Dunedin Ice Hockey Association

July 2013 Newsletter

From the President

As the hockey season hits the business end of the season, everything keeps on getting more exciting. Our Southern U13s and Southern Women teams, both with good Dunedin representation, head to Queenstown in mid-August to compete at nationals. Our Southern U16s have begun their defence of the NZJEL title with two solid wins over Canterbury here in Dunedin the other weekend. Dunedin Thunder are having their best ever season, and currently sit at the top of the table, four points clear of the chasing pack. This weekend they head up to Auckland to take on the Botany Swarm, hoping to kick well clear with some more victories. You should find one of their games livestreamed on nzihl.tv, so keep on supporting the team.

Also coming up soon we have the latest development in NZ ice hockey – a U20 National League based upon the NZJEL for U16s. Running from late September until mid-December, the league involves five weekends of hockey, and is open to male players (females may only play as goaltenders) born in 1998 – 1994. This will replace the traditional U19 nationals weekend, and be a further development of our players who are coming out of U16s but not able to make a national league team. Further information will be available soon.

Things are busy locally with the Winter DIHL well underway, high schools league halfway through, and practices in full steam. Stay in contact with your managers and coaches about any issues you are having, and drop me a line if you want to raise anything – president@dunedinicehockey.hellyer.kiwi.

 

July School Holiday Programme

Sadly this programme is running the risk of not being viable for the club to run – numbers are low. If anyone hasn’t made contact with Janos about registering to attend, please do so immediately. The club will be deciding this Thursday whether to cancel. More information from Janos, janos@dunedinicehockey.hellyer.kiwi.

 

National Team Selections

The NZIHF has released some information about national team selections, which players need to register for. At present there are forms up there for U18 and U20 teams, please visit the SIHL site which has all the information you require: www.dunedinicehockey.hellyer.kiwi/sihl/. The club has a proud record of having our young players perform at the highest level for New Zealand, and we look forward to seeing even more in the coming year.

 

Erewhon Cup

This year Erewhon Cup is being hosted by Tekapo, 2-4 August. This traditional ice hockey tournament is always played with the best spirit, and is very popular, so teams should register quickly. Information and registration forms are available at: www.dunedinicehockey.hellyer.kiwi/sihl/.

 

Swedish Coaches Visit

During April the club was lucky to host three professional Swedish coaches while Janos was overseas. The coaches offered a week long players camp to over 40 youth players from Canterbury, Dunedin and Southern, and a weekend coaching course to several coaches. We hope to see them back again next year at the same time.

 

National Team News

Lots of club members have seen action over the past six months with our national teams. Rick Parry, Cameron Frear, Paris Heyd, Regan Wilson and Janos Kaszala narrowly lost out to a talented Israeli team picking up silver in Turkey in Div IIB. Ex-Dunedinites Zanzee Pielak-Jones and Steph Patchett joined Megan Gilchrist and Sophia Leon de la Barra in Auckland in Div IIA where they recorded their first World Champs win over Australia. Tristan Darling and Ben Roth picked up a bronze medal at the U20s Div III in Bulgaria. And Jacob Hurring, Ben Roth and Joe Orr won a silver medal in Div IIIA in Chinese Taipei.

 

Fundraising

A couple of parents have volunteered to step forward and help the club raise funds to keep our operations growing. Lots of you have been selling chips to this end, and a skateathon will be run soon. Please keep in touch with your manager for details. The clubs welcomes further volunteers to help raise funds – speak to Andrea Kaszala if you want to help.