Bon Voyage

By Ron Brear

Lena Plambeck is leaving her rightful home of New South Wales and moving to the dark side to join the ranks of the mighty Black and Gold Hockey players of Western Australia. Lena is well known in the Hockey community as a woman of tough love, conviction, self discipline and mechanical, in-depth logical analysis of underwater Hockey games.

What you may not know is the amount of behind the scenes work that Lena does for the sport of Underwater Hockey, not just in NSW but for the whole of Australia. Lena is an integral part of the planning for the Wollongong Underwater Hockey 4’s, State Championships and Nationals. People involved in running competitions know how much is involved in the preparation and running of the competitions, the array of tasks include things such as game draws, organising referees, booking pools, communicating with clubs, preparing competition booklets, updating by-laws, member updates, being an information hub… and the list goes on. Lena has completed many of these tasks time and time again as a representative of NSW Underwater Hockey for some 20 years (on and off – a non-committal stint in WA saw her return to NSW – as predicted in the future). The amount of time, energy and love for the game that has been put in over this period is phenomenal and it will be genuinely missed by NSW Underwater Hockey and its members.

NSW Underwater Hockey sends out a huge thank you hug and sloppy kisses and wishes you the best for the future. We are sure you will love the warm weather and good quality Hockey in Perth.

A farewell was held for Lena on Sunday the 9th of September in Wollongong. For all her hard work she has been promised a night of fun and games with free massages from Ryan Heckenberg, body shot from Ron Brear and full involvement from everyone gathered at the event in party games of her choice. Kids are welcome to the event but they may be mentally scarred.

NSW State Titles 2012

By Ron Brear, NSW Underwater Hockey Commission President

Underwater Hockey game during the NSW State Titles 2012

The NSW Underwater Hockey Commission held its state championships at Ryde Aquatic Centre on the 12th of August. The competition had excellent attendance with players coming from Wollongong, Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle and even an Australian UWH Delegates team from all over the country. NSW underwater hockey would like to thank all the players for the fantastic spirit and goodwill that was felt in all the games that promoted a fun and enjoyable atmosphere.

All the teams played each other once providing a good amount of game time and an even competition for all involved. Congratulations to Sydney on narrowly winning the Competition and becoming the new state champions. Their consistent quality hockey got them over the line.

Newcastle Underwater Hockey also deserves a round of applause. They are a new club that only started 6 months ago, they turned up to the pool with fire in their eyes and hunger for gold in their bellies. At the end of the competition their hunger wasn’t filled but the fire was still there. They ended up with the bronze but they are sure to be a force in years to come.

Lastly I would like to thank the generous volunteers for their time and effort in making the competition happen: Andy Davies, Lena Plambeck, Phil Ackerman, Graham Woody, Andrew Dunlop and Jason Beck.

Final Standings

  1. Sydney Underwater Hockey club
  2. Wollongong Underwater Hockey club
  3. Newcastle Underwater Hockey club