A Brilliant Day of B2H 7s Gameplay

Team WHITES: Alex Drury (GK), Roger Hitch, Apurva Anand, Morven Adams, Daman Chugh, Kit Yunes, Ondrej Hrubesh
Goals – 3

Team DARKS: Stuart Swindell (GK), Phoebe Wilkins, Rex Cham, Richard Wood, Simon Boote, Ivette Isai, Simmie Stone
Goals - 2

Usually, on getting home after the game, I prepare for the rest of the day then decide how to fill it. Today, upon arriving home, I was greeted by nature that was slowly turning my lawn into safari grass and the battle between ‘man and mother nature’ was surely turning in nature’s favour as the weeds gave a green blanket look over the bare earth sections where my previous work had given me so much pride! Being thoroughly put off at the sight, it was clear that gardening at the weekend, the normal pastime of a country English gentleman, was not going to happen today. I therefore decided to climb past the pile of a dog basket (complete with dog), electronic storage boxes, Grandfather’s fish shop advertising posters (he died in 1972!) and a pile of B2H team printouts, and find my desk where I started to write this report, something I do not ever do for a Saturday GP session.

If you have every read my past reports (and apart from Ivett who swears blind that she reads every one and how sweet is that, I doubt if many others do) then you will know that I try to mention everyone who takes part in our games. Well, this time I am going to leave out all those players who migrated from last season to this, and write solely about our wonderful New-to-Hockey members, who from today’s performance really do deserve a mention. Actually, some of them have played before so it should really ready New-to-‘Back-to-Hockey’ members.

NEW-TO-‘BACK-TO-HOCKEY’ MEMBERS

I shall start in age ascending order where Morven takes poll position. Morven gets my “Player of the Game” award for laying down a performance where a very high level of passes she made went directly to a player on her team. The passes were well timed and the weight of them was just right. She covered a lot of ground when attacking and was always found in space. For a player who has played little before and was often found ‘on the bench’ (according to her own report), I just wonder what her previous team selector was up to, way up north in Dundee. Here at B2H I think we have found a ‘little wonder’. Maybe the way we operate has found the spark inside that is going to light up as a beacon. As a coach, I always have a tip to give and for Morven it is, “don’t hide”.

Next, and actually equal in age with Morven, we have Phoebe who (she tells me) has been a Surbiton HC Junior in her younger years. Watching her play today you can see that she has retained the Base Technical Level skills that enabled her to identify when a pass is on. Not only is her competent slapping skill going to dramatically improve with more game play, she is going to eventually emulate the fantastic defensive performance that we saw in Victoria Barlow (WSL24) last Summer, who has now progressed to the Women’s Sirens league team. Phoebe, like Victoria, was today able to split the opposing midfield right down the middle with very well-placed passes, turning a defensive position straight into an up-field attack. Her confidence is growing and before too long she will be the solid fender that I can see lurking behind in the shadows. My tip for Phoebe is to keep the ball a little bit further away from your feet.

We now cross the fence to the men’s side where we meet Rex. Rex is over from his native Hong Kong and informed me today that he played as a professional soccer player over there. This would explain his explosive move up the field when the path is clear. With a low tackle position, he showed that he can be a solid defender and has the talent on which to build the skills of an attacking defender, something that can often turn defensive pressure into an attacking opportunity. We see this in Hugh Wilkinson (MSL24 team) and to have another with this foresight puts B2H in a good position for future games. Well done Rex for yet more improvement since joining as you settle into the ways of B2H game play. My tip for Rex is keep holding the stick as suggested. You did this well today and for me, it seemed to make things a bit easier for you. Everything comes with practice.

Now to Simmie, a bundle of joy with an abundance of questions while in the process of learning a new sport amongst the plethora of others he has mastered already (too many to list here!). I have always said, “If you don’t know, then ask” so keep ‘em coming. Having only picked up a hockey stick twice before today, and with his extensive sporting history and desire to be the best, it is not surprising that he already has a good command of the stick and made a very good job of playing the part of centre forward. Taking on the advice that I gave him before we started in that a CF’s job is really to provide the assist to a goal by drawing a defender away and passing to the scorer, he did this with perfection today and despite this, even scored a goal himself. Well done Simmie and my tip for you is keep calm, as this will give you more time. It may sound obvious, but you often have more time than you think you do.

To Alex who comes next, great to have you on board and now with your new-to-you kit you are off and running (well not quite literally of course). Time is what you need to ‘come up to steam’ of the past you had no doubt reached and I must arrange for you to attend the GK training sessions at the club (subject to your availability of course). Thanks for making the trip all the way from your home and back and I will see if anyone lives locally to you, just for reference. I don’t recall much of your play (unfortunately this is usual for GKs sometimes) so my tip is simply, “The more you practice the better you will become”. Rather corny I know, but the best I can come up with.

So to Simon – in his Saturday GP debut he showed that the skills developed over the years are still very much to the fore. He commanded the centre of the pitch for his team and his knowledge of game play was obvious to all with interceptions at a stretch, both strong and reverse sides, together with the ability to see passes and make good use of the players around him. It is not so easy to identify areas of development for seasoned players like Simon, but I can see that he may very well become a staple member of the various sides B2H puts out. However, availability for players with young families can sometimes be a bit hit and miss. Great to have you as part of our Saturday GP. My tip for Simon is… hmmm – I’m not sure but let’s say, “Flowers for the missus to get more time off for GP, maybe!”

Last but not least, the older you get the better you should be. This is true for Stuart who has returned from past GK duties elsewhere to take on the task again for us and provide competition for Alex in the opposing goal. After quite a few years off the pitch, Stuart has shown that agility, determination and a desire to compete for the ultimate skill set, against his own son in our Junior section, is a challenge in itself. Surprisingly (in fact not) a GK has to be as fit as the rest of the team in order to be able to dive here and there, jump up and down, fling themselves to the floor and get up again, stretch to the extremes of the goal area and probably more than I can realise here. Today Stuart showed his capability in these actions and we are very grateful that he is with us to make our games problematic for the attackers. Today’s tip for Stuart is that fitness will come with determination and practice.

UMPIRES

We have to thank our last season’s committee member and tournament organiser, Josh Blair (who has now moved up to the leagues), for agreeing to umpire the game rather than just watch, and Giles Reynolds who often controls our games. Today’s game was the best we have had this season and this is in part down to the fact that we had two umpires who took the time to explain to the players what they based their decision on. We are grateful for your attendance.

LUNCH

Here at Surbiton, we are fortunate in having professional chefs who provide us with top class varied meals for all the club’s matches throughout the season. We thank chef Hugh and his team for providing us with a great lunch again.

B2H PICTURES / REPORTS ARCHIVE

Do not forget that pictures and reports are all on the archive photo site here

Thank you to everyone who took part today.