Under 16 Shield Teams 2023

Attention all junior hockey players

North West Lightning are offering a great opportunity for junior hockey players to lift their game to another level, make new friends and enjoy competitive hockey on synthetic turf. We have had amazing success over the last two year under coach Dale Boyd with the Under 16 Girls’ Shield Team silver medallists last year. We are excited to announce that Dale will be coaching the Under 16 girls this year, but we are hoping to expand our team entries and include a boys’ team.

 

The Shield competition is a 14-week competition run by Hockey Victoria, played on a Friday evening in Bendigo or Melbourne, starting in early May. Training sessions are on a Tuesday evening at the Bendigo hockey pitch from 6.00 – 7.30pm. Training sessions have begun, and the players will train as a squad with the team being selected each week based on ability and selection criteria. We welcome players from each of our Lightning Zone associations and understand that the distance of training may prevent players from attending each week. We encourage you to attend as many as feasible to assist with game structure.

 

Fees will be approximately $350 which covers the cost of the coach, umpires, uniform and pitch hire. To reduce the costs further we will endeavour to carpool or use a bus for those players travelling from outside the HCV area and there may be a small fee charged for this service. There will be two options for paying fees - upfront or invoiced for each game. If fees are paid before the third round the 'sponsor polos shirt' will be free. Payments made after this round will include an invoice for the polo which is $50.

Fees can be reduced through team and individual sponsorship and further information is attached with this email. Players are encouraged to seek individual sponsorship ($200 goes directly to the player) or the other levels of sponsorship which has a percentage going to the player and the remainder to the club for ongoing expenses. If you have a gold or platinum sponsor in mind, please contact me asap as we want these to be added to the optional training singlet. I have attached last year's sponsors who may be a starting point as some of the players who sought their sponsorship previously are no longer be playing with Lightning. I will also have hard copies of the sponsorship information at training. Good luck in your search for sponsors!

Players from Hockey Central Vic, Goulburn Valley Hockey Association, North Central Hockey Association, Wimmera Hockey Association and Sunraysia Hockey Association born in 2007 or later are invited to nominate for the North West Lightning Under 16 boys and girls Shield teams.

 

If your child is interested, please register through the following link, click on the NOMINATE icon and follow the prompts. Nominations will close on Friday 24^th March at 5.00pm.

https://www.revolutionise.com.au/nwlightning/events/168620/

 

If you have any questions or require further information, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 0428314219 or email nwlhc.junior@gmail.com

 

Angela Poxon

NWL Junior Coordinator

Creating pathways for aspiring players