Firstly, a big vote of thanks to Steph Exton who’s published the last handful of editions of the Weekly News. All good things come to an end, so it’s back to me again.
Headlining this week’s news were the final games of the Season for our U12 Blacks and U12 Reds, who can both look back with pride on excellent seasons of lacrosse. U12’s do not have finals, otherwise they’d be having a big crack this Saturday, I’m sure they wish they could - they’ll have to bide their time; there’ll plenty of opportunities for glory ahead for these players of the future.
Our older Junior teams have all finished in the top 4, and will be stepping out at Royal Park this Saturday morning for the first week of their finals campaign - with a cold day and a few showers forecast for Saturday, there’ll be plenty of Malvern supporters in their jackets, hoodies, beanies and caps on the sidelines to cheer you on!
With 5 weeks of finals matches just beginning, it’s still not too late to get yourself decked out in a good time to be getting hoodies and jackets: you’ll look great supporting the Club, and they’re an absolute bargain at $30 and $45. As Spring arrives, the T-shirts will come into their own too, so take a look at them too — they’re only $15. If you’re there at the Club on Thursday or Saturday, grab someone who looks like they know something and they’ll help you themselves or direct you to someone else who can. Don’t be put off if they’re not out on display, they’re all right there for the asking.
Best regards,
Mike
A few choice words from the President
Hi All,
Well the Junior Finals are upon us and we have the under 18’s, 16’s and 14’s all in the hunt, whilst we may not be favourite in all Grades we do have a very good chance of winning all three. The Club is very proud of all our Junior teams, the Coaches, Players, families and friends have all been fantastic — we are very fortunate to have such wonderful group of people representing Malvern. A number of boys made the Southern squad in the under 15 age group and a few missed out: well done to the ones that made it and bad luck to those who didn’t, many of Malvern’s great players missed out on teams at some stage, but fought hard to make up on the next opportunity. I believe that it’s not what happens to you, but how you handle it that’s important. It may be worth a phone call to the Coach and just ask what area’s you need to work on to give yourself the best chance next time.
We can all improve in some areas.
The Seniors have two more games to go, with Div2 and Div3 both looking well placed for the Finals. State League could finish as high as fifth and that’s a fantastic result, as I have said all year big things are just around the corner.
Presentation Day and AGM: As is our tradition, Presentations and AGM will be at the Club on the Sunday after Senior Grand Finals Day. At the AGM we’ll be calling for nominations for Committee positions, so please give consideration to whether you may be prepared to serve the Club on the Committee — it’s vital to the continued strength of our Club that we have good, willing people in all areas of Club life. If you have any perpetual trophies belonging to the Club, please return them now as we need them to be updated with this year’s awards to be presented on the day.
Good luck to all teams on Saturday!
Regards
Norm Coleman
President
Malvern Lacrosse Club
Picture of the week:
Holiday snap of State League Coach Skeps and U14’s Coach Josh watching the first Canada-US game at last month’s U19’s World Champs.
Brad’s back this week after kicking up his heels gallivanting around one last time - it’s a good bet he’ll be tanned and maybe that crook knee has had a good rest. Will he be coaching from the sidelines on Saturday, or will he be crossing the white line with his favourite number 23 jersey back on, and taking a swing at Surrey?
Mens Round 16: 9th August 2008
State League: Bye
Division 2: vs Altona 22-4
Coach Dave Joy wrote:
Saturday saw the return of Tim Laidlaw after a long lay-off from injury. Tim finished the match with 4 goals; Paul Cook, Danny Kiesler and Shannon Bell collectively added another 9 goals. Rod Ansell playing down on the backline with young Zac and big Tim controlled the Altona attackers. Steve Bown played another BOG performance winning all the face-offs and scoring 2 goals. A very solid overall team performance by all the players as we get ready for the fellow top spot contender Eltham this week.
Division 3: Bye
U18: vs Moreland 22-3
Coach Paddy Mac wrote:
The boys of the mighty red and black made the annoying trek to Moreland on Saturday to be greeted by their esteemed coach Paddy Mac, with Shannon checking out the competition at one of the other games. With the opposition yet again being short on numbers, we were again forced to play 8 a-side, and with the absence of the Anglicas bro’s and Cal van Twest for the first 1/4, we were back to no subs on the bench.
This however did not faze us, with Malekai continuing on his fine form all year winning the ball cleanly from the face and getting it to the attack line of Olay and Mitchy Mitchy Mitchy who executed without fail. This seemed to be the game plan most of the day with Malekai scoring countless times to finish with 7, and Olay finishing with an astonishing 10 earning a Grill’d award. Our middies ran hard all game with Mez, Olay, Mitchy, and even Courtnay on short stick sharing the load. Our midfield and attack were able to gain possession many a time and control the ball well in our attacking area, which in turn got the defence line bored.
Mez proved that he’s more than just a running machine, scoring comfortably and assisting his team mates on more than one occasion, while still blitzing the opposition again! We found our backup face-off man in Mitchy Mitchy Mitchy, who surprised us all by smoking the opposition in his first face-off, running fast break and scoring top corner on the goalie. To prove this wasn’t just a fluke, he won 3 of his next 4 face-offs and was like a hoover on the groundballs, earning himself a Grill’d award. With this performance from Mitchy we would all assume that Malekai will be keeping a close eye on his team mate, ensuring his position as starting face off isn’t lost.
