HOCKEY
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TWENTY20 revolutionised cricket, and now Orange Men’s Hockey Association (OMHA) is primed and ready to bring all the excitement, euphoria and effervescence of the adapted sport to hockey, with the John Davis Motors Hockey Superleague.
The Superleague is set to kick off on Sunday, July 19 and will feature four sides - the Mazda Maulers, Suzuki Strikers, Volvo Vikings and Renault Royals - playing in a round robin competition, boasting shortened, attack-based games of hockey.
“Basically, it’s Twenty20 cricket for hockey,” Orange City Hockey Club delegate Scott Baker, the brains behind the Superleague, said.
“It’s very much in the same mould as the Indian Premier League (IPL). The sides will be made of players from the Wanderers men’s Premier League Hockey side, and the local first and second grade competitions.
“They’ll be mixed up between the teams, and play in games with two 20-minute halves. If it’s a draw, we’ll be having shoot-outs which we don’t normally do.
“It’s exciting, it’s new and it’s a good way to be able to play with and against different players each week. We’re very confident of it being a success.”
Baker said while the competition’s inaugural season is very much a test run, the OMHA sent out surveys to players regarding the competition and received a wealth of feedback.
The original thought was to have an IPL-style auction to fill the four sides, each of which would have a salary cap. Players would be valued based on their experience in local, Premier League and representative teams.
“That was dependant on the number of people nominating, so to alleviate that problem we’ve simplified the selection process this year,” Baker said.
“Basically we’ll have a schoolyard pick. You start with Premier League players, then first grade, then second grade, to make sure the teams are as even as possible.
“After this season, if it’s a success, then we’ll begin looking at all the other ideas we have for the competition, like playing on Friday or Saturday nights, potentially in summer, extending the competition and that sort of thing.”
Despite the relative simplicity of the inaugural tournament, Baker said the quality of the competition is set to be high with Orange Wanderers men’s Premier League Hockey stars Alex Said and Adam Hurford already committed to playing.
On top of that, Orange hockey legend Beth Shea has committed to coaching one of the sides, while Confederates’ women’s Premier League coach Mark Pengilly has also been approached.
“There is plenty of other players looking at playing as well,” Baker said.
“We’re very excited about it. The beauty is, even if we don’t get enough to fill four full sides, we can make it nine-a-side and open it up even more.
“The first season will just be a men’s competition, and then we’ll look at a women’s competition if this one is a success.”
Anyone interested in playing in the Superleague should contact Baker on 0422 619 699, or head to OMHA’s Facebook page.