Guildford Tchoukball Club launch their new website
The new website will allow users to read up on their favourite players, see upcoming events that Guildford Inferno will be attending, read articles by the club as well as look through the media gallery which will be updated with photos and videos taken throughout the season.
Guildford Chairperson, Rob Ellis commented: “We launched a Facebook page a few years ago which allowed people to come and ‘like’ us but having our own website removed the restrictions that social media has and really lets the world know who we are.”
The new website is live now and can be found at www.guildford-tchoukball.co.uk. A player profile will be released every few days until the full club is announced. The first player up is Guildford’s Secretary, Pete Justin.
To keep up-to-date with Guildford Tchoukball Club, you can follow them on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
Tchoukball UK announce new Membership Director and it’s a Guildford player
Whilst in Germany, the Tchoukball UK Board and the regional representatives got together to discuss the applicants for the Membership Director role. This is a newly created role within TUK and will give all players and clubs someone to be their voice at Board level. It had already narrowed down to the final five applicants and now they needed to agree the most suitable person to join the TUK Board.
The final five applicants were all very strong and have a wealth of experience and knowledge between them. Although any of them would do a great job, we were obviously routing for the position to go to a Guildford player.
Yesterday (4th August 2014) TUK announced via their official Twitter page that the new Membership Director had been chosen, and it was none other than Guildford’s Chairperson, Rob Ellis.
Rob commented: “It’s truly an honour to be given this opportunity to work with Tchoukball UK at Board level; I honestly did not expect to get it once I saw who I was up against. They are all great people and would have done an outstanding job. Moving forward the pressure is on to make sure I prove that I was the right choice, and I’ll start that by hanging up my vest and replacing it with a shirt for Board meetings.”
We are a very proud club to have one of our own on the TUK Board. Guildford may not be the biggest club in the UK, but the players are all very passionate about tchoukball and will no doubt get behind Rob to help progress tchoukball over the coming years.
The Guildford Tchoukball Club players are based in the Surrey/Hampshire area and can be followed on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
The idea behind this is that the defending player will place their elbows against their sides with arms facing forward and pointing fingers to the sky, simulating a t-rex’s short arms. By doing this, it allows the player to move their arms quickly to adapt to where the ball is coming out from the frame. If the ball is:
chest-height, the player’s hands are in the best position already
head-height, the player will move their hands up to either catch the ball or deflect it upwards increasing the chance of the team catching it
knee-height, the player rotates each hand so their fingers are pointing towards the floor allowing them to ‘scoop’ the ball into their arms
The players that are using this technique occasionally let out a ‘RAWR’ when using it. We believe this is used as a communication method with their team to let them know that they are in the ‘t-rex’ position. It is also apparent that when a player ‘RAWRs’ the whole team smiles, so it could just be used as a way to ensure the team are enjoying themselves.
Because of the fast pace in tchoukball, increasing a player’s reaction time can not only greatly improve their chances of defending, but also allow the player to be more aware of their surroundings. This becomes useful for spotting where other team members are on the court as well as knowing where the opposition are moving so you can exploit gaps in their defence.
Although the ‘t-rex’ technique is only used for defending, we’re sure it won’t be long before another dinosaur is used to increase shooting or passing accuracy.
Guildford Tchoukball Club are one of the clubs that have used this technique. For more information on the club, follow them on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
Despite arranging the AGM for 6pm, the club got together at 10am at AirHop in Guildford (www.airhoptrampolinepark.com) for an early morning trampolining session. The team claim that they were ‘practicing their jumping techniques’, as well as using the dodgeball area to ‘practice their throwing and catching skills’ whilst 10ft in the air.
After the trampolining session the club went their separate ways in order to get ready for the sit-down meeting, or so we thought. Hours later rather than being sat at a table, the club were now ‘practicing different types of shots’ in a swimming pool!
At around 6pm the club finally sat down to have, what most would call, the ‘actual AGM’. GTC liking to do things differently, once again spiced it up by providing a BBQ for the club members during the discussion.
Once all the points on the agenda were covered and the voting was complete, GTC ended the evening with a game of volleyball.
Rob Ellis, Guildford’s Chairperson, said that: “We’ve found in the past that when you mention holding an AGM a lot of people seem disinterested as they can get quite long and tedious. This year we put our heads together and decided to make a day out of it to ensure participation was high and to also show the players that it’s not all about politics.”
So, did GTC’s plan work? Were the members impressed with the new format for an AGM? Louisa Fountain, the club’s newly appointed Treasurer, commented: “This is the best AGM I’ve ever been too! If this is what Guildford are doing for the AGM I can’t wait for the next social!“
If you’re looking to keep up to date with Guildford Tchoukball Club, you can follow them on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
Guildford’s Team Captain, Pat Dennis stated that the first half of the 2013/2014 season was really difficult. It was the first time in years that there were only 6 main players due to injuries, previous players relocating around the country, and the level of play around the country had risen to an all time high.
When asked what needed to be improved, Pat replied “Defending!” It is well known that Guildford’s defending has never been a strong point but this season other teams were exploiting the lack in defence to gain the victory. Pat went on to say “Our shooting has always been consistent and this continued, but with the holes in the defence we were not able to gain leads. This is our main area to focus for the next season.”
The next area discussed was highlights from the season. With excellent Tchoukball being played by all teams it made every game competitive and exciting to watch. Pat instantly said that the semi-final for the Andrews Cup seems to be the main highlight for the team. “That semi-final was truly incredible. Leeds Cosmos found some gaping holes in our defence and took advantage of this. I really thought they would beat us. I don’t know what happened but in the third period something clicked and the whole team picked it up a level to bring the game back to even.”
