News for 14 August 2020
All the news for Friday 14 August 2020
New Zealand PHL will give Kiwis head start, says Jude Menwzes
Jude Menezes, former India goalkeeper, is upbeat about the New Zealand Premier Hockey League set to commence on August 20.
The league promises a lot for everybody, according to India’s goalkeeper at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
“We have received some funding to carry out an event to feature on Sky TV (equivalent to Star TV in India) so Hockey New Zealand decided to get 80 of our best athletes together (men and women) and hold a competitive four-team tournament,” he said from Auckland.
The tournament will boost activity in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which had brought sports to a standstill.
“The league will provide our hockey fans some competitive hockey live on TV, help fill our stadiums and satisfy our fans as entry is free.
“It will also provide interesting content for Sky to broadcast,” Menezes, 49, added.
New Zealand has been doing better than most countries, devoid of community based Covid-19 cases for 100 straight days.
“We have been operating normally since June and are busy with our local leagues and both National programs have also been in training,” he said reflecting on the situation in New Zealand.
According to Menezes, who is Assistant coach of New Zealand women’s team looking after defence and goalkeeping, it would help Kiwi teams gain competitive advantage against the rest of the world as a lot of countries are not yet back to normal so are unable to train.“These games will provide us a good look at our athletes before we announce both National squads for 2021,” he said.
“Rugby and Netball have conducted similar style competitions with great success as crowds have been starved of international sporting action so are making the most of the opportunity by the next best thing to an international event. Netball have had record crowds for a domestic event in some venues,” Menezes observed.
Menezes, who migrated to New Zealand in 2002, believes such a league would do very well in India once the situation improves.
“It would be a great opportunity to conduct a tournament, maybe on a much larger scale with 6-8 teams,” he elaborated.
“They could balance the teams equally with all the current national team players divided equally among all teams and then have a draft system to fill in the other numbers. “It could be based on similar lines as the Hockey India League. India has great depth so I feel they could easily field at least six good teams and have a very competitive tournament,” Menezes said.
He reckons that the sport’s popularity and the number of people watching on TV, a league of this sort could be conducted without spectators.
“It would be great for the players to keep preparing for the postponed Tokyo Olympics if it does happen,” Menezes enthused on the month-long league.
Stick2Hockey.com
Famine or feast: Georgia Wilson’s battle with binge eating
In a continuation of our series of stories about members of the hockey community who have overcome challenges on their way to success, this week we talk to Australia’s Georgia Wilson.
At 21, after a four-year struggle, Georgia, who has 38 caps for the Hockeyroos, was diagnosed with a binge eating disorder. This manifested itself in starving her body of food, training while in a constant state of fatigue, continuously checking her weight on the scales, then attempting to satisfy the relentless sugar craving by dipping into tubs of ice-cream, scooping spoonfuls of peanut butter into her mouth and gorging on chocolate cake and biscuits.
In her e-Book on Nutrition, Georgia explains that her relationship with food became intrinsically linked with her perception of herself as an athlete: “I believed if I weighed less, I’d become a better player. That the only way to improve was to meticulously track and count every calorie that entered my body.”
As Georgia became obsessed with controlling her diet, the more she craved all the “naughty, off-limits” food. She describes her ritualistic routine that saw her eat dinner then turn to the sugar-laden treats, often stashing them under her bed to be retrieved later, out of sight. The following day, guilt about the previous night’s binge would lead to further calorie restrictions.
Eventually, after four years of this destructive relationship with food, Georgia sought help. She began working with eating disorder psychologist, Emma Dove, who helped the young athlete understand that the binge eating disorder was not her fault, but rather came from deep-rooted feelings of insecurity, self-doubt and self-hatred. This, combined with Georgia’s high levels of perfectionism and perception of what she should look like as an elite hockey player, had provided the perfect recipe for an eating disorder.
