Early this year the Gibraltar Hockey Association applied so that two of their local coaches, namely Stephen Valarino and Eric Abudraham Jnr., could attend a High Level Coaching Course due to be held in Easter 2008 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

After various applications over the last few years the local coaches have had their applications accepted. The course was held to coincide with an invitational tournament for the top four European Nations ate Under 16 & Under 18 levels, namely Spain, England, Germany & Holland.

Over the four days Stephen & Eric enjoyed morning practical sessions, followed by match/player analysis of the games being held. Then theoretical sessions in the afternoon with a 15 minute presentation to be given each day by each coach on the days events & topics. A very gruelling 13 hour a day course ( from 9.00am to 10.00 pm) which will no doubt will benefit Gibraltar’s keen coaches bringing back new ideas & concepts to be shared amongst all other local clubs & coaches. Only 20 coaches from around Europe were selected for this event including participation from top hockey countries like Belarussia, Belgium, France, Spain, England, Holland & Germany.

This event was backed by the Sports & Leisure Authority. Stephen & Eric are now awaiting the results of their Assessments which we shall publish as soon as they have been made available by the EHF.

Earlier this year (2007) local hockey circles were disappointed to receive a two year ban from all European Competitions for its Club sides. This came about as a result of players being deemed ineligible to play as a consequence of also being playing for a Spanish Club during the same season. The GHA Chairman, Mr. Peter Pizarro, travelled to Budapest, Hungary to personally voice our appeal against the harsh sanctions imposed. The EHF have re-appraised the harsh sanctions imposed on the GHA and will be shortly announcing their decision on this matter. We are hopeful we shall see Gibraltar teams once again competing at the highest European level.

The GHA has been busy this summer Planning & setting up an infrastructure that will best serve Gibraltar’s hockey interests over the next few years. As many of you are aware our efforts at Youth Level have been rewarded in more ways than one and we intend to mirror these efforts at senior level. The season for 2007/2008 has been divided into four phases.

The initial phase in which teams all play each other and kick-off the season.

The 2nd phase where the respective competitive leagues are played.

Phase 3 will see the teams competing in the cup competitions.

The 4th Phase (Development Phase) will see the introduction of Hockey Sixes for men’s, veterans & ladies and a Euro Trophy were the senior men’s teams will compete against the Gibraltar Under 21 and will be encouraged to field their younger, up and coming players.

If you click on GHA Official Documents – 2007/2008 Season Guidelines you can read all about our plans for the season ahead.

Two major sponsorship deals have also been signed recently. Barclays Wealth will sponsor all Youth Leagues and SG Hambros will sponsor all senior hockey competitions. Therefore all competitions played over the next few years will carry the names of our sponsors. The GHA is very grateful that both these financial entities have now confirmed their sponsorship commitment and indeed we value it as another indication of the success we are having in ‘boosting’ number of participants at grass roots level and the general ‘boom’ that hockey seems to be enjoying.

   

The hard work and investment at grass roots level is slowly having a positive impact on senior hockey. Another indicator being the fact that this year we have two new senior teams. A ladies team, Nat West Collegian Veterans, and a men’s team, Gibraltar HT.

The ladies team is composed entirely of ladies who used to play senior ladies hockey (Collegian Ladies mainly) and who have now decided to continue playing the sport at a more leisurely pace and in with the sole aim of enjoying a match every weekend. The men’s team is made of about 14 ex-Collegian players, five under 18’s from the squad that travelled this summer to Greece and three under 14’s. The aim of this team is to consolidate themselves as the strongest 2nd division side and then hopefully become the third strongest local men’s side.

Various Competitions in the pipeline for several of our National Youth sides. Gibraltar will be holding an International Youth Under 14 Hockey Festival during the month of June 2008. Our Under 14 side will be preparing themselves for this tournament via participation in various tournaments.

First of all, they will be competing in the local ladies league as part of the Barclays Wealth Team. This will give them a game every weekend.Secondly, they will also be travelling to Alcala, Jaen (Spain) to play a full weekend of fixtures (1st & 2nd Dec 2007). Finally, they will be taken to Portugal to play a series of games against either the Oporto or Lisbon junior sides (April 2008). As the lads travel they will also be promoting our June International Festival.

Our Under 21’s also have a very important tournament in July 2008 to be played in Baku,Azerbijan. As part of the preparation they will be playing games against travelling teams to Gibraltar as follows, Royal Engineers (Oct 2008), 3 UK Colleges during November, England Under 18 in January 2008 and another 2 UK colleges in May 2008. At the end of the local season they will also take part in the 4 team Gibraltar Euro Trophy which will feature Eagles, Grammarians, the Under 21 and the Gibraltar Regiment Team (hopefully!)

The GHA has applied to the EHF for assistance on the setting up of a scheme for local coaches and is currently awaiting reply. The proposal is detailed below.

1) 1st Year (2007/08) - Professional Coach so to certify all local Coaches & Youth Leaders (approx. 20) to Level 1 VRQ Assistant Coaching Award – as per England Hockey coaching awards.

2) 2nd Year (2008/2009) - Professional Coach to certify all interested local Coaches (approx. 10) to Level 2 VRQ Coaching Award – as per England Hockey coaching awards.

3) 3rd Year (2009/2010) - Professional Coach to certify local Coaches (not more than five) to be able to coach locals both to Leadership Level and Level 1 Award, thus avoiding the expense of having to bring in someone every year.

4) 4th Year (2010/2011) – As from the beginning of this season ALL locals wanting to coach will have to have a minimum Level 1 Certificate and any of the five certified ‘Coaches’ coaches will run an award, before competitions commence, so as to certify all individuals who want to coach hockey during the season to Level 1.