Hockey 2019, what a year. If I’m honest the first couple games I can’t remember much of, however I know that we had 4 Year 13’s leave last year; this wasn’t a massive hole that needed filling as we had some of the Year 11’s being brought into the team this year as well as two Year 10's that played for both us and the mixed as well as a Year 9 that did also.

Some of the most memorable games were the ones against Toko, Kavanagh, OBHS and Kings. 

Of course all the teams this year weren’t a walk in the park, some we would lose by 4-0 if not more, and at the other end there were some that were less challenging. These teams though stand out especially for me, they aren’t easy especially Toko and Kavanagh, in the past and nowadays they have been teams that have been really challenging but I think are good ones to play, because being a challenge they push you to go harder and faster than you usually go, they make you stretch. 

OBHS and Kings can also be a similar case because while some years and some games it’s just like Kavanagh and Toko where they are equally hard to play against but you can also have the complete opposite results and so those games are also very interesting to watch because you never really know how they are going to turn out.

Tournament this year was in Ashburton where we had 5 games in total, one each day. The results were at times hard to come by too, for example the first two games played were lost, the first one much more badly than the second only losing 3-2 that time. In saying that though the second game we played I believe was the best game we’ve played all year long, throughout the whole game it was back and forth between both teams, us scoring one then them and so on. The only down side of that game being the misunderstanding of who scored the first goal from our team. The third day came to and we managed to win that one 5-3, by half time we were up 4 points and managed to score another by the end of the game, the only downfall of that game was letting them score some of their own goals. The fourth day came and we were versing Taieri, an old rival who’d apparently always beaten Logan Park. Unfortunately this year was the same as we lost to them 3-2 with their third goal being scored in the last seconds. We did manage to somewhat redeem ourselves by the last game though against Toko, with neither team scoring leaving both teams on 11th place for the tournament.

Personally I’m going to miss playing hockey especially for Logan Park as I’ve been playing since Year 9. Over the course of those years I have managed to improve my skills as well as being able to co-lead the team in my final year with Albert Beamuer. I, Lichen Sorrel, Matai Bowen, Albert Beamuer, Oliver Hughes and Angus Mclean are the year 13’s that are leaving this year finishing up our season and dedication towards the school for hockey. I think that even though I was co-leading it this year, it wasn’t just me and Albert, all of us year 13’s lead the team in some way, and whether it was by encouragement or something else I think we have all played our part. Matai joined hockey this year for the first time but again still made an impact on the team and was an important person to have. Oliver also made his first and final entrance into the A-team this year having spent the other years on the B’s, again he was an important member and we were glad to have him. 

I’d like to thank Doctor Thompson for coaching us this year, taking practices and bringing us on tournament, including putting up with us he taught us throughout the year skills and drills for us to improve and for us to succeed. Some things, like being on time we're going to be able to take with us all the way through. Practice makes permanent not perfect.