Senior Country Week Preview

Teams to represent Wimmera at senior hockey championships
Three Wimmera hockey teams will compete at Senior Country Week championships this long weekend.
A men’s team will compete in Melbourne while two women’s teams will compete in Geelong on Saturday and Sunday with finals played on Monday.
For only the second time in the past 12 seasons, a team representing the Wimmera Hockey Association will compete in the Senior Men’s Victorian State Country Championships.
Men’s country week coordinator Simon King said players representing four of the association’s six clubs will compete at the Footscray Hockey Centre on two synthetic grounds, one water based and one sand based. The team will face opponents from East Gippsland, Grampians, North Central and Warrnambool plus one other from Albury Wodonga, Ballarat, Glenelg or Portland for a total of five games with the possibility of up to two finals on the Monday afternoon.
The team last competed in 2006 when it won a couple of games in Division Two, but as the association was unable to muster enough players to compete last year, the team has been drawn to play in Division Three this year. The last time the team competed in Division Three was in 1996 when they fell one game short of making the Grand Final.
The squad includes Ryan Booth, Joshua Halsall, Beau Lovett and James Terry from Dimboola, Steve Grose, Will Hewitt, Stuart Hoffman, Ryan Robson and Lachlan Zordan from Horsham, Mathew McDonald, Fergus Meyer, Reilly Sanders and Ryan Wallis from Kaniva and Simon King, Jarrod Knoop and George Nikkelson from Warracknabeal.
A Wimmera women’s side competed successfully last year winning the B Grade section.
Players from Dimboola, Kaniva, Warracknabeal and Horsham clubs will make up the Wimmera women’s sides this year and women’s country week coordinator Michelle Searle is hopeful of the team doing well again with a good lineup.
The women are looking forward to playing on a newly laid turf at Geelong, competing on artificial turf at Stead Park and Geelong college.
The women’s teams will compete against similar sides to the men, although a draw is still unavailable.
Michelle also hopes the teams will both play in the B grade section this year which would allow them to again be competitive, rather than be placed up to A grade which would place them at the bottom of the field.
Players will wear the Wimmera hockey colours, navy and gold.
IGA Dimboola is sponsoring the women’s team to help in their endeavour.
A couple of players are also intending to gain some further umpiring experience during the weekend.
Despite playing on grass fields in the Wimmera, most of the players have experienced the faster game on the synthetic surfaces whilst representing the Wimmera at the State Junior Country Championships in the past. Many in the men’s squad will be making their debut at senior level. With some experienced campaigners amongst a youthful squad, it is hoped that the teams will all be competitive, although it is difficult to predict how they will go against more seasoned opponents who are more at home on the synthetic surface.
There will be no Wimmera Hockey Association matches played this weekend due to the country championships.
- Rachel Clark (with contributions from Simon King and Michelle Searle)