SNOW x HEAT

As we’ve heard from Paul Maas in his blog, Snow is falling in Holland and the cold has spread across Europe. You can’t play hockey outside or theoretically anything else. This seems to have been challenged by www.hockey.nl reporter Ties Aben who sent us this photo of a snowman still bent on outdoor activities.

On a completely different side of the world, the heat is hitting the Southern Island of Australia. The skies are clear, roads are red and dust is everywhere. Summer hockey competitions are in full swing and the Gryphon crew are meeting down at the beach for a quiet drink.

MAARTENS x CURRENT SITUATION

Back,

As the winter-break has really started now my training schedule is basically weights, cardio and weights. Going to the gym three to four times a week is totally different than being on the field. However the progress you make in the gym is much more measurable than the progress on the field. From week to week you can see yourself becoming stronger (weights) and fitter (cardio/heartrate when for instance being on a spinning bike).Watching tv during training is another plus of being in the Gym, the risk of getting injured is low and in this time of the year it definitely warmer inside than outside with temperatures dropping below 0 degrees celcius outside.

On a different note, I am about to take my exam in sustainable development (in exactly 2 hours) and cant be bothered to study any longer. In a sense sustainable development is related to hockey. In the course we learn how organic ways of producing food causes food to be more nutritious and how we can be part of our environment without spoiling it for future generations. Related to the food and being an “athlete” you might want to consider eating organic food to get as much nutrients into your body and as less pesticides hormones and other non-natural substances so that your body can preform at its best. In general a good diet is important for a good performance.

About us living being part of the  environment as hockey players, a very interesting subject is the watering of hockey fields, the interest here is in twofold. First of all, you might wonder what kind of water is used to water your fields, is it drinking water? Is it water from a nearby river? Is it groundwater? The question that can be raised is than: Is it morally responsible to use drinking water for hockey-fields? And does the water from the river contains dangerous substances that you don’t want to get on your body when playing hockey…..these questions are very personal and I guess that every club-manager makes its own cost-benefit analysis for these questions. The second interesting part of the watering of hockey fields is the amount of water used daily at hockey clubs, I have no idea how much water is used and what kind of water is used but it is definitely a LOT. Sometimes it might be a good thing to consider whether a field actually needs watering or not, in the Netherlands many teams water their fields before training and matches, in some cases this is more like a routine rather than a necessity. A good example would be the youngest youth….does it really matter for them if they play on a wet field or a dry one? Whether it does matter is of course up to the individual but at least think about this next time you consider watering the field you are about to play on.

Finally one interesting article I came across during this course…..check the following link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/opinion/09scholz.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=frozen%20food&st=cse

Enjoy, hopefully till next time.

Groeten Thijs

FESTIVE WISHES x GRYPHON CREW

It’s that time of year when a lot of us stop and take a breath, have some time with the family or just simply eat ourselves silly (and then have to go and train it all off). Be it in the freezing cold of the Northern winter or the crazy heat of the Southern hemisphere summer, every one from the Gryphon Team (players and staff alike) wish you a great festive season.

For some of us at Gryphon HQ a few surfboards and golf clubs will be getting a tough workout.

MAAS x SNOW DOWN IN HOLLAND

While the political leaders of the world discussing the climate problem,  it snows in Holland. This time it is not an ‘one day snow storm’, in fact a big dump of fresh powder took over Holland. Unfortunately we don’t have mountains over here, otherwise it would be perfectly to ski. Next to a good view, ice skating and snowball fights the snow also give some problems. Today, the first round of the indoor competition was planned. Due to the snow and thus the unsafety of travelling, the whole round is cancelled. Also other sportevents and activities don’t take place. Traffic is impossible, trains doesn’t go and mornings paper arrived at noon. Holland is not prepared for this kind of extreme weather. A free weekend means for me that I can spend some time with the family and friends. Holland is down, but I like it.

JOLIE x DE MAAND VOORUIT

Beste Lezers,

Hierbij mijn eerste blog voor Gryphon. We zijn met het Nederlands Team weer een tijdje terug van de Champions Trophy in Melbourne waar we vierde zijn geworden met het Nederlands team.
Doordat we voor de Champions Trophy het erg druk hadden met de landelijke competitie hebben we ons niet voor kunnen bereiden op het toernooi. 22 november hadden we onze laatste competitiewedstrijd en 23 november zaten we in het vliegtuig naar Melbourne. Dit was natuurlijk een mooie uitdaging om alsnog een goed toernooi te spelen.

