News for 08 November 2018
All the news for Thursday 8 November 2018
Welsh International Sarah Jones to make GB debut!
Great Britain Hockey have announced their 18-strong squad, travelling to compete at the FIH Women’s Champions Trophy in China. The squad boasts a blend of youth and experience with six players selected having over 100 international caps to their names.
In line to make her first senior GB debut, is Welsh International, Sarah Jones. An exciting addition to the squad for Wales, Jones; who’s amassed 91 caps for her country to date, will be the second Welsh international to make the GB line up this year.
Catching up with Jones ahead of her trip to China she said:
“I’m really pleased to have been selected to be part of the squad competing at the Champions Trophy in China, and it’s a special moment to receive my first cap for GB. I’m extremely thankful to everyone who has supported me on my journey to get to this point, I truly would not have got here without them.”
Hockey Wales Media release
Canada announce squad for World Cup
Field Hockey Canada officially announced the 18-player Men’s National Team roster that will be representing Canada at the 2018 Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup. The tournament takes place in Bhubaneswar, India from November 28 to December 16, 2018.
Canada is currently ranked 11th in the world and last qualified for the World Cup in 2010. After failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, The Men’s National Team will be looking to improve on their 2010 finish of 11th. Canada sits as the third seed in Pool C along with India, South Africa and Belgium.
Veterans Scott Tupper, Mark Pearson and David Carter lead the Red Caribou into battle with over 500 international caps between them. Jamie Wallace, a staple of the national junior program over the past few years, made the emphatic jump to the senior level this summer and is rewarded with a spot on the World Cup roster. The 2018 FACE Grant recipient played his first senior cap in July and will be suiting up in Bhubaneswar on opening night.
The Red Caribou will play their sixth World Cup
The Men’s National Team started the year off at the 5-Nations tournament in Spain. They then went to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games. They hosted China and Pakistan over the summer and are now the team is coming off a successful final tour in New Zealand where they beat the Blacksticks in a four-game test series.
The balanced competition schedule as well as adding assistant coach Gregg Clark and domestic trainer Rob Short to the staff was all part of their 2018 build towards the World Cup and 2020 Tokyo qualification (that will take place in 2019).
Canada’s road certainly isn’t easy. They have the opening match of the tournament against the world number three. Then they take on South Africa in what will be a revenge match after Commonwealth Games. Their final pool-play game is against the host-nation India and takes place on December 8, 2018 at 7PM local time. Stay tuned for feature articles, player information and preview stories leading up to the World Cup!
Canada men's team for the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018:
Balraj Panesar
Brandon Pereira
Gordon Johnston
Scott Tupper
Keegan Pereira
Matthew Sarmento
Iain Smythe
James Kirkpatrick
Oliver Scholfield
Antoni Kindler
David Carter
Mark Pearson
Sukhi Panesarbc
Gabe Ho-Garcia
John Smythe
Richard Hildreth
Brednen Bissett
Jamie Wallace
#HWC2018
FIH site
Ireland’s women line-up Spanish and Chilean training camps
Megan Frazer in action against India in the World Cup quarter-final. Pic: Rodrigo Jaramillo/World Sport Pics
Ireland’s women will play their first internationals since their World Cup odyssey in Spain next month as part of the build-up to next year’s first stage of the Olympic qualifying process, writes John Flack.
Three games have been scheduled against their hosts in Valencia in what will be part of a warm-weather training camp.
Ironically, it was a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Spain that booked Ireland their place in the World Cup final in the summer.
Graham Shaw’s team, of course, went on to lift the silver medals in London after becoming the first Irish team ever to reach a World final.
After the Spanish trip, Ireland will be heading to Chile early in the new year to continue their build-up to the Olympic qualifier. There, Ireland will play their hosts, who have soared in the rankings to 16th after being in the mid-twenties only a few years ago.
Ireland go into the qualifier for Tokyo 2020 that they are hosting as top seeds after their World Cup heroics catapulted them to eighth on the global list.
Megan Frazer, one of six Ulster women in the World Cup squad, is confident that Ireland can make it into the final stage of qualifying which will be a two-legged home tie late next year.
Korea, Scotland, Czech Republic, Malaysia, France and Ukraine, along with one other nation still to be decided will provide the opposition with the top two finishers to progress.
Frazer said: “From when I was playing under-age hockey, competing at the Olympics was always my dream and, hopefully, we can make it through to the final stage.
“It will be great to have the home crowd behind us and I am sure people will turn out in huge numbers just like they did at the World Cup.
“Having missed out on the last Olympics after losing on penalties to China three years ago remains a painful memory but getting the silver medals in London made up for it to a large degree.”
The 27-year-old midfielder is approaching full fitness again after a hamstring injury ruled her out of the World Cup final.
Before that she suffered a serious knee injury in a training accident with German club Mannheimer HC which required surgery two years ago.
She added: “I am making good progress after tearing the hamstring although I am not 100% just yet and am still doing re-hab exercises.”
“However, I managed to play 10 out of 14 games with Mannheimer before the indoor break in Germany and I managed to score two goals from centre-back so that was pleasing.”
