Wonthaggi dominates at Underwater Hockey championships

PLAYERS from the Wonthaggi Underwater Hockey had a highly successful day at last weekend’s Victorian Underwater Hockey State Championships.

A large group of junior and established players travelled to the event held at the Handbury Centre, Geelong Grammar School.

In a highly entertaining yet nail biting affair, Wonthaggi prevailed by a single goal (1-0) over Maribyrnong in the final to claim the state championship shield.

The day started with a fast and highly skilled game between Under 19 and Under 15 Victorian team players. 

The Wonthaggi club is well represented in this year’s Victorian teams, with Romy Keppel, Mike Milnes, Dave Barry-Macaulay, Ethan Milnes Lucy Perdomo, Belinda Keeley-Watts, Amy Barry-Macaulay, Kirsteen “Chooky” Reid, Rees Quilford, Tamsyn Walsh, Felix Maund, Will Stein, all participating.

They will compete at the Australia Underwater Hockey Championships to be held in Bunbury, Western Australia in January 2023.

A tightly contested club based round robin tournament then followed. 

Regional clubs were well represented at the event with clubs from Geelong, Ballarat and Wonthaggi all fielding teams. 

Maribyrnong, Monash University and a Victorian Under 19 team (which featured many players from the Wonthaggi club) made up the other competitors aiming to be named as the Victorian Champion for 2022.

Results throughout the day were extremely close and it took a tense 1-0 victory in the last game of the round robin for the Wonthaggi team to book its place in the final. 

They faced off against a Maribyrnong team who had gone through the round robin undefeated.

Wonthaggi carried their momentum from the final stages in to the final. 

The team’s younger players Tamsyn Walsh, Felix Maund, Will Steinm and Ethan Milnes more than held their own against adult players, and it was an old hand in David Barry-Macaulay who scored the game’s only goal to secure the win for Wonthaggi.

Wonthaggi’s Belinda Watts-Keeley was named the competition’s Most Valuable Women’s Player while Ballarat’s Bruce Higgins was named the Men’s MVP. 

Wonthaggi’s junior players also dominated the awards with Hamish Scothern earning the gong for the most prolific goal scorer while Caden Milnes was named Junior MVP. 

Both hail from the Wonthaggi club but played for the Victorian Under 19 team at the tournament.

Both have their sights set of participating in the next Junior World Championships, scheduled to be held in Turkey in 2024.

The Wonthaggi Underwater Hockey Club plays on Thursday evenings from 7pm at the Wonthaggi YMCA. New players are always welcome.