“I had to learn through a long and difficult recovery process to accept my body for the many amazing feats it allowed me to accomplish, rather than merely identifying myself for how I appear,” says Georgia. “With regular therapy, I slowly began to overcome my fears and abolish my mind’s absurd food beliefs... the day I ate a bowl of spaghetti for the first time in two years was one of the greatest achievements of my recovery.”
The impact of the binge eating disorder on Georgia’s life has been immense: “Believing that my self-worth was determined by how I lean looked and how little I could eat makes my heart break. When you are in the grips of an eating disorder, it controls the entirety of your life and impacts your relationship with those who mean the most to you.
“Breakfasts and birthdays with friends have been missed because I couldn’t find the calorie count of foods offered on menus, conversations forgotten because I was never mentally present, holidays ruined because I was unable to eat food that I hadn’t prepared myself and countless nights of lost sleep due to invasion of hunger pains are just some of the devastating events that have taken place.
“The amount of stress and hurt I put my body through physically also saddens me. Every dessert was counteracted with exercise and every Christmas morning was filled with shuttles to compensate for the food that should meant have been enjoyed at those times. I also question whether my hamstring tear and ACL injury would have occurred if I had provided my body with the nourishment and fuel it deserved.”
A further point of heartache for Georgia has been watching her sister fight her own demons in the shape of anorexia. She says her younger sibling had always looked to her as a role model, so watching her battle with destructive food behaviour has been a painful experience.
“Being in the depths of a mental illness meant I was unknowingly unaware of the young and vulnerable girl who was watching my every action and having her believe that what I was doing was okay.”
Even now, Georgia knows that the eating disorder will never fully go away. However, she has learnt what can trigger an episodes and how to manage it.
“Stressful and uncertain periods can induce eating disorder behaviours, which is why I am very mindful of my mood and emotions. I have a number of ‘standards’ that I am upheld to by my boyfriend and family. They are often the first to intervene if I am not upholding them.
“These standards include not weighing or measuring food, not missing breakfast or skipping meals, sitting down to eat from a plate or bowl, not calorie counting or reading nutrition panels, not repeatedly looking at my body in the mirror and not weighing myself.”
Georgia says she also has an open and trusting relationship with Hockey Australia dietician Tereen Stevens and she can turn to a number of teammates for support if she feels an episode coming on.
For anyone finding themselves in a similar situation, Georgia has this advice: “You’ll know in your heart if you are struggling and the first step towards recovery is becoming aware of the struggle. If you believe you are affected, it is vital that you seek help from an external professional trained in eating disorder recovery.
“One of the reasons I didn’t reach out was that, although my periods had stopped, I hadn’t lost weight and I was still performing well. I believed I wasn’t ‘sick enough’ to get help.”
While Georgia has her ambitions firmly fixed on the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, she is also throwing her energies into her newly-launched hockey camp Activ8. She has recently returned from a trip to a rural, indigenous community in Western Australia, where she was running a hockey camp for the local children.
With the publication of her E-Book on nutrition, her willingness to talk about her illness and her determination to encourage young people from all backgrounds to take up hockey, Georgia has successfully emerged from her own darkness to provide a light for others.
FIH site
UNC field hockey's Erin Matson is a junior and drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan
Halfway through a once-in-a-generation career, the star forward has a chance to become the greatest of all time in her sport.
By Ryan Wilcox
UNC Sophomore forward Erin Matson (1) dodges past Boston College player as she dribbles the ball towards the goal in the NCAA Final Four game against BC at Kentner Stadium on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. UNC won 6-3, with four goals scored by Matson. Angelina Katsanis
No one is quite sure when the fire started, or how it began, exactly. The only thing that’s certain is that it’s there. Maybe it always has been.
It was there, innocently enough, when a six-year-old girl first picked up a field hockey stick, deciding immediately — or maybe it was decided for her — that she was in love. It’s been there ever since, when she was a sixteen-year-old representing the United States and then an eighteen-year-old on the best team in the country. It’s a fire that has vanquished enemies, ignited teammates and burned names into trophies. It’s a fire that has yet to be extinguished, even by tears of joy after not one, but two national championships.
