02.11.2015 – As we move into a new month it’s so fantastic for the EHF to see all the wonderful hockey events going on all over Europe! We are really happy to bring you some inspirational motivational stories for some more Nations and Clubs this week.
Before we highlight our own Clubs and Nations, we would like to congratulate the South African Men’s and Women’s teams who have successfully won the African Cup last weekend. Men’s Coach Fabian Gregory, visibly emotional said “Oh man, I am very emotional and so, so very happy for these boys. They have put so much into it. Whatever happens happens, but we are continental champions.” We know in Europe the joy and pride that our European Champions experienced in London this summer, so we share Fabin’s pride in South African hockey players.
In other news! New Zealand retained the World Rugby Cup, pictured below is Kiwi Captain Richie Mc Kaw and his Black Sticks partner Gemma Flynn. Mc Kaw had some real words of wisdom to share with all team players ” No person is bigger than the team. Your job is just to enhance the legacy. It’s not about being a hero. It’s about serving the team” Well worth considering…
Hockey Wales:
Meanwhile in Wales they have just finished celebrating #Hocktober!
#Hocktober was a national campaign run by Hockey Wales throughout October that aims to grow the hockey family and improve access to quality hockey opportunities for all. The aim was to open the door for more people to get into hockey and make it a more inclusive sport through activities ranging from coaching to umpiring, volunteering, officiating and everything inbetween.
Speaking at the Welsh National Awards David Phenis, Interim CEO of Hockey Wales commented:
“On any journey it’s important to take stock and to look back at where you’ve come from. As it was #Hocktober, we thought we would take the chance to reflect and show our members the many positives already achieved on our journey towards Vision2020.”
For the final day of #Hocktober, Hockey Wales revealed an informative visual representation of the strides hockey has made in Wales over the past year.
The infographic released on 31st October, contains insightful facts and figures from a number of areas such as participation, umpiring, social media, new initiatives and promising new partnerships forged in 2014-2015.
Fantastic work is being done by Hockey Wales and we applaud them and wish them well over the coming year! If the stats below don’t motivate you to keep going, we don’t know what will!
Dansk Hockey:
Last weekend was the turn of the Under 18 boys to showcase their hockey with Sydbank Cup in which Slagelse 9pictured below0 took bronze after a shoot out where their GK a Anton Birch-Hald saved all 3 efforts!
Russian Hockey:
The Russian League is in it’s final weeks before the Winter Break and Dinamo Elektrostal had a good solid win over St.Petersburg 3-1 to take the 3 points on offer. The players are understandably happy with the win! and looking forward now to the Indoor Championships as the temperatures start to drop! The journey from Ekaterinbug to St Petersbug is a mere 2,221 km for those of you struggling with any of your shortish trips to your games! The players are featured in our main photograph! Well done guys…