Breathtaking results from the National Underwater Hockey Titles

THE Wonthaggi Underwater Hockey Club (WUWHC) has again demonstrated that it is the powerhouse of junior development in this state, with 16 players returning from the National Titles on the Gold Coast.

Along with the junior athletes, the club also had several WUWHC players representing Victoria in the Elite Men’s and Women’s Divisions.

The Victorian under 15 Team consisted of seven Wonthaggi Club players, and for many this was their first experience playing at a National Event.

The young team finished fifth overall and according to Coach Lucero Perdomo Cruz, they saw a huge improvement over the course of the week with some outstanding goals and strong teamwork being displayed.

Wonthaggi under 15 representative Levi Addison gave his thoughts on the tournament.

“It was an awesome experience, and I can’t wait for next year. Some of the kids from other states were much older than our team so we have a lot to look forward to,” he said.

The state under 19 Team was stacked full of local players (9 out of the 10 were from WUWHC) and had an outstanding tournament, bringing home a silver medal against the best in Australia.

Victoria defeated South Australia, Queensland’s B squad and Malaysia (invitational team) in the pool games and fought out a 1-all draw against a strong Western Australia squad.

They were unfortunately defeated by Queensland’s A squad in the round robin format 8 – 2.

They headed into their Semi Final needing to beat WA to secure a spot in the gold medal match.

This was an epic rematch played under lights at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre and was one of the matches of the Tournament.

“The teams were evenly matched, and the game was full on. We scored the opening goal, but WA came storming back to even the scores at the half,” said Wonthaggi local and player Hamish Scothern.

The crowd support for both teams was deafening with spectators crowding the edges of the pool cheering for their respective states.

Victoria surged forward in the second half and scored another goal to take the lead and Foster local and state captain Kasey Hoskins proudly explained how they dug in for the win.

“We had to hang on under intense pressure from WA forwards as they threw everything at us,” she said.

“We played some incredible hockey and defended our goal numerous times, locking the puck into the corner for the last few minutes of the game.”

The home team - Queensland A, were too strong in the final taking home gold, but Victoria made them earn it, pushing them until half time and just running out of legs in the second half.

Under 19 coach and Archie’s Creek local Kevin Chisholm was very happy with his side’s performance, as was WUWHC president Matt Hoskins.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the teams’ effort, every player gave it their all and they should all be super proud of their achievements,” he said.

“The Wonthaggi UWH Club has a long and proud history of producing state players, and this year was no different – we are super proud of their efforts and achievements. The key is junior development.”

Every Thursday night at 7pm the Wonthaggi pool is awash with enthusiastic juniors, working on skills, drills and games under the guidance of highly experienced state players.