Frazer is currently playing for Ulster Elks for the winter, the club with whom she won two Irish Senior Cup medals before moving to Germany two seasons ago.
She added: “The Elks have been doing well after losing our opening game and there is a great team spirit around the place so I am enjoying being back home before I return to Germany in March.”
The Hook
Knowles Nominated For ABC Sport Personality Of The Year
Ben Somerford.jpg)
Kookaburras legend Mark Knowles has been nominated for the ABC Sport Personality of the Year as part of the annual AIS Sport Performance Awards.
Great athletes and sporting moments inspire Australians, so now the public is being given the chance to vote for their favourites as part of the AIS Sport Performance Awards.
The AIS, in partnership with ABC Grandstand, has launched a public vote to determine the ABC Sport Personality of the Year and Best Sporting Moment of the past 12 months.
Knowles enjoyed a remarkable year, helping the Kookaburras re-claim their world number one status in December with their World League Final triumph.
Early in the year, the 34-year-old announced he would retire following the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he skippered the Kookaburras to their sixth straight gold medal.
Rockhampton-born Knowles was also recognised as the Australian Team Flag Bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in his home state too, where he memorably dropped back into the pack to allow others to lead.
The winners will be announced as part of the AIS Sport Performance Awards to be held at The Star, Sydney, on Thursday 13 December 2018.
ABC Grandstand is the media partner for the AIS Sport Performance Awards and Australians will be able to vote at aisawards.abc.net.au from now until 5pm AEDT on 9 December, 2018.
The AIS Sport Performance Awards are an annual celebration of Australian high performance sport, with an AIS judging panel to determine the finalists and winners across a number of categories: male athlete; female athlete; emerging athlete; Para-performance; coach; leader; team; and high performance program.
AIS Director Peter Conde said: “Australia’s sporting diversity is something that we treasure as a nation and is reflected in the broad range of nominees for the public choice awards. We encourage the Australian public to vote online and help choose from some of the best athletes and sporting performances in the past 12 months.”
Hockey Australia media release
Dylan Alcott (Tennis)
Liz Cambage (Basketball)
Cate Campbell (Swimming)
Kurt Fearnley (Athletics)
Jessica Fox (Canoeing)
Billy Slater (Rugby League)
Steph Gilmore (Surfing)
Sam Kerr (Football)
Mark Knowles (Hockey)
Craig Lowndes (Motorsport)
Ash Barty (Tennis)
Tom Mitchell (AFL)
Ellyse Perry (Cricket)
David Pocock (Rugby)
Ben Simmons (Basketball)
Hockey Australia media release
U SPORTS Announces Canadian University Field Hockey Awards
Photo courtesy of USPORTS.CA
The university field hockey season wrapped up last weekend with UVic defeating York in two consecutive games to claim the McCrae Cup. Field Hockey Canada is proud to recognize those individuals who received U SPORTS awards for excellence in play, sportsmanship and contribution to the community.
First Team All-Canadians
Sara Goodman – UBC
Katherine MacMillan – Guelph
Anna Mollenhauer – UVic
Rebecca Plouffe – Guelph
Rachel Spouge – University of Toronto
Jaslan Stirling – York University
Ingrid Ulrich – University of Calgary
Sara Vollmerhausen – York University
Emily Wong UVic
Sabrina Wong – University of Calgary
Emily Ziraldo University of Toronto
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (JOYCE SLIPP AWARD)
Anso Hannes – UVic
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTOR (GAIL WILSON AWARD)
Katherine MacMillan – Guelph
PLAYER OF THE YEAR (LIZ HOFFMAN AWARD)
Anna Mollenhauer – UVic
COACH OF THE YEAR (MARINA VAN DER MERWE AWARD)
Cassius Mendonca University of Toronto
UMPIRE OF THE YEAR
Denise Pelletier – OUA
Field Hockey Canada media release
Don't Mind the Rankings, NCAA Tournament Time is Here
Don’t Mind the Ranking. NCAA play is here!
It doesn’t matter if you're expected to win or are the underdog. It doesn’t matter that you won the regular season match-up or if you have the better goals per game percentage. And it definitely doesn’t matter where you sit in the national ranking. At the end of the day, numbers don't win games...you and your teammates on the pitch do. Wherever your squad sits heading into the NCAA Division I, II and III tournament play, the rankings have only set the table. Whoever is left standing is entirely up to you, your team's mentality and the grit to win.
That is what makes postseason exhilarating. The second the whistle blows it is anyone’s match for the taking. Like other college sports, a No. 12 seed could upset an undefeated team, ultimately ending their season. A top seed can keep the momentum running and meet and equally determined squad, setting the stage for a match for the ages. Which ever side of the fence you fall on, this is your time.
Now is the time to show what your team culture has meant all year long. Are you destined for a Cinderella story? Are you riding a dominant season all the way to the end? Are you the underdog quietly waiting to strike and turn heads? Get ready to write one last chapter to the season, one that sports enthusiasts want to read.
USFHA media release