Afternoon all.

We haven’t had an update for a while, so firstly well done to all junior teams who participated through the year – great turn outs in all age groups – and also congratulations to the teams that ultimately won the 2019 HB Grand Finals.

Thank you to all the coaches, parents, junior committee members, the HB committee members and mostly, all the junior players who all put in many hours to get us to this stage.

Before I get onto 2020, a big thank you also to Peter Roberts, Hayley Roberts, and Brenden Barber who have organised and run the junior Summer social hockey over the last few weeks. Brenden especially is developing his own umpiring mannerisms which keep the whole crowd entertained, even in pouring rain.

Dates for 2020

Hockey Ballarat Winter Competition

The 2020 season hasn’t been officially announced yet, but it is usually the first weekend after the first school holidays – so it will probably be Saturday 18th April 2020. Wait for an update from your clubs to confirm pre-season training.

Westvic

In addition to your clubs – EGC, Blaze and Bobcats – there is a representative team that plays on Friday nights, in the Melbourne junior leagues. This team is called Westvic, and in 2019 had teams in U14 Mixed, U16 Boys, and U16 Girls competitions. Trials for these teams usually occur early in the new year. For information please visit their website : westvichockey.org.au.

Junior Country Championships (JCC)

Following on from our great performances this year, the Junior Country Championship (JCC) dates and venues have been announced by Hockey Victoria for 2020.

Generally held on the 3rd Weekend of May every year, this competition showcases the skills of all the different regions around Victoria. Held at a number of hockey venues in Melbourne, it brings together all the country regions to play off against each other to be crowned the Country champions. Despite the trip to Melbourne being relatively short, we still like to book central accommodation, take a team bus, and have a group dinner with parents, juniors, and coaches on the Saturday night. It becomes a really social weekend, where everyone is able to have fun, play hockey and enjoy the company of others.

JCC next year is on the Weekend of the 16/17 May 2020. There will be no HB scheduled events that weekend, so all juniors are welcome to nominate themselves for a team.

JCC has 3 ages groups, and separate Male/Female junior teams – U13, U15 and U18.

Players will represent Hockey Ballarat in this competition.

Looking at the numbers, there is no reason we can’t have teams in EVERY age group, training together in February and March on a weekend.

We have booked the pitch on the following dates, between 9-12noon (U13 at 9-10am, U15 at 10-11am, and U18 at 11-12 noon):

Sunday 16th February

Sunday 1st March

Sunday 15th March

Sunday 29th March

To achieve this, we need to have coaches willing to help out for perhaps 3 or 4 sessions x 1 hours per month for February, March, April and May sometime over a weekend.

More information will come out in January on the coaches and managers for JCC.

Junior State Championships (JSC)

The other big championship that occurs outside of our HB season is the Junior State Championship (JSC).

These dates and venues have also been announced by HV for 2020.

JSC is on 2-5th July 2020. Due to the renovations at the State Netball & Hockey Centre the Boys championships will be in Shepparton this year, whist the Girls championships will be in Bendigo.

Players will represent the South West Region (Ballarat, Warrnambool, Portland, Hamilton, Glenelg, Ararat), and play for the South West Eagles.

The South West Eagles teams are in the same age and gender categories as JCC – separate male/female U13, U15 and U18.

Registration to apply for trials usually occurs in February and March, with teams chosen in March or April. Then, 4 training sessions are held either in Ballarat, Hamilton or Warrnambool.

This is a great way again, to form friendships, play hockey against the best juniors in Victoria, and have fun.

More information on JSC is available either through Hockeyvictoria.org.au, or the South West Eagles Facebook page www.facebook.com/SouthWestCountryEagles

Thanks
Paul Jones
Hockey Ballarat Junior Committee member