The other games this weekend are on Sunday:

• Liverpool Saints v Canterbury Eagles @ Liverpool @ 9:15am
• Central Coast Cyclones v Canberra Ice Caps @ Erina @ 5:45pm

Yup, we have six teams this year! Woo hoo!

This season is shaping up to be a definitive season for Womens Ice Hockey in NSW, and we welcome all those women and girls who have returned to the League, or who are playing their first games this year. I know I’m going to have lots of fun this season, maybe score some goals, get fit, meet new players, skate hard, and learn new skills.

I’ll be posting up the Schedule and results as and when I know of them. I’ve heard that the Schedule is still pretty fluid and apt to change at this stage.

For the full IHNSW Winter League Schedule, check out the IHNSW Winter League Page

For the full IHNSW results, check out the IHNSW Winter League Results Page

If you aspire to playing for NSW, you’ll need to attend at least one (but preferably both) tryout sessions at Blacktown Ice Arena, on Saturday 21st April @ 7am, or Saturday 28th April @ 7am.

Our team won the Gold Medal in the Division III World Championships (being held in England), beating Britain 6-5 in a penalty shootout. They also defeated South Africa 21-0, Hungary 3-1, Belgium 8-2, and Korea 6-0. With their stunning performance, Australia is now promoted to Division II.

NSW players in attendance are Melissa Rulli, Rachael White, and Sandy Cameron.

Awesome work, girls, truly awesome! Winter Olympics 2010 - here we come!
There’s plans for a homecoming crowd at the Sydney International Terminal at 8:55am to cheer them home.

Game 2 on the Sunday morning was a much closer game, with Sydney skipping out to a 3-nil lead early, but the Assassins clawed their way back into the game, winning 5 to 3.

I’ve added lots of photos of the game to the Gallery.  Please contact me if you would like hard copies of any of the photos.

Entry fees apply, which go towards the expenses incurred through the Series, and also to support the National Womens Team, who jet off to England to compete in the World Championships later in the year.

So, head on down, watch what’s sure to be a memorable game between the two biggest arch-rivals of the national league,  support our girls, and also the National Womens Team.  Don’t forget, Saturday 5:30pm at Penrith Ice Palace.

Also, the Sydney Bears Womens Team tryouts are on Wednesday 14th Feb/21st/28th at 7:15pm, at Blacktown Ice Arena.

2007 Winter Season Tryouts 

The 2007 Winter Season is still about 4 months off, but already there are tryouts for teams.

The Liverpool Saints Womens Team had their second (and final) tryout last night (Monday 22/1), with a good attendance. There were a few interesting hopefuls turn up (with a few from Canberra, and Penrith), which would be quite beneficial to the team if they were selected and joined up. Good luck everyone who tried out. I think this year will shape up to be a pivotal year for the Saints Womens Team.

The Sydney Bears Ice Hockey Club has announced in the past week that the Sydney Bears Womens Team is re-forming for this season. Tryouts will be announced soon, and should be held around mid-February at Blacktown Ice Arena. If you’re interested, contact the Sydney Bears Ice Hockey Club for more info.

I have heard (from the girls that came up from Canberra last night) that there may not be an Ice Caps (Canberra) Womens Team for 2007, due to the availability of a number of the players from last year (overseas and otherwise committed). I certainly hope that this is not the case, as I enjoyed playing against the Canberrans last year. Let’s hope that the team forms once more.

Trials for the Central Coast Cyclones teams will be held on 21 and 28 February (I’m assuming this includes the Womens Team?) .

No news from Penrith, Canterbury Eagles, or Newcastle at this stage. If anyone has info on these teams, please let me know.

Cheers,

- bec

Also, I also have no results or game reports for the opening games of the AWIHL held a few weeks back.

So, if you care to send info in, I’ll certainly write it up! Also, if anyone has photos they’d like added to the Gallery, please send them in too.

:)

Blacktown Hoyts is on Level 4 of the Westpoint Shopping Centre at Blacktown (right across the road from Blacktown Railway Station). If you’re driving, approach from Flushcombe Rd, into Alpha St, and up the ramp into the Hoyts Cinema Car Park. By train, it’s an easy walk across the pedestrian overbridge into Westpoint Shopping Centre.

• The JMK National Tournament is being held in South Australia next year, with the date being moved forward from October to June. An interesting rule change has also been introduced that bans all imports from playing in future JMK Tournaments.
• There is a proposal to run an U18 National Womens Camp at Newcastle in April, over a week, just like the very successful Peewee/Bantam/Midget camps. This camp would be an Invite Only camp to the top 40 National women players.
• There is also a proposal to run a National Girls Hockey Day, with activities running at every rink, hopefully at the same time. This is an event for women of all ages and skill levels to have a go at playing ice hockey in a safe environment.
• The Australian Womens Ice Hockey Series is being held at three venues on three weekens interspersed over the next few months - Canberra, Brisbane, and Penrith. Each team (I think there’s four?) will play two games during each two-day event.
• The National Womens Program website has been down for the past few weeks, so if you get a weird error message, you’ll know why. It’s a bit of a bummer, as there’s almost no information anywhere else on the Internet, apart from the emails floating around. The administrator was hoping to get it back up and running not long ago so we wait with anticipation for its return. In the meantime, I’ll post stuff as I see it (like this update).

For further information on National Womens stuff, please contact Lyn Reynolds, who has graciously volunteered to be the NSW State Rep to the National Womens Council Board. Thanks Lyn, much appreciated!

Cheers,

- bec

The Australian Womens Ice Hockey League is a State-level competition being run by the National Womens Program similar to the AIHL, with competition due to start towards the end of this year. The Sydney Sirens were dominant during the National Womens Showcase Series games, held earlier this year at various locations in the eastern and southern states.

To be a part of the inaugural Sydney Sirens AWIHL team, rock on up to the selection trials, and have a go!