#hhil

[aranzalewski-blog-blog]

India

Hey Family, This time when coming to India I knew what to expect so I was actually looking forward to the trip , reuniting with my foreign counterparts for a month of travel and hockey. As thought the first week would be quiet laborious doing double training most days. This seems unnecessary but when the tournament starts you don’t really get a chance to train at all so we need all players up to speed and ready for the tournaments start. If you have ever been to India you will know that for anything to happen it must pass through a hierarchy system it takes ages for anything to get done. And even `players in the other franchises experienced this, all of which had overnight delays in either India or Singapore. Unlike them our trip to India was pretty seamless, long but seamless. No delays and 24h hours total travel we arrived to Bhubaneswar. We anxiously asked the driver what hotel he was taking us , when he responded “Mayfair” we sighed with relief, because this is by far the superior of any accommodation in town . But not until we had unpacked our bags and started to relax we where informed we had to move to a far less comfortable hotel . Lucky enough this was just a temporary shift for 2 days and we moved back to the resort that is the Mayfair . The daily ritual involves eating , training , eating , coffee , pool , training , eating in that exact order. Repeat this for the last 5 days and that is exactly what we have been doing . So when you have asked me what we have been up to, I didn’t exactly have anything exciting to tell you . Sunday was our day off , and I wanted to get out of the hotel so I bugged a few of the other boys to come to see a few temples for a few hours . Unlike last year these temples where extremely unsatisfying and small. Needless to say our tuktuk driver in true Indian style “tuk” us to the wrong temple twice. The first temple he drove us to was a Hindu temple so we couldn’t even get in (why the fuck would we want to go there ) . A few locals could speak some small English , mainly through watching cricket so he helped us get to our desired location . Missing home and the beach but enjoying my time here so far , plenty of dhal, rice & rotti for lunch and dinner a fair change from the large portion of vegetables and meat I eat at home . Excited for the tournament to start tomorrow and the travelling certainly will be interesting. Over & Out Aran

[hometownheroesil-blog]

Help!

Filling some of the last shows for tour. If you or anyone you know can help with these shows, we'd really appreciate it. Venues, houses, or anything else is fine.

1/3-St.Louis, MO

1/8-Wyoming

1/9-Utah

1/19-New Mexico or El Paso, TX

1/25-Tallahassee, FL

2/2-Maryland

2/3-Philadelphia, PA

2/7-Albany, NY

2/8-Rochester/Syracuse, NY

[hometownheroesil-blog]

What're some cool places we should see on tour?

Give us food places, abandoned buildings, just cool things to see, etc. Basically if you think it's worth seeing or going to, tell us about it! 

[hometownheroesil-blog]

Where do you want to see us play?

Let us know what city or state you want us to come to! Also, tell us some venues and bands to play with if you know any! We want to play for as many of you as possible and meet every one of you!

[indianhockey-blog]

The Hindu: Time now for Hockey World League

Time now for Hockey World League Principal Correspondent Close on the heels of the inaugural Hockey India League (HIL), India is ready to host another event, Round 2 of the Hockey World League (HWL), which will serve as a qualifying competition for next year’s World Cup to be held at The Hague, The Netherlands. This new event, floated by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for men and women, will be held over a two-year cycle. For the first cycle, which started in August last and would continue till February 2014, the event would be the qualifier for the World Cup and over the next two-year period it would become the qualifying competition for the Olympics. Several teams, which took part in Round 1, have qualified for the next round, while the sides ranked between ninth and 16th in the world get the chance to directly play in Round 2. Eight teams from four Round 2 events (to be played on single pool round robin format) will be eligible to participate in Round 3 (which will have two pools of four teams each followed by the classification matches). The eight top ranked sides in the world will get a bye to play in the two third round events, which will serve as the semifinals. The best six finishers in the semifinals will make it to the World Cup or the Olympics. The host nation and five continental champions will complete the remaining slots. The top eight teams from the HWL semifinals will be eligible to take part in the final (which will follow the format of Round 3). Some of the teams which have come through Round 1 will be seen in action during the Round 2 competition for men and women to be held here from February 18 to 24. Teams like Ireland, Bangladesh, Oman and Fiji have qualified from the first round of the men’s competition. India, ranked 11th, and China have made it directly. Among the women’s teams, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Fiji have advanced from the opening round. India, ranked 12th, and Japan (9th) are the sides to get a bye. Even as some teams arrived on Tuesday, the Indian women’s side began its preparations under the watchful eyes of coach Neil Hawgood. Hawgood said in an event involving lesser known teams, the host had to focus on improving its own game. “We are moving in the right direction. We can worry about ourselves than others.” Hawgood said the players needed to work on various aspects of their game in order to improve the performance. Meanwhile, Indian men’s team coach Michael Nobbs allowed the players to recover from the fatigue of the gruelling HIL. However, the coach along with two other support staff took time out to put drag-flicker Gurjinder Singh, who was not part of the HIL, through some fitness drills. The visiting teams will start their training here from Wednesday. SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

[indianhockey-blog]

Times of India: This team is much fitter, says coach Hawgood

This team is much fitter, says coach Hawgood By Ritu Sejwal

NEW DELHI: After hosting several Hockey India League matches recently, the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium will come to life again with the Hero Hockey World League Round 2 (men & women) scheduled from February 18 to 24 in New Delhi.

The Indian women start their campaign against Kazakhstan on February 18 and play a higher-ranked Japan on February 22. The host team, which is seeded second in the tournament, has undergone a number of changes with junior players replacing the seniors.

India's chief coach Neil Hawgood, who has been working with the women's team for over six months, feels the girls are a fitter lot. "The team is a lot fitter, which allows them to concentrate a bit longer. In Ireland during Champions Challenge (four months back), our inability to concentrate for full 70 minutes let us down," chief coach Neil Hawgood told TOI on Wednesday.

"Change is always good. It keeps everybody honest. We are at a point where we have a lot of junior players in the squad and with this we are letting the senior players know that they need to be better."

On his expectations from the tournament, Hawgood said he will be looking to win all the matches and showcase some good hockey. "I am expecting the girls to play their best hockey in six months. In this event, we can't take any team lightly because we have to win every game. It's not about who we play, we can't afford to lose any match," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Japan are wary of the hosts' ability but are confident of putting up a good show. "Ours is a young team which was put together at the end of last year. But we are a higher-ranked team. Of course we want to qualify for the world league," Japan's coach Yoo Seung Jin said. "Our oldest player is 35, youngest player just 20, so it's a blend of experience and youth," Jin added.

While saying that this event was important, Jin said his team's focus was the 2014 Asian Games.

In the men's category, China, Ireland, Bangladesh, Oman, Fiji and India are participating, whereas Japan, Russia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Fiji and India will be competing in the women's category.

FIH, HI to conduct high performance coaching course

As part of the Hockey World League in New Delhi, the FIH and Hockey India will hold a joint high performance coaching course from February 16 to 22.

The course is the second part of a coaching education program for elite coaches who aspire to be high performance coaches. It aims to identify coaches from all areas of India and provide them with advanced coaching tools. Thirty coaches across India will be participating in the course. The first course was held in Lucknow in September 2012