As with any sport, Hockey requires a certain level of fitness (see my previous blog discussing my fitness).

Most of us are now of an age where our fitness is sliding, hockey is not the most important thing in our lives and drinking beer is no longer a sport, but is more about the social interaction.  This is evidenced by the ever changing make-up of our teams on Wednesday night, with players absent for various reasons, but everyone getting together after the game for a beer and a chat.

With the quality of teams competing in the A Division, wins are often hard to come by.  Manly has struggled to record a win for over 12 months, but with the inclusion of a new player (Macca), and dogged determination, they were able to score a convincing win against Macarthur.  Other results in A Division saw UNSW defeat Ryde, Sydney Uni sneak home against Gordon North Sydney, while Sutherland and Briars played out a scoreless draw.

The NSW State Over 45 Mens Veterans Championships are being held at Sydney Olympic Park on the weekend of May 28th - 30th.  I encourage everyone to get out to Homebush at some stage over this weekend and support the players as they strive for that elusive State Championship title.

There are three divisions, and the teams are as follows: -

These two weeks were typified by some big winning margins, in all grades.

In A Division, UNSW and Sydney Uni battled it out, with UNSW coming out on top 7-4.

Many people are surprised when they learn that in my younger days, I used to be a runner!  Not someone who ran to stay fit, or did a couple of laps around the local park, but a long-distance runner.  10k Road Races, Half Marathon's and Marathons.  I even trained with and supported a number of friends in the NZ Ironman.

So I find it somewhat uncomfortable to acknowledge that these days, I can't even run 5kms without stopping ... and that's nothing short of disgraceful!

Having acknowledged that fact, I've now strapped on the running shoes, and rather painfully, hit the road, starting off slow, but determined to regain some of my lost fitness.

Sutherland stepped up a gear this week in their A Division match against Macarthur and were unlucky not to come away with all three points. A last minute equaliser enabled Macarthur to grab a share of the points.

Northside and UNSW recorded good victories in B Division, while Penrith and Ryde battled out a 1-1 draw. Southern Highlands continued their domination of C Division, while the third placed MacPanthers also recorded a good win to remain in touch.

With a full round of games in A Division scheduled, including a top of the table clash between Macarthur and UNSW, the week promised some excellent hockey.  Unfortunately, UNSW showed why they are favourites to take the 2010 title with a comprehensive victory over Macarthur, while Sutherland enjoyed a big win over Manly.  Sydney Uni and Gordon both had tight matches but came away victorious.

As you are aware Sydney Men’s Veterans Hockey Association (SVHA) is celebrating its 30^th Year in 2010 – 1981 was the formation year for Veterans Hockey in Sydney.

To celebrate achieving this outstanding milestone and also enable the 15 Inaugural SVHA Life Memberships awarded recently to be presented (see full list of names below), I have pleasure on behalf of the President and Board of Directors of Sydney Veterans Hockey Association, to extend to you / your team / your club a SPECIAL INVITATION to attend the 2010 Celebration Dinner as follows –

No games were scheduled for A Division this week, so B & C Division shared the limelight.

There were a couple of big wins, notably MacPanthers 5-1 defeat of Briars in C Division, and Macarthur starting to show some form with a 4-2 victory over Glebe in B Division.

All other matches were close affairs, with eitehr draws or 1 goal margins.

A Division returns to the field in Week A, with a mouth-watering clash between UNSW and Macarthur

There have been some rule changes for the 2010 season.  Two of the key changes include: -

• Playing in multiple teams
• Mouthguards and Shinpads

The details relating to each of these are noted below: -