and mobility. It also reduces their chances of making a clean tackle, therefore putting them in a vulnerable position.