The fire has drawn comparisons not just to other legendary athletes, but to artists like Beethoven or Picasso. And when it’s all said and done, and the smoke has cleared, it feels entirely possible that the fire burning inside Erin Matson will have put her in the rarest of company: the greatest of all time.
Brian Matson knew his daughter had a gift when, during an indoor tournament, seven-year-old Erin scooped up a loose ball, dribbled end-to-end and flicked in a reverse for a score. Whoa, he remembers thinking, that kind of looked intentional.
“As a parent, you watch her and you think ‘Okay, she’s pretty good,’” mother Jill Matson said. “But then when you start having other people — coaches, parents, officials — come up and say, ‘That’s not normal at that age,’ you realize you might have something special.”
Sure, part of that divide was due to raw talent. But mostly it was countless hours spent in the Matson basement, running through drill after drill, pull after pull, stroke after stroke. Years later, Erin would get in trouble with coaches for stopping drills midway through and starting over from the beginning: if it could be done better, she figured, it should be.
“It was like a habit of mine,” she said. “If it wasn’t perfect, I had to redo it.”
Karen Shelton first saw Erin play as a fourth-grader, dominating the older competition in a club game. The UNC head coach immediately knew she had seen something “really special,” one of those once-in-a-generation blends of talent, skill and passion. Your daughter’s pretty good, Brian remembers Shelton saying. I’m going to keep an eye on her.
Years later, after a recruiting process described as "not hard," Matson would end up in Chapel Hill.
Courtnie Williamson is asked to pick out the moment when she first knew Erin Matson was as good as advertised. She can't do it. Pretty much every single time she took a shot, Williamson says, she was astonished.
“The first time I saw her play, it was like, ‘Wow, we’re going to be good this year,’” she said. “I knew right away.”
Matson played for the U.S. National Team at age 16, only the second person in history to do so, and was a top recruit for the WC Eagles, one of the best field hockey clubs in the country. Then add in the fact that North Carolina was a preseason ACC favorite. High expectations — individually and as a team — were a given.
So the rookie forward wasted no time, posting six goals and six assists in her first seven games. After that came games against eleventh-ranked Syracuse, fifth-ranked UConn and fourth-ranked Duke (twice) — all UNC wins.
When Matson says she never gets nervous before games, you believe her. North Carolina entered the ACC Championship with an 18-0 record and a lot to lose, and it was precisely then that Shelton saw what she considers the signature moment of Matson’s first season: a spinning, behind-the-back goal out of a set piece, 62 seconds into a game against Wake Forest.
“It was something you just don’t see at the college level,” Shelton said. “You just see it and shake your head.”
That set the tone, all right. The Tar Heels never looked back and won, 7-2, then beat Maryland two weeks later for the national title. Matson scored the clincher in a 2-0 win, ending a 23-0 season.
As a first-year, Matson led North Carolina in goals (20) and assists (19), and was a first-team All-American. It felt both unlikely and inevitable that she would follow that up with something better.
In 2019, Matson led the nation in points per game, finishing with 33 goals and 15 assists. She repeated as the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and also won National Player of the Year. Best of all, her team again had a shot at a national championship — and something even greater.
In their third game of the year, the top-ranked Tar Heels played No. 5 Princeton. The Tigers threw the first punch, then the second, UNC’s vaunted offense stalling all the while. By the time halftime came around, Princeton held a 3-1 lead in Chapel Hill, putting their hard-earned win streak in jeopardy. With just minutes left the score was the same, any hopes of another perfect season seemingly dashed early.
Matson’s memory of what happened next is hazy. She says she isn’t quite sure how the last three hundred and one seconds played out. What she knows is that when it was over, she and her teammates were screaming and hugging and the streak had, improbably, been kept alive.
