Hi all,
Please have a look at this open letter to all the membership about where we are looking at tournaments in the next year.
It’s really exciting and I hope everyone understands why we have come.to the decisions we have.
You should be able to click the link below:
You will have notices that the Dek teams shirts changed this season (2019) from the planned teams. This is purely due to the number of available shirts for the season.
Sharks are now Oilers
Penguins are now Panthers
Flyers are now Redwings
| Player | Position | Nationality | G | A | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 David Hewitt | Forward | - | 10 | 4 | 2 |
 Thomas Graham | Goaltender | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | Position | Nationality | G | A | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John McLeod | Goaltender | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tobi Adeoye | Forward | - | 8 | 1 | 3 |
| Player | Position | Nationality | G | A | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brayan Romero | Defender | - | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Declan Bonner | Midfielder | - | 2 | 2 | 0 |
 Gethin Morgan | Defender | - | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Niall Evans | Forward | - | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Richard Bonner | Player | - | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shaani Stashynsky | Player | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas Farrogia | Goaltender | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sadly a match had to be forfeited last week as there wasn’t another goal tender. Please teams keep in touch with your players to try and avoid this, it’s a shame for everyone to miss out on a game.
Anyone interested in getting involved in hockey, Dek Hockey is a really great place to give it a try, minimal kit, but fast paced, great exercise and plenty of hockey skills to learn and hone, and a great way to get into hockey in the Falklands.
On Saturday the 23rd we held the annual pre-season launch party at the Stanley Leisure Centre. Great attendance from everyone, parents, grant parents, friends, and many others. With three games over the night and a crowd cheering from the gallery for all it really had the feel of a proper hockey night.
The night kicked off with a mixed all stars game with two teams containing a selection of players from the senior leagues. It was a hotly contested game with goals flying in from both sides, and plenty of effort from both sides to contest the puck! The last couple of minutes seeing a flurry of activity to take the trailing team up to 4-5 and maybe bringing a draw into reach, only to have those hopes dashed by an immediate response from the face off with a long shot to take it to 6-4 where it ultimately finished. Special mention should be made for Temis Smith and John McLeod who not only stepped up their games in the first game of the year, but also their first games in an all star game, well done to both excellent performances!
We were delighted to have Alex Mitham as our special guest on Saturday. Not only did he do a great job of dropping the puck for the inaugural games, he highlighted the recent successes of the Association overseas as well as looking to our exciting future regional opportunities on ice and inline.
Alex has taken a keen interest in the Association in the years he has worked in the Falklands and has seen us evolve into the Association we are now – one that is fully inclusive with player development at its heart. His passion and assistance has been invaluable and we will be forever grateful for that
Alex then dropped the puck for the peewee game including the launch of a new team PHOENIX vs. Villains! Like all Peewee games this was brilliant to watch with plenty of heart and effort from every one and a few goals to go too. Great performances from everyone, including a number of new players who seemed to really take the spirit of the game. We are really excited about the Peewee league this year with another team and the standard of players really coming up too as everyone throws themselves into the game with maximum effort. Great work Kids!
Finally we finished out the night with a junior game with new team Vikings and Thunder. Vikings were dominant in the first period getting to 4-1 at the buzzer. The second half was a complete turn around with Thunder coming back hard, eventually bringing tying the score like up at 5-5 with only 2 minutes remaining. Those remaining minutes were the highlight of the night with an insanely competitive finale to the game with opportunities for both sides. Ultimately neither could make it through to a win, and finishing with a 5 all tie. Great efforts from both teams with top scorers Liam Williams for the Vikings and Hayden Stanworth for Thunder making a massive impact with a hat-trick each.
Now we get into the season for real, we will be posting results here on the site. keep coming back to see how your teams are doing!
Players and fans can find the Player Standings and the League Standings by following the links.
Prize Giving
The prize giving was held on the 16th of March, great attendance from peewees through to elite and into the senior and Dek leagues.
There were a number of prizes doled out, but with a specific focus this year toward dedication and sportsmanship (as voted for by other players), as well as the traditional top players and team prizes. This gave the awards night a really friendly family feeling.
