With the season coming to an end, the UC Hockey Club is proud of it’s achievements in 2011. While this year has been the most challenging in many, the club has made great strides across all areas, from recruitment and player retention, to competitive results and administration.

Despite the difficulties presented by the February earthquake, which came right in the middle of our 2011 recruitment, the club was able to achieve the highest member count in recent memory with 131 active members spanning eight teams. This included a doubling of our women’s club member numbers as well and the addition of two extra teams to the Canterbury hockey competition. The credit for this performance lies in the excellent planning, organisation and adaptability shown by the Committee during the recruiting process.

Performance-wise, our Premier Men’s team represented the university with pride this year, reaching their best position in more than six years. The team narrowly missed out in the dying minutes of their final game to finish fourth in the grade, a result the team is already looking forward to improving on next year.

On a social level, the club has also gone from strength to strength, with a record number of social events held in 2011, each involving record attendance. Most notably, the club held the ‘President’s Shout’  and the UC Hockey Flat Crawl, both of which were highly successful and enjoyed by all – check out some photos (and join our Facebook Page) here!

Alongside our main competition and social events, the club co-organised a Charity Hockey Match in March, alongside Lincoln University, to raise money for the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal. The match took the form of an inter-university match between Canterbury and Lincoln Universities, and raised $2000+ for the appeal, a worthy effort.

The fantastic results above could not have been achieved without sound financial organisation. In this area, one that is often overlooked, the club has performed admirably. Sound financial management and effective fund-raising has lead to the club’s healthiest balance sheet in many, many years, which has enabled the injection of funds to support the coaching, umpiring and social activities outlined above, as well as providing for significant amounts of new playing and safety gear for the club.

With the season now coming to a close, the club now looks towards 2012. Exiting plans are already in the pipeline such as a further increase in player participation, reduced fees for our members and even better coaching across all our teams.

To all our current members, we hope you enjoyed the season. We look forward to seeing you at our end of year bash and in 2012. To everyone else, don’t forget to sign up to play next season – you can find a link to register your interest on the home page (we’ll get back to you early next year). And to all our volunteers, especially the Commitee, coaches and managers, thanks for all your hard work this year; UC Hockey could not continue without you.

The club hosts a dinner at the end of each year for all club members to recognise club members who have excelled during the year. Keep your calendar free the night of September 24!

Since 1914 the University of Canterbury Students’ Association has been recognizing and awarding students who excel in their chosen sport. Boxing, Tennis, Rugby, Mountain Biking, Lifesaving, Hockey, Netball, Triathlon, Volleyball, Cycling  and Orienteering are only some of the sports that are eligible for University of Canterbury Blues.  Blues are awarded for achieving a high level of sporting and academic standards and as such are named after the traditional sporting competitions between two original ‘Blues’, Oxford and Cambridge.

The UC Hockey Club often has members represented at these awards and looks forward to congratulating more of our members come the end of 2011. The date and time for the awards was correct at time of writing but may change based on UCSA planning.

Tentatively scheduled for September 17th – subject to change.