Matson started the rally with a score at the 54:59 mark, lasered in from the left side of the circle. Moments later she drew a penalty stroke, which Megan DuVernois capitalized on. They scored two goals in less than 80 seconds to tie the game, and held every shred of momentum heading into overtime.
Except the Tar Heels didn’t need overtime once Matson spotted Marissa Creatore and sent the ball toward the cage with less than 30 seconds left. Goal. UNC 4, Princeton 3, and a 25-game winning streak improbably extended to 26.
“I don’t even know how we did that,” she said. “I really don’t. We watched film of the last five minutes, and we were like, ‘That’s never possible again.’”
They would see Princeton again, in the national championship with (somehow) even more at stake. The Tigers scored early to open things up, but another last-minute rally wouldn’t be necessary. North Carolina ripped off six straight scores, two from Matson, in a five-goal blowout.
A national championship. A dream season. A perfect season. Again.
Erin Matson is 20 years old and has been compared to Beethoven. A national team coach called her “the American dream,” and there are obvious parallels to reigning field hockey GOAT Luciana Aymar. With half of her college career still to come, Matson’s already in an exclusive club of UNC greats, alongside the likes of Mia Hamm and Lawrence Taylor. But only one name comes up without fail when people try to put Matson’s greatness into context.
Yeah, that one.
“I tell her all the time she’s the Michael Jordan of field hockey,” Williamson said.
Parents, teammates and coaches all see shades of Jordan in the 5-foot-4 Matson. There is (of course) the North Carolina connection. Add in how neither can remember the details from the biggest games of their careers, a seeming testament to how they’re so dialed in at any given moment. There’s a focus, a bordering obsession, on fundamentals. Most of all there’s an intensity, a single-mindedness and a desire — maybe even a need — to win at anything and everything.
In Erin Matson the person, family and friends see a “girly girl,” sweet, down-to-earth, and humble almost to a fault. In Erin Matson the field hockey player, they see someone who will “rip your heart out,” call teammates out when they’re out of line and go to any lengths in order to win.
“She steps on the field and she’s a different person,” Williamson says. “But that’s how you have to be to be as great as she is.”
She, like MJ, learned to take every infinitesimal slight personally. Because her club team was so dominant, Matson would turn any minor slip-up — a missed shot here, a defensive misstep there — into rocket fuel.
“It was the littlest things,” she remembered. “If someone stole a ball from me, someone on another team that wasn’t nearly as good as our team, that pissed me off.”
In one game last year, her father remembers an unnamed opponent was — for some inconceivable reason — jawing at Erin during a blowout. With less than a minute left and UNC up four, Erin, no intentions of slowing up, dribbled downfield and put one past the goalkeeper.
“There was a concerted effort, with such little time, to get down there and score,” Brian remembered. “Almost like it was a game-winning goal.”
A Jordan-esque parting gift.
And so the fire rages on for Erin Matson, until there are no more drills to run through or obstacles to overcome or opponents to shut up.
It will be there next season and the one after that, when she looks to continue a literally perfect college career. It’ll be there while she chases Olympic gold and looks to inspire the next generation of field hockey players.
It’ll be there in every practice and every game, evident to any coach who is lucky enough to have her and any teammate who has sense enough to notice. People in the stands will be hard-pressed not to see it. They’ll wonder to themselves, Who is that? then How did that happen? and finally, maybe, Where does that come from?
No one knows how the fire started. But they know it’s there.
The Daily Tar Heel
No Bremen stint for Malaysian hockey trio
By Jugjet Singh
MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal. PIC BY MUSTAFFA KAMAL
KUALA LUMPUR: Three national women's hockey players have become the latest casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic.
They were supposed to play for newly promoted Division One club Bremer in the German Hockey League this year, but the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) could not provide the release letters.
"The MHC always supports players who want to venture overseas, but it's a pity we could not release the three because of Covid-19.