The trio of Red, Rowboat and Cal finally made their entrance at the start of the second, and made up for their lateness as soon as they hit the field, giving us fresh legs, and letting the attackers and midfielders rest for a bit. Cal teamed up well with Mitchy in attack, while Rowboat and Red made their presence felt throughout the midfield and attack zones scoring and assisting.
With Ollie Johnson out sick on the day, we had our man Flash in goals, and with the exception of 3 passing him, he made some great saves and went on a few runs of his own to clear the ball. Although he didn’t go coast to coast, he still played a great game in goals, although being bored most of the time with the ball down in the attack line. Defenders Gus-Gus and Jakey Jakey (about to make a big mistakey) Baxter backed up Flash well, keeping the opposition to getting 3 and both sharing the short stick position with Courtnay on the midfield lines. Gus-Gus ran out of luck this time round, finally being called for a massive hit on someone which was deemed late. Baxter decided to let the trigger go (from halfway), only to find he was being told to “work the shot”, not “take the shot”. His heart was in the right place.
With the score being 22-3 the players were able to relax and work on plays etc., while each sharing their thoughts on the game in the circle of love (newly incorporated into the game). All in all it was a great game and the boys played and worked as a team and not as individuals on the day. From a coaching opinion this was one of the most enjoyable games I’ve been a part of, and I think the players and spectators would say the same thing.
U16: vs Surrey Park 8-13
Coach Marty wrote:
All I can say to the boys is well done. I really like the new attitude.
We will not give up / we will keep going / we will try our hardest.
Talking around the ground was excellent / ground balls were better.
Again I’m not going to mention names of who played well.
Just very proud in the way the boys took the game up to Surrey.
U14: vs Altona 11-15
Coach Josh wrote:
Malvern went down to a strong Altona side 15-11 in a close encounter at the Town Hall. Many players were missing for the home side and this forced us to play with just 10 men. The game was close throughout and it was Altona’s better finishing, despite the great play of Ed Brennan in goals, which proved the difference. For Malvern the best players were Toby Exton who finished with 4 g 1a, and Sam Anglicas who had 3g 5a. The game was essentially a dead rubber and counted nothing towards qualification for the finals which start next week. Malvern will play Chadstone/Camberwell at Royal Park this Saturday for a place straight into the Grand Final.
U12 Black: vs Moreland 26-2
Coach Gazzer wrote:
The black team finished the season off on a positive note with a convincing 26-2 win over Moreland on the weekend. Everyone was able to get on the scoresheet with a goal AND an assist, which was a great highlight, meaning that everyone has finished the season off on a high note and hopefully will be raring and ready to go next season. A great effort was on display, with the majority of the time players looking for the extra pass to find the open player for the shot on goal when we were in attack, which was pleasing to see.
A big thank-you will have to go out to the goalies for the day, Elliot, Rupert and Nic Chapman, who decided to put the team in front of individual honours (giving up the chance to get goals and assists) and play goalie for a quarter even though the ball rarely made its way down to them. Thank you for your unselfish decisions on the day.
A big thank-you to Dave Chapman for assisting me throughout the year both on Thursdays and Saturdays, to Joffa for umpiring, and to Sandra for scoring every week, and carrying the bag of balls around for training and match days.
U12 Red: vs Surrey Park 3-11
Coach Stevie Bown wrote:
The last round of the year this week saw us play Surrey Park for the fourth time this season. Our team, full of new players, including probably the youngest of the competition, continues to improve and show how real team work can be well rewarded. They had plenty of opportunities to score, and were at their best when working together in transition after causing a turn over in defence and running out of the defence line with most players touching the ball before scoring.
This team of 12 players will only lose Katie to U14 next year. Nick still has 1 year left in U12 with everyone else being between 6 & 10, the future of Malvern Lacrosse Club will be in the hands of some very talented players. Never being short of a volunteer for goals was a highlight of the season, with more volunteers than quarters in a game every week. Toward the end of the season most players knew what position they wanted to play in and were never to shy to let me know. Plenty of comments from spectators about the improvement of skill amongst the team from the first game to the last of the season is a real credit to all players.
A special mention to Bopper who helped all year, Chris who umpired every match (even when feeling under the weather), Joe for being the team manager and making sure there was always plenty of snakes for half time, and to all the parent supporters for their great cheering throughout the season.
It was a joy to coach this group of players and I hope to continue helping them throughout their lacrosse career.
Thanks for a great season
Stephen
CLUB EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARIES
Sat 23rd Aug: Open Mic Entertainment Night - watch for Johnny’s Notice for details
Sun 14th Sep: Season Close — Presentation Day and AGM
THIS WEEK’S GAMES
|
U12 Black |
No games |
|
|
U12 Red |
No games |
|
| 9:30am |
U14 |
ChadCam |
Western Oval, Royal Park |
| 11:00am |
U16 |
Surrey Park |
Western Oval, Royal Park |
| 9:30am |
U18 |
Footscray |
Western Oval, Royal Park |
| 2:30pm |
Div 3 |
Altona |
AWAY |
| 2:30pm |
Div 2 |
Eltham |
AWAY |
| 2:30pm |
State League |
Surrey Park |
AWAY |
MALVERN FIXTURES AND RESULTS: Go to Fixtures Section at malvernlacrosse.com
TEAM AND CLUB CONTACT NUMBERS: Go to Contacts Section at malvernlacrosse.com
COMPETITION FIXTURES AND RESULTS: Victorian Lacrosse F/R pages at SportingPulse.com