Ik zal hier niet alle wedstrijden gaan analyseren maar we hebben een goed toernooi gespeeld met helaas een teleurstellend resultaat. In het toernooi hebben we als team veel nieuwe dingen kunnen proberen, met nieuwe spelers en spelers op andere posities. Dit nemen we allemaal weer mee naar de voorbereiding richting het WK om daar optimaal te presenteren.

Ik heb de afgelopen anderhalve week heerlijk van mijn vakantie kunnen genieten. We zijn vanaf vandaag weer begonnen met het Nederlands Team met looptrainingen om vanaf 7 januari een mooie periode te beginnen richting het WK in India.

Ik wil iedereen fijne feestdagen wensen en tot in 2010.

Groetjes Wouter Jolie

2010 KOOKABURRA SQUAD ANNOUNCED

Today Ric Charlesworth and his coaching staff have announced the 2010 group of players to make up the Kookaburras squads. After their success this year and especially in the Champions Trophy all the players from that tournament retain spots in the senior squad. Of very interesting note is the inclusion of some very promising up and comers such Gryphon youngster Trent Mitton, showing Ric’s long term commitment to develop players for the future. Also in the developent squad are Gryphon players J. Charlesworth and M. Bates.

The senior squad sees the retention of Dancer, Hammond and Kavanagh from the CT09 team. After a surprise omission from that team, Kiel Brown keeps his spot in the senior list and Joel Carroll also flies the Gryphon flag in the top team coming back from injury. The road is now paved for an interesting year including the upcoming World Cup in Feb 2010.

Senior Squad 2010:

Des Abbott, George Bazeley, Graeme Begbie, Kiel Brown, Nathan Burgers, Matthew Butturini, Joel Carroll, Chris Ciriello, Brent Dancer, Liam de Young, Luke Doerner, Jamie Dwyer, Russell Ford, Matt Gohdes, David Guest, Rob Hammond, Fergus Kavanagh, Mark Knowles, Brent Livermore, Ross Meadows, Eddie Ockenden, Simon Orchard, Glenn Simpson, Grant Schubert, Matthew Swann, Glenn Turner, Jason Wilson

Development Squad 2010:

Michael Bates, Tim Bates, Ian Burcher, Jonathon Charlesworth, Tim Deavin, Kris Glass, Kieran Govers, Leon Hayward, Trent Mitton, Malcolm Kemp, Mark Paterson, Josh Pollard

MATT WELLS x QAS HEAD COACH

Gryphon Great Matt Wells was recently appointed to the Mens Hockey Head Coach position at the Queensland Academy of Sport. Part of this role will be coaching the formidable Queensland Blades in the Australian Hockey League in 2010. This is the very program that has produced so many of the current and former Australian Legends and Gryphon Ambassadors along side its associated Women’s program. Olympians of recent are Angie Lambert (nee Skirving), Teneal Attard, Wendy Beattie (nee Alcorn), Graham Reid, Niel Hawgood, Troy Elder, Rob Hammond.  There are many more Gryphon guns at the National Junior and AHL level and for those on the men’s side of the program the responsibility to develop these talented youngsters into the elite players of the future rest on the shoulders of one of the greatest fullbacks in World Hockey…Matt Wells.

Here is the article that probed his view of the new role courtesy of the QAS ACTION, their monthly newsletter.

Ten questions with Matt Wells

Matt Wells joined the Queensland Academy of Sport this year, not as an athlete but as the Head Coach of the Men’s Hockey Program; one of the Academy’s most successful sport programs. Matt is no stranger to the world of elite sport, having played well over 200 internationals for the Kookaburras, the Australian men’s hockey team.

Matt was a part of the team that won bronze at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, gold at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and another bronze at the Beijing Olympic Games as well as one silver medal at 2002 World Cup and two gold medals at Commonwealth Games.

After announcing his retirement from international competition following the Beijing Olympic Games, Matt followed by announcing his retirement from national competition as well. Here we ask Matt how he has transitioned from being “one of the boys” to being coach of some of the most elite athletes in Australian Men’s Hockey.

Matt, you had a successful career as an athlete in the sport of Hockey, how did it all start for you?

It all started back in Tassie where I grew up. My dad played local and for the State so I therefore lived and breathed Hockey.