"There are government regulations to follow as well," said MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal.
However, Subahan said when the new technical director arrives, overseas stints will be part of his plans.
It is learnt that former national coach Paul Revington will be appointed as technical director and the South African is expected to report by Sept 1.
"In our discussions, he made it clear that overseas stints will part of his plans. "Unfortunately, for the three girls, the Covid-19 has denied them the opportunity to play in Germany," said Subahan.
The three are Juliani Din, Maizatulhanim Syafi and Nuramirah Syakirah Zulkifli.
Last season, the trio helped Bremer gain promotion to Division One with Nuramirah scoring 15 goals (11 field attempts, three penalty corners and one penalty stroke) in nine appearances.
The 20-year-old was again at her best when she played for HockAdemy in the Malaysia Hockey League in February by scoring 11 goals (10 field attempts and one penalty corner).
And at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018, the Kedah-born netted five goals to help Malaysia finish fifth among eight teams.
"It's a pity that the three will not be playing for Bremer, who will feature in the German Division One for the first time.
"If the Covid-19 is contained, they will have a chance to play in Germany next season," said former national player S. Selvaraju, who helped the trio secure their playing tour last year as well as this season.
New Straits Times
Hickey links up with Rathgar with EYHL2 spot the target
Ronan Hickey is the new coach with Rathgar men’s first team as he looks to build on the strong work of Stephen Thompson last season, bringing them to the brink of EYHL Division 2.
Thompson has chosen to step away from the coach role and concentrate on playing with Hickey making the switch from Avoca’s women’s first team who he led for the past five years.
He is also the current Ireland Under-18 boys assistant coach and has been tasked with trying to bridge the gap to the national leagues.
Gar missed out last season by the narrowest of margins to Portrane on an EYHL2 berth – the two sides were level when lockdown came with the southsiders having the edge on goal difference but, from last season, tiebreaks were decided on head-to-head meetings.
“Ronan brings a wealth of experience and success to Rathgar, having coached Avoca Ladies for the last five seasons and also a number of Irish Junior boys teams,” read a club statement on his appointment.
“Having played in Leinster Division One for the past seven seasons, with Ronan’s help, we are looking to build on last season’s performances and make the leap to EYHL2.”
The Hook
Connacht clubs set to lose key Oranmore astro surface on east side of Galway
Members of Kinvara Hockey Club’s youth section outside the Oranmore Community Astro
Connacht Hockey President Kevin Keane has called the decision to resurface the Oranmore Community Astro with a 3G surface last week as a “major blow to our sport”.
Speaking to Galway Bay FM, Keane says the decision will have a massive impact on Kinvara and Renmore Hockey Clubs as well as the Connacht Masters teams and Calasanctius school, leaving the east side of Galway city without a suitable turf to train.
“There is currently only one [full-size] pitch in Galway – at Dangan – which can service all our hockey clubs – Galway Hockey Club, Greenfields, Renmore, Kinvara, NUIG, NUIG Masters, Connacht Interprovincial sides, the Connacht Masters ladies and men’s teams and all the school teams in the county,” Keane explained.
“Dangan is currently closed due to Covid 19. There are 1,500 hockey players in Connacht. We can’t afford to lose another facility.
“The Oranmore facility (even though it is not a full-sized pitch) is the only one on the east side of the city. It is used by Kinvara Hockey Club, Renmore Hockey Club, the NUIG Masters, the Connacht Youth Development Squads and Calasanctius College’s hockey teams.
“Kinvara Hockey Club teams currently travel a 60km round-trip to Dangan in the city to play their home games, but at least they have been able to train and play junior Blitzes in Oranmore.
“Calasanctius College in Oranmore has had tremendous success, recently winning the Connacht Hockey Championship and developing players who have gone on to star for Connacht and at Irish trials.
“If the development in Oranmore goes ahead, the Kinvara club would have no suitable surface on which to train. With the Dangan pitch lacking capacity, the club would have to look to travel to Athlone for full-size-pitch training sessions.”
