2010 was another terrific year for the Waratah Hockey Club with our highest number of registered members ever at 220.

Undoubtedly the highlight of our year was the Womens A grade premiership which saw a terrific grand final match take place against Banks.  It was an extremely close and exciting encounter with the game being decided by strokes after extra time saw both teams locked in a 1-1.

We also finally took home the U16 Girls premiership trophy after a couple of practises over the last couple of years of making the grand final but losing.  Our U16 Boys and U13 Boys also played in grand finals, but unfortunately were not winners this year.

The Womens B grade team also made it to the grand final and had a great game against St Marys, who did not lose a game all year.  Our girls certainly gave them a run for their money and were unlucky not to force an upset win.

We had 4 out of 7 of our senior teams make the finals with the Mens A and Womens C Red being knocked out in semi finals. 

Our Mens B and C narrowly missed out on the final four, but hopefully will be back playing finals again next year.  The Womens C White team finished 8^th and started to bring quite a few of the U16 girls through this year, so we will be looking for improvements next year.

Unfortunately we didn’t quite make it to 3 years in a row with the DHA Club Champion Trophy giving it up to St Marys, however we were runners up.

Overall, on the field we had a very successful year with all of our teams and their final placings listed below:

Mens A 4th                                           U16 Boys Runners up
Mens B 5th                                           U13 Boys Runners up
Mens C 5th                                           U10 Boys Runners up

Womens A Premiers                              U16 Girls Premiers
Womens B Runners up                          U13 Girls 6th
Womens C Red 4th                               U10 Girls 5th
Womens C White 8th    

The other main reason for our success would have to be our coaches. We have always been very proud of the fact that our club provides good quality coaching staff to all teams and this year was no exception. I would like to thank all coaches (and managers) and acknowledge the time and effort they all put in throughout the season.

Mens A Wayne King                                          U16 Boys John Keirs & Craig Burgemeister
Mens B Kevin Burton / Micheil Brodie                 U13 Boys Tracey Parker
Mens C Steve Rowe                                          U10 Boys Ellie Hayward

Womens A Kim Ainslie                                      U16 Girls Karen Markos
Womens B Tracey Parker & Karen Markos          U13 Girls Chantelle Hughes
Womens C Red Steve Rowe                              U10 Girls Phil Roberts
Womens C White Micheil Brodie                         U8 Micheil Brodie

As well as our success at a club level, we have enjoyed continued success with providing players, coaches and managers to the NT state teams that participate in National Championships each year. The list of these people is quite long, so I will not attempt to name them all, but I will highlight that 2 of our local, "home grown" Waratahs boys, who have had an outstanding year - Leon and Jeremy Hayward.

 Leon moved to Perth at the start of the year with an AIS scholarship and has recently been added to the Aust Senior Squad.  Jeremy is also making the move the Perth next year, and was a part of the Australian Youth Olympic team that won gold in Singapore.

Off the field, 2010 was also very successful once again where we had a couple of good fundraising and social events early on the in the year, which saw us raise about $3,000 from the Shennanigan's Quiz and the Bunnings & Harvey Norman BBQ’s, as well as another $2,000 at our 2 Saturday morning club duty days at hockey. A big thanks to all those involved in organising these events and co-ordinating volunteers to help out when required. It is a very true saying that many hands make light work and as a club, we need to ensure that all members support these types of events and lend a hand when required.

Once again in 2010, the club was very well supported financially by our major sponsors: Steve Rowe / SRA IT; Eric Fleay / Quality Aluminium; Tony Hill / Specsavers. Personally, I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to each of them for their continued support of the club and can only hope it continues on in the future. It is through the generosity of these sponsors that helps keep our fees down and makes us the cheapest club in Darwin to play for.

Finally, I must thank my committee for all their hard work and dedication to the club. Dave Cotton as Mens VP did a fantastic job in rallying the mens side of the club together and keeping them in line with paying fees, umpiring etc. Chantrelle Carey as the Womens VP, Kelly Rakkas as super Secretary and then terrific Treasurer once Linda Kennaugh left for Perth half way through the season, and Marie Kirkwood as Junior Co-Ordinator.  Everyone did a fantastic job to keep the club running smoothly and successfully. Unfortunately Kelly has to retire from her position on the committee due to increasing work commitments, and I thank her on behalf of all club members for the work she has put in as our secretary for the past 4 or 5 years. 

In conclusion, I would just like to say how proud I am to be your club President and look forward to our continued successes both on and off the field for many more years to come!

Thanks and go Tahs!

Kim Ainslie
WHC President