Obviously winning gold in Athens would have been a highlight in your career. What was it like standing on that dais with your team mates as the first Australian men’s hockey team to achieve this milestone?

Still one of the hardest things to explain to someone. The most satisfying, exhilarating, emotional, and proud (all wrapped in one) moments you could ever go through in your sporting career. I’d nearly give up anything to do it all again.

You made the decision to retire from international competition following the Beijing Olympic Games, and then national competition, what brought on this decision?

Body was tired , both physically but more so mentally. I wanted to finish on a good note when I felt I was playing well and not get to the stage of playing for the wrong reasons and end up playing poorly and getting dropped……finish on my terms.

Had you always thought about becoming a coach once you had retired as an athlete?

It was something I wanted to do for sure but had planned it down the track a few years. Guess I’m lucky with the timing that the opportunity here presented itself.

What drew you to the position here at the Queensland Academy of Sport as Head Coach of the Men’s Hockey Team?

The opportunity to be involved in an elite program and have a senior coaching role with who I consider to be the second best (to the AIS) academy/institute in Australia.

What were your first few sessions like, seeing as you were now coaching some of your previous team mates?

I was quite nervous but figured coaching would be easy and come naturally but quickly realised how untrue that was. I now appreciate more what my coaches did for me when I was younger. The boys have been good and respected me as a coach on field and we can still be mates away from it as well.

The QAS Men’s Hockey program has had a strong and successful history with many athletes representing nationally and internationally. Do you or did you feel any pressure to continue this tradition, stepping into the role of Coach?

The challenge is there to keep producing results and athletes to go onto representing Australia which is part of the reason I really wanted this job. There is always going to be pressure regarding this on any coach but I think that is healthy and it helps create an environment that has goals and direction and one that I want to be part of.

As well as the senior players on the squad, you also have had several up and coming athletes inducted in 2009. How do you see the squad evolving over the next few years?

With so many of the senior guys now either in Perth (AIS) or retired, it is time for a change of the guard. The younger guys, some new and some who have been involved for a couple of years are learning more about leadership, culture, as well as expectations and requirements of an elite athlete which for most of this is away from the pitch. They are learning there is more to Hockey than just rocking up and playing which in turn will see them develop greatly as players but also as a person over the next 2 years.

What is the major focus of your squad at the moment?

Lots of personal development recently as time has permitted before we move into a phase of structures and patterns. Away from the field the boys have been on a gym program designed at having them conditioned ready for a big Australian Hockey League (AHL) AHL preparation in the new year. Also we have been trying to introduce new things to the guys like video sessions. I am also encouraging them to be in charge of creating the culture and ethos in which they want to be seen.

Finally, do you miss being on the field as an athlete, or does coaching allow you to get your fix without all the hard work/training and playing?

I don’t miss it as much anymore like I did at the start – especially the training. I still have my moments of wishing I could have my time over again but I now really enjoy the coaching role which keeps me connected to the boys and still allows me to get my small fix on the pitch.

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

WORLD TEAMS ANNOUNCED x CHILD

The official listing of the world teams have been announced this week for the Men’s and Women’s fields. A long with the best players the best coaches have been included.

We’re going to single out a brilliant youngster in Simon Child, Gryphon New Zealand Ambassador for making the world team.  He played (and captained) the NZ Junior World Cup side this year and is instrumental in the team’s makeup as well as playing in Holland. For someone so young, he has achieved so much.  Hats off Mr. Child. Cue the applause.

The following players were selected for the Men’s WorldHockey All Star Team 2009

• Salman Akbar (PAK)
• Pol Amat (ESP)
• Simon Child (NZL)
• Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
• Moritz Furste (GER)
• Myung Ho Lee (KOR)
• Ashley Jackson (ENG)
• Mark Knowles (AUS)
• Barry Middleton (ENG)
• Maximilian Muller (GER)
• Teun de Nooijer (NED)
• Eddie Ockenden (AUS)
• Jong Ho Seo (KOR)
• Rob Short (CAN)
• Prabhjot Singh (IND)
• Austin Smith (RSA)
• Taeke Taekema (NED)
• Christopher Zeller (GER)
• Coaches: Ric Charlesworth (AUS) & Markus Weise (GER)

The following players were selected for the Women’s WorldHockey All Star Team 2009

