The CCAS UAA Boys and Girls Hockey squad have recently returned from a successful inter academy camp in Armidale. Over 120 hockey players from the North Coast, Western region, Hunter and Northern Inland academies attended the two (2) day camp.
“This is the first time that CCAS have been involved in the inter academy hockey weekend and it was a fantastic experience for all involved” said Program Head Coach Brett Johnson. “This is the culmination of the first part of our training block and allowed our boys and girls squads the opportunity to play together for the first time in preparation for the Your Local Club Academy Games in April.”
The highlight of the weekend was the Academy dinner which saw all athletes and coaches split up around the tables with the rule that you could not sit next to somebody from your own Academy. This ensured that the athletes had the opportunity to mix with other academies and make some new friends. During dinner the group had former Kookaburra player and Olympic Bronze medalist Kieran Govers conduct a Q&A session where he shared his personal insights into how he dealt with the disappointment of missing selection for the Rio Olympics (his younger brother was selected instead of him), how much training he used to do in the lead up to major tournaments, what his tattoos mean, how he dealt with injuries and how he has adjusted to life after hockey.
“We had fantastic coaches from other Academies come to Armidale and help with training over the weekend, which gave me the opportunity to learn different skills.” said girls squad member Jazz Bissaker. “While we were training, we had a lot of laughs with our new friends, while still putting in the effort of the intense training to improve ourselves in the sport that we absolutely love playing. We were incredibly lucky to have Kieran help us improve our skills over the weekend, as we learnt to do over heads, hitting, tomahawks, drag flicking, receiving over heads and dribbling”.
Boys program player Ethan Shadbolt-Connors also enjoyed the camp “The weekend was heaps fun because we got to meet new kids, coaches and former Australian Hockey Player Kieran Govers all with great knowledge and skills to give. I learned how to do better flicks, harder hits and slaps and know now how to lead at the right time, as well as strength and conditioning”.
We would like thank the NIAS Academy for hosting the weekend. The CCAS Hockey program is now taking a break over the Xmas/New Year period. It will get underway again at the end of January 2020.