Of course there were some players that took home a lot of silverware, but there were a number of players who were given awards which really surprised them, most improved players, and best sporting attitude attracted a lot of cheers from the crowd, and big smiles from those awarded.
Of special note there was an award of a lovely crystal decanter and glasses to Nick Francis for giving up so much of his time to referee and run games. He was thrust into this when Grant was not able to ref anymore as the sport really got popular. Without his input the last season would not have been the success that it was.
There were also 4 awards to the youth players from the Stanley Penguins for their efforts during the Mega Patagonian Tournament. Who not only took home gold in their own age category but were hugely inspiring and instrumental in the success of the senior team. Theo Duncan, Matt Francis, Malachi Budd, and Tom Watson all took home a special trophy for this accolade.
A warm and heartfelt thank you to all those who came along, and specifically Nevill from the Chandlery, Eileen Jaffray from Stephen Jaffray Memorial Fund, and Rob Hoy from Sure for presenting trophies. Also thank you to Andrew Newman for being compere again, cracking job lad.
Also thanks to all the players and parents from the last year, and the years before, for supporting the club and the sport. We keep finding new highs and I hope this year will be no exception. The teams this year are hugely competitive; there was much discussion after the new teams announcement about the upcoming seasons, and it sounds like it could be a fun one.
Well done everyone, and we look forward to seeing you at the launch party on Saturday the 23rd in the leisure centre from 6.
Cheers
Sam
Its been a while coming, but with all sorts of tricks and functions in the background it should make our leagues and stats much smoother for everyone.
Its a bit empty right now but the kind of things you will see develop in 2019are:
Tony Ellis (Tone Dog) is the big driving force behind the working and design of the website and he has done an amazing job. Not only does it look great, but the features are awesome.
It should be much easier to now find your team, games fixtures, stats etc. all through the home page. great for players and parents of younger ones alike.
Optimised for mobile so you can always keep up to date with any hockey news or results.
Please remember though that this is a work in progress and as the website grows there will be some mistakes or things that don’t work right away. if you notice anything please let us know on: tonyellis@horizon.co.fk or samcockwell@gmail.com
Also if you want to write something for the front page or a game review please do and let me know.
Cheers
Sam
For anyone who wasn’t able to make the prize giving tonight, the new teams for 2019 have been announced.
The committee and several key players have got together to choose the teams to try and make the leagues as balanced as possible.
(originally in Penguin News 31/08/2018)
Firstly the whole trip would not have been possible without our sponsors and supporters – Byron, Energise, Tone Dog Designs, Sure, International Tours and Travel, Fortuna, Seaview Logistics, C+V Ellis, Beauchene, G+K Services, Sullivan Shipping, Shorty’s, Argos, Martech, the Seafish Chandlery and our association with the Stephen Jaffray Memorial Fund. The support from Alex Mitham at the FCO the Falklands people and from everyone passing through Punta during the tournament was outstanding.
The unique aspect of the hockey club is training and playing with the whole team from young to old, high performers to beginners. This builds a special camaraderie taking us to a higher level when it comes to competing. In the final weeks before the tournament the teams prepared with tailored Pilates session and circuits courtesy of Anna Cockwell and Beverly Bates, and attending a couple of skipfit sessions embarrassing ourselves initially with erratic skipping techniques.
Grant Budd and Ed Naus competed in the first outdoor natural ice tournament in Puerto Williams in the “rest of the world” team, along with players from Chile, Argentina and elsewhere. The tournament was plagued by worry as the lagoon ice started to melt from the edges. The ice held in the centre for the whole contest including three moves of the rink to fresh ice, right until the final group photo where the lagoon finally gave up, cracked, and caused the whole group to scatter. Fortunately no-one got an early bath. After this tournament Grant and Ed visited the school Bulnes in Punta Arenas. They spoke with the English class to talk about Canada the Falklands, and the Commonwealth, our similarities and differences, and the importance of understanding different cultures. The link with this school is through one of the organisers of the Mega Patagonian tournament and PE teacher Miguel Villarroel (also captain of the hockey team Aonikenk – a relatively new team named after the Indigenous people of the region).
