Australia wins Gold - IIHF Championships Div II Grade A

For the past week, I have been engulfed in all things Ice Hockey. With the development of the Medibank Icehouse here in Docklands, Melbourne has come by some wonderful opportunities with traditional winter sports. Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) games are played throughout the season April -  Sept, with the 2010 Finals being hosted right here in Melbourne, and the future development and growth of Ice Hockey has never looked better.

Another great opportunity was to host the World Championships Div II Grade A, with Australia (the host country) and who narrowly missed out on Gold in 2010 in Mexico favourites to go one better in 2011. I was lucky enough to volunteer and be part of a new and exciting chapter in the sporting landscape that is Melbourne.

Unfortunately, DPR Korea pulled out at the last minute and the competition was reduced to 5 teams (Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, Belgium and Mexico), however the organisers handled this exceptionally well and the World Champs were under way. . Watching the 5 countries competing for Gold and with it, a move up to Division I was exciting and to be a smaill part of it a great honour.

The competition, played in a Round Robin format, saw the results come right down to the last game, with NZ, Serbia and Australia's medal chances all relying on the results of the last game of the tournament; Sunday night between Australia and Serbia (relegated from Div I )

Australia took out the last game 4-2 and won their way to a Gold Medal and Division I.

 

Medals:

Gold - Australia

Silver - New Zealand

Bronze - Serbia

                                      

As a proud Australian, it was a priviledge to watch the boys fight with everything they had and to be the only team undefeated in the tournament.

As an Ice Hockey fan, it was exciting to watch some of the best duke it out and show us what Ice Hockey is all about.

Congratulations to the Aussie boys.....

 Below are the End of Competition Standing
IHF Div II Grade A Statistics

REBELS: The Best and the Worst!

I was at AAMI Park when the Rebels almost ended the Sharks winning streak and did what no other team had done up until that point, scoring 4 tries against the Sharks. The Rebels earned 2 Bonus Points that night and it was some of the most exciting Rugby I had seen in a while! My throat was hoarse from screaming and I was up on my feet hoping for that one last try in the last 2 minutes of the game.


Even with a loss, the crowd were 100% behind the boys and we knew they had given it their all. Of course there were mistakes and missed opportunities but I have yet to see a perfect game of Rugby and you just hope that enough is done to get a win.


The crowd left AAMI Park jubilant in seeing their team almost take down the competition leaders and undoubtably the most in form team in 2011 so far.


Beset by injuries, most recently to both Lipman and Gerrard during the Sharks match, the depth of the Rebels squad was always going to be tested and be a contributing factor on how well we would do against the Reds.

Watching on Friday Night was heartbreaking. It was difficult to view and coming off such a great game the previous week disappointing. 

There were massive errors made and I felt like I watching an entirely different team. And really I was!
We knew Lipman was going to be missed and would be difficult to replace, he has been exceptional in the 3 previous games but I had strong reservations about the coaches decision to juggle the backline with 4 changes rather than simply replacing (as best we could) Gerrard at Fullback.

There is a lot of experience with the backs in the Rebels but the reality is they have barely had a chance to gel and create the instinctive combinations and plays that come with being together for years. Over the past 3 weeks, you could see a vast improvement in their decision making and a developing trust in each other. This took a giant step back with the move of so many players from the positions they were starting to become accustomed to new areas.

It could have worked mid to end of season, or more probably next season; we definitely need to have versatile players who can move in and out of a number of positions so that we can cover injuries (Every teams worse nightmare) but also provide opportunities to develop our players in reserve for growth and improvement. But we're not there yet.

Having now been to 3 Home games and watched 2 televised Away games (2 heart in throat great games, 2 very disappointing heartbreaking games and 1 game that could have been better, but wasn't that bad), I really believe that the Rebels rather than being a crappy team that fluked a couple of good games are a GREAT team in the making, who have played a couple of bad games and who if in the next 4 months work hard, iron out some of their key issues (line out and ball handling) and capitalise on their opportunities will cause some major upsets. 

I'm sure, the 2011 season is going to continue to be some of the best and worse Rugby that I'll see (I'm hoping more best than worse) but I am without  doubt positive that with time and patience, I am seeing a team that will grow into one of the BEST teams Australia and Super Rugby has to offer.

REBELS finally here!!

The sight that brought tears to my eyes, literally.

I, like so many Rugby fans here in Victoria have been eagerly awaiting the start of the 2011 Super 15 Season. Seeing the Rebels take on Tonga @ Olympic Park and Fiji in Ballarat, I couldn't wait for my inaugural trip to AAMI Park.

Entering the stadium for the very first time, I could feel my excitement growing. I looked around at such varying fans of the latest code to join our great city and in that moment the realization that they would be my comrades in the season ahead filled me with pride and anticipation.
We would cheer together, celebrate together and hopefully not too often cry together.  

I sat down in my seat only a short distance away from where my regular season seats would be and watched as the boys warmed up. Looking across the field, I recognized quite a few players and was pleasantly surprised at just how familiar I had become with the boys and their positions.

Then and there I knew I was well and truly crazy about my team…

This culminated for me, when after warming up, the boys jogged back as one to the dressing room. I looked out and as tears welled up in my eyes, all I could think was…aaaahh there they are!

And they didn't disappoint. Now, I’m not the most proficient analyst of the technicalities of the game and to be honest there was a fair bit I missed simply because I was too excited to even remotely be analytical about it all.

I will say that although there were lots that I’m sure the coaches will take away with them to review and improve, I was happy. The players showed amazing grit and composure and I really believe they represented themselves as a team who will give it their all …for themselves, each other, the coaches, the club and the supporters.

The Rebels are here and they’re here to stay, AS AM I…..

Please check out my photos from 3 of the Preseason games (link below)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=313217&id=725743161&l=2916f5db61

WELCOME

Welcome to my new blog all about Sports, from a girls point of view.

The idea started when I looked around at all the women I knew who were all sports lovers and the lack of a forum to discuss what was going on, both on the field and off from a females point of view.

We'll also have other female bloggers writing about what they love and hopefully we'll get a great forum covering all the different sports out there. (FYI - my 3 big sports that I love are Rugby Union, Ice Hockey and Basketball).

Some will be actively involved in the sporting world (players, trainers etc) while some will be like me (a very vocal viewer - with little actual sporting skill personally) - please don't hold it against me.

Guys - we're definitely not trying to exclude you, so please feel free to leave comments on anything that interests you.

Look forward to hearing from you all and enjoying all thats on offer in 2011.