2023 Season Round Up

Looking back so proud of what has been a great season for the D3 Yellow bees, totalling up with 11 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses and a well deserved spot playing in the Grand Final to end it off! I have to give so much credit to this great bunch for taking me in this season being a person they had never met and a fairly inexperienced coach. I really appreciate the patience they have had and I’ve had such a great time getting to know each player. This team has improved so much this season from start to end, in all aspects of hockey. I’m so proud of how the group has taken on new learnings and been so dedicated to improving, it is a coach's dream to have that kind of attitude in the players.

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This year's side included half the team being under the age of 18, which means there is plenty of young, exciting talent coming through for ABC to keep an eye out for in the future. Have to give a big shout out to these girls as playing club hockey on top of school and being new to the level can be challenging, but they have all been so committed to the side and it's been great to support you all in your development.

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Also can’t forget about the other half of the team, which includes a mixture of experience and new hockey players but regardless all have been the backbone for us all season long, bringing such great energy and morale. It's important to have good role models in any team, but especially for a side of such varied age and ability I don’t think without such a great group of ladies this team could have been as successful and enjoyable to be a part of as it was.

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Next is a massive thank you to our wonderful manager Falan, you have made my role coaching so simple, taking on all duties and being so super organised while also being a great captain for this team at the same time! Also have to give a shout out to Karen for helping out myself and the team on the multiple occasions I have called on her to either take training or help the team out on game day, the club is lucky to have you!

Finally, I’d just like to shout out the D3 Black side and their coaches Erin and Suz. It’s been so great training alongside you and it's amazing to see players from both teams support each other on the sideline, at training and giving a helping hand when teams have been short on game day. Also, to everyone in the club who has got behind this side and watched us at all during the season. As a first-time club coach and only a recent addition to ABC, I have been blown away by the culture of this club and the value it has for all of its teams and players.

Looking forward to 2024!

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Paige Blake

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2022 Season Round Up

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The excitement to the start of the new season (fingers crossed - full season) was palatable and the ABC bees were definitely buzzing! Yellow looked a little different this year, starting with a new coach and 7 new players (4 of those players only 13 years old!)  A real family affair for this team with mother/daughter duo Crofty and Crofty junior. Daughters of current players (Wessels and Bonneywell), sister and cousin to current players (Sinclair and Tunnicliffe), mother to current player (Franzoso), plus another mother daughter duo, both in D3 (Koen). 

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New to ABC Winter from our ABC Youth teams were Mianke Koen, Kate Wessels, Peyton Sass, Alicia Tuck and Sophia Boyle. New to ABC hockey are Sam Sinclair and Anika Tunnicliffe. Adding invaluable experience for our newbies includes Sulette Franzoso, Falan Coley, Cat Horgan, Kerry-Lee Grace, Summer Bonneywell, Kate Robertson and Hannah Brotherton.

We set some team goals at the start of the season, mindful this was a new and very young team. That included finishing top 4 and a place in the Grand Finals. Opening weekend and the team came out swinging and secured the first win against 2021 top of the table winners NSU Red! The team grew from strength to strength, and secured 11 wins (8 with bonus points), 2 draws and 3 losses! Ticking off the first of our goals, securing not just a top 4 finish but ending the season top 2 with only 10 goals against us. Testament to the incredible defensive line this team has!

Midfield and strikers collaboration and trust became more and more evident as the season went on. The combination between youth and experience was a pleasure to watch and be a part of. The growth in every individual player from the start of the season to the last game was monumental. Our super striker Sam Sinclair almost took home the Golden Stick with a whopping 14 goals this season!

I often say it takes a village and I believe we have one of the best. I would like to thank John Bonneywell for his consistent encouragement, advice, commitment and experience every Monday at training and Sundays (when he wasn’t playing himself)! Also a big thank you to Ollie Peterson and Alice Cheesman who would often step in to help manage and coach when I was playing. Your knowledge and passion are a fantastic asset to our team and we are very grateful.

To Falan, our manager aka the calm to my chaos, thank you for always having everything ready and under control. You have been a pillar this year and your efforts are greatly appreciated. Senior leaders and co-captains Sulette and Cat, you are the picture of grace and confidence on the field. Injecting drive and stability at the right times! You are the heartbeat of this team!

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To the players of D3 Yellow, this year has been an absolute privilege to coach! The commitment from each of you has been phenomenal and that commitment and hard work is evident in the seasons results! Outstanding effort to tick off another goal which was playing in Grand Finals, results didn’t go our way but your performance, sportsmanship, grace and never give up attitude is something to be commended and celebrated!

Bring on 2023!

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2020 Season Round Up

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It was with high excitement and a lot of trepidation that we made the big decision to enter another women’s team this season.  Numbers at trials meant we had too many players for our current teams but not really enough for the 6th team but we took the plunge and decided to go for it in the hope that with a team, players would come.  And come they did, a post on Facebook generated a lot of interest and all of a sudden, numbers were looking very good.

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With a season approaching fast we only had two trainings, which not everyone could make it to, before Opening Festival and the start of the season so it was a case of introduce yourself and get out there and play!  Unfortunately for one of our keenest new players opening festival was her first and last games for ABC out with a knee injury (surgery needed) we look forward to having you back next season Gina…

Then Katelin moved to Hamilton and Game 3 also saw us lose Lauren to a fracture when she stepped and twisted her ankle and all of a sudden, numbers weren’t so good anymore. Luckily, we managed to find two more players and with Lisa, Ngaio, Shannon and Ri from D2 filling in we always managed to have enough.

The season was all about learning or remembering how to play hockey. Jess, Mikayla and Micaela had never played before so a steep learning curve from how to hold the hockey stick and hit a ball to Jess and Mika both having their best games in the last few weeks including a stunner top right corner goal to Jess in a must win game. (Ok it did take a deflection but it sure looked impressive!!)

Our goalkeeper Simonne pulled off some great saves and our defence was strong with Caitlin, Catherine, and Azaria all proving hard for the opposition to get past.  Jen, Laura, Matilda and Nat were strong in the midfield and our strikers Saij and Patricia were always there in the right place to get those shots away. 

One player left to mention and that was Marion who came to us a little late and who should really have been in a higher grade but she was willing to fit in where we needed her.  She played every position at one time or another and her experience and guidance were invaluable to the whole team.

With the Covid interruption and in a grade with 11 teams we only played 7 championship matches and ended up 8th equal. I am certain in a full season we would have climbed a little further up the table as we were improving every week.  That 8th equal turned into a blessing in disguise because on countback we were ranked 9th so got to play out the last four games in Season Take #2 and come away with four wins and the Bowl Trophy for D3 Women 2020.

Thank you ladies for a fun season where I remembered how much fun it is to play hockey and make new friends.