The rest of the team arrived in Punta Arenas on the 11th for 4 days ice familiarisation and training before the first game on Wednesday. This was tricky for everyone, lots of slipping and tripping with Nick Francis performing a lovely swimming motion (video available on the Falklands Islands Hockey Facebook group), and watching brothers Tommy and Ethan Ross tackling each other was especially entertaining.
The performance of the Falkland Islands teams was outstanding taking home all four golds in the four categories. Probably the more fulfilling aspect of the tournament was the building of relationships with the other teams in the Magallanes Region and each other. The teams from Chile and Argentina really played hard; none of the games were easy for us.
Then some friendly games; the first night was mixed teams of all players and nationalities, developing friendships and smoothing over any small rivalries from the tournament. Less beautiful was the second night with a goalie vs. girl game. To describe it in words would be an injustice, there is a full video on the FITV Facebook page (not to single out any performance but the “Flying Watson” is a sight to behold). The final score 2-2 reflecting an unrelenting effort from the goalies against a very polished girls team.
We will all take away a lot of special memories; taxis filled to the brim with sweaty players, loud celebratory parties, desperate rides across the city to retrieve forgotten kit, a somewhat tuneful rendition of the national anthem, generous hosts, middle of the night burgers after flooding the ice, tears after winning, family rivalry in the go carting, and new friendships forged.
Throughout the tournament we were all humbled by the concept of the hockey family. Players, supporters, organisers, officials are there with a common purpose to play hockey and support each other, no matter what happens on the ice. No matter who wins the camaraderie with other teams was outstanding, and probably almost unique to ice hockey as a team sport. A special note of thanks to Thomas Stockting from FITV; he not only covered all of the games with his coverage reaching more people than ever before, but also became a big part of the hockey family.
In preparing for 2019 we will continue helping Puerto Williams(PW) and Punta Arenas(PA) arrange tournaments for next year. PW will be earlier in the winter to make the best of the natural ice. PA same time next year to tie in with the Falkland Islands School holidays.
The Falklands hockey association has shown this year that we are not only competitive within the region (Magallanes) but without ice experience we were still able to win all four of the categories with an entirely locally resident team. With sustained effort and facilities (multi use ice rink in winter/ concrete in summer) the Falkland Islands could become competitive not only in the region, but within the larger area of South and Central America (lets be real – USA and Canada are out of our reach). In the future we want to compete with the likes of Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile and the like. Not as an also-ran, or a novelty team, but as a serious competitor, albeit as an underdog. In movie terms think Cool Runnings meets Slapshot (a must watch for hockey fans).
Hockey is all about inclusivity, teamwork, camaraderie, and sportsmanship. Our 2019 inline season starts in March. There are also weekly get-your-skates-on sessions in the leisure centre from 3-4 pm every Saturday and Sunday to hone skating skills and have fun. If you or someone you know is interested in trying out inline or deck hockey please get in touch with the hockey association via the Facebook group or the contact form on this site.
Lots of game time for all – with fixtures throughout the week. New teams to be announced on Saturday 16th of March at the Prize Giving with Fixtures ready for the Inauguration party on the 23rd
The committee (well Grant really) is working on getting a couple of teams over from Chile and possibly Uruguay to come and play here in the first multi national tournament hosted in the Falklands! This will be inline (of course) – it will be mega competitive, and we hope that this comes together, plan is for a tournament followed by a couple of days of fun games with everyone all mixed up! great way to make new friends and make an event out of it.
Puerto Williams Patagonian Brotherhood Tournament – possibly earlier this year fro a long weekend, this is still being planned at the moment but it could be an incredible tournament to play in under the mountains. beautiful.
Punta Arenas Mega Patagonia Tournament – this should be happening around the same time this year – team selection and training schedules will be out nearer the time… can we defend our current Gold Treasure trove?? I bet we can. but its going to be hard.
We held this last year with the second goalies vs. girlies match. which once again provided a huge amount of fun all round and some serious play on both sides. We may have a bit of all stars skills to try out, games for all the family, and of course a delicious buffet provided by the hockey club members!
… watch this space for more updates…..