• Naomi van As (NED)
• Luciana Aymar (ARG)
• Tina Bachmann (GER)
• Noel Barrionuevo (ARG)
• Madonna Blyth (AUS)
• Tony Cronk (AUS)
• Casey Eastham (AUS)
• Gemma Flynn (NZL)
• Baorong Fu (CHN)
• Surinder Kaur (IND)
• Natascha Keller (GER)
• Yibo Ma (CHN)
• Marsha Marescia (RSA)
• Miyuki Nakagawa (JPN)
• Maartje Paumen (NED)
• Helen Richardson (ENG)
• Janneke Schopman (NED)
• Belen Succi (ARG)
• Coaches: Carlos Retegui (ARG) & Frank Murray (AUS)

WORLD CUP x POOLS

Today the FIH have released the pools for the upcoming Men’s World Cup 2010. The location, India. More specifically, Delhi. A brand new stadium is currently being built along with a new state of the art turf from the guys at STI.

As you may have been following here on Gryphon Life, the qualifications for this Tournament have been intense and hard fought. Outside the Olympics, the WC is the most important of the tournaments in the Hockey world, and considering it has more teams than the Olympics a wider representation.

On that… there will be a lot of Gryphon boys (and girls for the later Women’s World Cup) working very hard in the next couple of months to get into the final squads.

In Australia in addition to Hammond, Kavanagh, Dancer (who played in CT09) a host of other players are in contention including Brown, Charlesworth, Carroll (inj.) and Bates.  This situation is going to replicated in Holland with Baart and Judge working to join Jolie in the national squad. This hard work will be prolific across other teams from New Zealand, Argentina, South Korea, England, South Africa, Belgium, Canada, etc…

We wish all the GY guys a great break over the summer/winter period and good luck with the next few months. We’ll be grabbing as many as possible to keep you in the loop for each country’s preparation.

——————

Hero Honda FIH World Cup, 28 February-13 March 2010:

Pool A:

Germany
Netherlands
Korea
New Zealand
Canada
Argentina
Pool B:

Australia
Spain
England
Pakistan
India
South Africa

———

World Men’s Rankings as of the 14th of December (top 10):

1. Germany
2. Australia
3. Spain
4. Holland
5. South Korea
6. England
7. Pakistan
8. New Zealand
9. Belgium
10. China

INDOORHOCKEY x PAUL MAAS

Hi all,

My name is Paul Maas 25 years young.After a succesful period at Oranje Zwart (Stacy, Hammond, Judge, Maartens) I decided to leave Eindhoven and play for Dragons (Briels, Thys). This year I am playing for Rotterdam, which is a great experience. Last three years I also have been playing in the Dutch National Indoor team. With this team we are now preparing for the European Championship in January. The coming months I will share some experiences of, the probably for you, unknown play of indoorhockey.

The gap of five months no competition are filled with a talent competition and with indoorhockey. Indoorhockey is a hockeygame, played (suprsingly) indoor. The field is bounded with wooden ‘things’ and each team contains 5 players and a goalie. Especially the Eastern Europe countries like Germany, Poland, Austria and Russia are because of their longer winterbreak a few steps further in (structured) indoorhockey. However, thanks to our technical skills, we are slowly getting closer to the top. The strength of our  team is that some players can do awesome tricks on a square meter. The pitfall of this is that compared the other teams we really have to work on our tactical, structured play. To face this it really helps that we as Dutchies have a German coach, Robin Rosch. He is really experienced in indoorhockey and tries to combine the technical of the Dutch and tactical part of him as a German. Last week we played matches against two German top teams. The first match ends up in a 4-4 draw. For our first match we were satisfied with the way we played. Next day we played against Rot Weiss Koln, with the brothers Zeller, Tibor Weissenborn and goalie Schulte. Last year they beat us with 12-3 so we were prepared to a tough game. In the first half they played much better and thanks to our goalie Veldhof the score was only 3-2 for them. The second half was a mix of indoorhockey and a boxing game. They had some problems with our teamplay and were getting more and more aggressive, we could smell the victory and that made us aggressive and eager to win. The game ends with a 6-6 draw, some German pretzels (cookies) at the bar and after all everybody was satisfied with the result. Coming weeks we have three double trainings a week and some practice matches against Dutch teams HDM and Amsterdam. After a short christmas break we go to Leipzig to play some National teams and then from 15- 17 january we play the European Championship at home in Almere.

Come and see us…..if you are around

Laters, Paul Maas

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