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Ellis’ replacement?

Recently we heard that Inferno player Rob Ellis could possibly be out for the 2015/2016 season due to injury, but it appears that Guildford Tchoukball Club may have a trick up their sleeve.

Rumour has it that GTC are in talks with James Skilton for the upcoming season and what better timing. During the 2014/2015 season, Skilton was a key player for Farnborough Jets and also made his UK squad debut at the FITB European Championships in Germany. Skilton joining GTC would be a huge signing for the club and a great replacement if Ellis is out.

Skilton was reluctant to confirm or deny whether he will be joining GTC, but was quoted as saying: “At the end of the day, I want to win trophies and to fulfil my ambitions of playing internationally at club level. I’m ready to commit to a team long term so it’s about choosing the right one for me.” The only concern could be a lack of game time with two very capable right shooters, Louisa Hall and Pat Dennis.

Having played alongside GTC player Mack Hofberg for Alton a few years back, it wouldn’t be surprising if Hofberg was pursuing this signing. With the start of the new season only a few short months away, we eagerly await to hear.

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World Championship Success for GTC!

Last week saw the World Tchoukball Championships held in Taiwan and we are proud to announce that several past and present members of Guildford Tchoukball Club were involved in the successful tournament.

Current Guildford Inferno players Mack Hofberg and Louisa Hall played for the UK men’s and women’s teams respectively. I am led to believe they provided some true Inferno spirit to the squad and wreaked havoc on some of the international teams defence. This was Mack’s first World Championship for the UK men and he certainly proved why he was selected with some awesome shooting and defensive work to help the men claim 7th in the tournament. Louisa on the other hand is well experienced with the World Championships; mixed with her cool head, great play and steady leadership as UK women’s captain saw the ladies take 3rd place which is a fantastic achievement! A special mention also goes out to some of our past Inferno players or ‘Embers’ if you will, who were also responsible for the great results; Will Waters, Scott Mills, Ben Wallace and Stuart Blakemore.

There were also a few other players amongst UK squads who appeared to ‘Ignite’ a little fire amongst the teams so another special shout out to them!

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GTC Get in the ‘Spirit’ of the Game!

When approached about showcasing tchoukball as a guest sport at a children’s youth group, GTC jumped at the chance. We were invited to St Albans Church in Hindhead to give a two hour taster session for a group of around 20 children aged 10-14.

Due to the weather closing in, we had to bring the session inside but were not expecting ‘inside’ to actually mean ‘church'! After a few worried looks between the GTC members and some willingness and perseverance from the staff we managed to set up a small court. With some smaller ‘Ds’ and a change to a sponge ball for the sake of the stained glass windows we were under way.

Mack Hofberg led the session teaching basic techniques, playing some fun drills and then finally getting into a game. All the staff and children got involved and really embraced the sport which was fantastic to see.

After an exciting game, and all the windows remaining intact, it had been a great success and promotion of the sport; so much so we had requests from children and parents on how they can get playing more.

Thank you to the Xplosion Youth Group for inviting us and getting so involved. We hope you had a great time and we look forward to seeing you all ‘Tchouking’ soon!

[guildfordtchoukballclub]

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.

Mobile view of the website

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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.

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Everybody wants to be a t-rex

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.

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GTC’s AGM turns into "best AGM ever!"

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.

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Captain’s log – 2013/2014

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.