Kinvara currently use the pitch for training their Under-14 and 16 squads as well as hosting junior blitzes from Under-8 to 12 level, servincing members from south Galway and north Clare. It is also used as a base for developing the next generation of umpires.
The 3G surface is more attractive for GAA, soccer and rugby to use as a secondary training surface. While all these sports already will have grass pitches as their first-choice venue in the region, the local hockey clubs would not have any primary pitch following this decision.
The venue is also used by the local Masters teams with Chairman of the NUIG Masters, Fintan O’Flynn, adding: “We are a mixed group of 60 members, most of us in our 50’s and 60’s, who have been playing in Oranmore since 2012.
“For us, hockey is a sporting and social activity. We have always had a great relationship with our hosts in Oranmore, but are very disappointed that hockey may no longer be playable there.
“3G and 4G surfaces are not suitable for hockey, due to the nature of the ball. Hockey is a sport which has high levels of participation by women and is a non-contact team sport that can be played competitively and for fun by people in their fifties, sixties and beyond. If Oranmore is resurfaced, our group will have nowhere suitable to play.” 
Keane is calling on local politicians to get behind the sport and “ensure that pitches with suitable surfaces are made available without further delay”.
“Hockey in Ireland is experiencing great success at international level. The ladies team reached the World Cup Final in 2018 and gained Olympic qualification in 2019. Now is the time to build on that success and grow the pool of players for our next Olympic cycle.
“Galway and Connacht need to be part of that. The encouragement of women in sport is a national objective. Hockey clubs are meeting that objective.
“The National Sports Policy 2018-2027 is promoting ‘Lifelong Involvement in Sport and Physical Activity’. Masters hockey meets that objective. Supporting hockey in our community for young and old should be a priority for politicians and planners in Galway.”
The Hook
Umpires Blood Challenge update
The Umpires Blood Challenge is in full swing and there is still time for hockey umpires, and anyone in the hockey community, across Australia to go and donate blood.
Impressively, as of the start of August, the hockey umpiring fraternity had made 36 donations as part of the challenge and sat in second place in the challenge – a fantastic contribution.
The donations have comprised of three full blood donations and 33 plasma donations, enough blood to help save up to 108 lives. A huge shout out to one umpire who went and donated for the first time!
The challenge, which started on 1 March, is designed to encourage members of different umpiring associations across the country to donate blood and see who can help save the most lives. Blood and plasma donations help Australians when they need it most.
The donations to come from the ‘Hockey Australia Official’ team so far have come from across Australia, with 10 from WA, 9 from NSW, 8 from both Victoria and Queensland, and one from Tasmania.
Notably, the tallied donations have also come from various age groups, ranging from 30 to one donor being over 70. Thank you to all who have signed up to the ‘Hockey Australia Official’ team and donated blood or plasma so far. Updates on donation numbers can be seen by clicking here.
The challenge runs up until 30 September so it is not too late to get involved and help save a life. Every blood, plasma and platelet donation counts!
How to take part in the challenge
Book an appointment to donate by calling 13 14 95 or visiting www.donateblood.com.au
For those in Victoria currently going through Stage 4 COVID restrictions, please note that blood donation has been declared an essential service by the government, so individuals are allowed out of home to go and donate blood. To learn more on donating blood during current restrictions visit https://www.lifeblood.com.au/coronavirus-update
In order to donate:
- All donors need to make an appointment (walk in donors are not being accepted at present). Appointments can be made by calling 13 14 95 or online at www.donateblood.com.au
- Donations can be made at any donor centre.
- Importantly, make sure to join the Lifeblood team ‘Hockey Australia Official’ so every donation can be added to the tally. To join the ‘Hockey Australia Official’ team, simply ask the reception staff at your local donor centre to sign up, or you can sign up online at www.donateblood.com.au/lifeblood-teams#register-or-join-a-team