2022 Junior Indoor Challenge Wrap-up

Published Mon 21 Mar 2022

The inaugural Junior Indoor Challenge (JIC) took place from Friday 18^th to Sunday 20^th March and it was a huge success!

We had 16 teams competing in the Event, across both the Under 12 and Under 14 age groups which was wonderful. The purpose of the JIC was to provide players that typically play at Pennant or District level in Outdoor Hockey, or had not previously played much Indoor Hockey, to gain some experience in a Tournament setting. Teams participated in 6 matches across the course of the weekend, so it was action packed!

A big congratulations everyone that participated in the Event. We had almost 150 players, numerous coaches and team managers involved, and we must commend the following clubs for their involvement:

Under 12 Mixed Junior Indoor Challenge	Under 14 Mixed Junior Indoor Challenge
Brunswick	Brunswick
Doncaster	Hawthorn
Footscray	Hawthorn (U16)
Hawthorn (Blue)	KBH Brumbies
Hawthorn (Red)	Mentone
KBH Brumbies	Southern United
Knox	Yarra Valley
Mentone
Yarra Valley

The Event was played in wonderful spirit and it was so pleasing to see players enjoying Indoor Hockey so much. We hope to see even more teams involved in this Event in 2023.

To check out all of the results from the weekend, please use the following link and head to the Junior Indoor Challenge section – https://www.hockeyvictoria.org.au/games/

A special thank you must also go to all of the officials that made the Event possible. We had a very dedicated group of umpires involved across the 3 days and special mention must go to the following officials for their time and dedication:

Tournament Directors

Sharon Pascoe, Andrew Rook, Lyn Page-Bathols, Kerrie Brown & Greg Wright

Umpire Managers

Iris Milham, Isabel Wright, Steve Mc Donald, Nathan McDonald & Ged Grimwade

After 5 action packed weekends, the Indoor Events have now come to a close. Congratulations to absolutely everyone that participated in the Junior Indoor Challenge or Indoor Club Championships. It was such a thrill to be able to use the new court at the State Hockey Centre for these Events for the first time. Finally, congratulations and a massive thank you to the club administrators that got all 95 teams out on the court despite the challenges presented to them by COVID-19.

We look forward to bringing you more Indoor Hockey action with Term 2 & 3 Competitions launching for the first time this year! If you would like to get involved, we encourage you to contact your club and seek more information. Clubs have until 25^th March to submit interest in participating in the Term 2 & 3 Indoor Competitions.

Photo supplied: Bron Massa