Pat went on to explain that his main highlight wasn’t the team’s performance, but actually the final shot. “The last shot from Mack was the main highlight for me. Mack has improved year upon year as a player and to take all the pressure of the last shot, in the last few seconds no doubt, and score was something a lot of players have fallen victim to in the past.”
Next Pat covered what Guildford’s plans are in the next season and what he hopes to achieve. “Having looked back we know our main weakness is our defending, so that is the first area we’re going to look at. We’ve looked into at getting a defending coach to help the team and this is something we feel is needed. We’re also looking at bringing in some ‘new blood’ to help make the team whole as although playing with 6 players is fun, with the level of tchoukball in the UK constantly improving, additional players will help greatly.”
As for goals for the upcoming season, Pat referred to a previous comment from Louisa Fountain, “We've competed twice at EWC and grossly under-performed each time, it'd be nice to take this seasons confidence and go on to qualify for EWC in 2016.”
It looks like Guildford are really taking on-board what needs to be done and have set their goals high for the next season. In order to qualify for EWC they will need to finish National League either first or second. They’ve done it before, will they do it again?
To keep up-to-date with Guildford Inferno and how they progress through the season, follow them on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
Fast forward to 2014 and now at least 50% of the team either have Kempa trainers or have them on order. The Kempa Status XL shoes even have the black and green colours which Guildford have become famous for over the years. Becoming slightly obsessive with Kempa, the team have also purchased some green Kempa sweatbands to be worn during matches.
Tom Offin, Club Treasurer commented “After a nudge from Rob and one of the new players I ordered some Status XL’s with high expectations, they didn’t disappoint. At first they were a snug fit but after a couple of days wearing them around the house they felt just right. The new season can’t get here soon enough so we can show off these beauties in the National League.”
The new Guildford Tchoukball Club website is coming soon so keep an eye on www.guildford-tchoukball.co.uk. In the meantime, to keep up to date with the club you can follow them on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
Guildford announce new recruits for the 2014/2015 season
Although keeping quiet on the names of the new players, rumours have it that Dom Raeyen has joined Guildford. This would be a massive step forward for Guildford as Dom is one of the South’s most improved players over the last few years and is even part of Team UK’s Performance Squad, which includes the 20 best players in the country.
No-one at Guildford would confirm whether or not the rumours were true, however Guildford’s Team Captain, Pat Dennis commented “Guildford was once referred to as an ‘elite team’ where players were invited to join by invitation only. I’m not sure how that started but we believe expanding the team is good for Guildford. Our players have been searching high and low for new talent and have even been talking with existing players regarding the possibility of joining Guildford.”
To keep up-to-date with Guildford Tchoukball Club, you can follow them on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
Guildford’s performance in the National League gave them a pass into the semi-final where they went face-to-face with Leeds Cosmos. With each team wanting that place in the final Guildford had their work cut out for them.
Cosmos walked into the finals day with a tremendous looking team filling up both the court and the sub bench whilst Guildford only had 6 players, one less than the maximum amount allowed on the court. It was not looking good for Guildford.
After a great first period and despite the shortage of players, Guildford took an early lead over Cosmos. Something which is uncommon for Guildford as they usually refer to the first period ‘the write-off period’.
The second period was a game changer with Cosmos making some tactical substitutions and exploiting Guildford’s second line. The scoreboard was almost one-sided with Guildford losing their 7 point lead and ending the second period tied.
Going into the third period, Cosmos’ moral was high and they could see that Guildford’s lack on subs was a burden. Using this to their advantage Cosmos pulled away in the first few minutes of the period gaining a lead of 5 points. The final was in sights but not for Guildford. With 3 minutes remaining Guildford gave their all and called for ‘plan A’, pass to Pat Dennis.
The last few minutes were where Guildford played some of the best tchoukball they have done all season and brought it back to even with 20 seconds left. Cosmos were in possession and going for a final point to seal their place in the final, however a second line catch from Pat Dennis stopped Cosmos in their tracks but also left Guildford with no ‘plan A’. Options limited Pat turned and sent the ball to the opposite end where Guildford’s youngest player, Mack Hofberg was waiting. The pressure was on but a powerful shot from Mack gave Guildford the point and the ticket to the Andrews Cup final.
The Final
Stepping onto the court for the final, Guildford were up against Farnborough Jets, a team that had given Guildford tough matches throughout the season. Farnborough were ready, were Guildford?
Farnborough opened the first period taking advantage of Guildford’s numbers and moved them around to score an early lead. This is what Farnborough had been training for all season and they were not going down without a fight. Farnborough ended the first period with a 3 point lead and were only just getting started.
Guildford’s team talk during the break must have lit the fire once more as Guildford bounced back in the second period with their defence taking out key Farnborough players. Farnborough’s lead quickly dropped and Guildford were now showing ‘how they roll’. The second period ended with Guildford 5 points ahead and filled with adrenalin for the final period.
Stepping back on to the court in black and green were 6 players ready to give it their all to walk away with the trophy. Continuing with the same strategy as the second period, it was clear that Guildford were playing smart, using everyone on the court and making gaps rather than shooting at players. On rare occasions Guildford really click as a team, and this was one of those moments. Farnborough changed things up and moved Guildford around but it wasn’t quite enough for the win. As the final whistle blew, Guildford had stretched the lead to 13 and had taken home the gold.
Mack Hofberg commented: "The final, for Guildford, marked some of the most mature and confident tchoukball we've played in a few seasons. Often we're victims to our own heads as was apparent in our semi final. To have played some of our top tchoukball in the final, and win comfortably over a team who'd given very difficult times earlier in the season was a great moment."
To keep up-to-date with Guildford Tchoukball Club, you can follow them on Twitter @InfernoGTC.
