Juniors Wrap Up

By Leesa Needham, Juniors' VP

2024 saw TEM enter nine teams from U10s to U16s. There were mixed results on the field but overall a successful season all round. We welcomed Benji Edwards to the club this year as Coaching Coordinator for the Juniors. Benji did also end up coaching our U14 boys side and did a fantastic job with what ended up being a challenging season for that team.

We had two teams make the finals this year, our U12 Girls Pennant and U16 Mixed District sides. Both unfortunately lost their semi finals but should be commended on fantastic seasons, especially the U12 girls who had a number of first time hockey players.

HOOKIN2HOCKEY

We once again ran our school roadshows in local schools during February. These then led into our Hookin2Hockey sessions in Term 1. We then also ran Hookin2Hockey during Terms 2 and 3 and saw new players join up each term. A big thank you to Jo and Lucy Bowden who ran our Hin2H and U8s this year.

2024 JUNIOR TEAMS

Thank you to all our dedicated team coaches and managers from this year, your support is so greatly appreciated!

U16 Girls Shield
Coach	Nick Sutcliffe
Manager	Helen Thomas
U16 Mixed District
Coach	Jeremy Johnson
Manager	Rod Meaney
U14 Girls Shield
Coach	Georgina Kennedy Jen Eager
Manager	Catherine Roosenburg
U14 Boys Shield
Coach	Benji Edwards
Manager	James Kirsner
U12 Girls Pennant
Coach	Noah Erdeljac
Manager	Katie Jones
U12 Boys shield
Coach	Matt Sweetnam
Manager	Sam Waters
U10 - 1 Lions
Coach	Andrew Needham
U10 - 2 Tigers
Coach	Megan Anquetil
U10 - 3 Panthers
Coach	Emma Constantinou Anika Selvaratnam
U8
Coach	Jo Bowden Lucy Bowden

SUMMER 6s & INDOOR HOCKEY

We have 7 teams playing in the Summer 6s competition on Friday nights at HMHC which this year includes an U8 team for the first time.

This term we also have five junior teams entered in indoor; 2 x U12, 2 x U14 and 1 x U16.

A big thank you to our indoor coaches: Jen Eager, Cam McKenzie, Noah Erdeljac, Matt Mullins and Julian Suzor. Thank you also to Pip Dudley who has once again coordinated or indoor teams.

REPRESENTATIVE PLAYERS

This year we had 30 players, plus umpires, coaches and managers participate in the Junior State Championships in July representing our Central Flames zone. Although none of the Flames teams placed this year, they all had an enjoyable experience.

We also had a number of Victorian representatives throughout the year from U12s through to U18s. Congratulations to you all!

Victorian U18 Mens Development

James Hillemacher

Victorian U16 Girls Development

Anika Selvaratnam

Emma Constantinou

Victorian U16 Boys Development

Brodie Eager

Victorian U16 Boys

Emerson Marshall

Julian Suzor

Victorian U14 Boys Development

Michael Suzor

Northern Territory U14 Boys

Alexis Devreux

Victorian U14 Girls Development

Lucy Constantinou

Ella Dunkley

Victorian U14 Girls

Pippa Leishman

School Sport Victoria U15 Girls

Emma Constantinou

Anika Selvaratnam

School Sport Victoria U15 Boys

Brodie Eager

School Sport Victoria U12 Boys

Darcy Bowden

Ben Rafferty

Angus Dunkley

LAST YEAR OF JUNIORS

Congratulations to the U16 payers listed below who leave our junior ranks and hopefully go on to (or continue to) play in our senior teams. I wish you all the best on your hockey journeys.

Eleanor Sharpley	Marianne Spincer
Chloe Blake	Emily Thomas
Violetta Capanni	Matilda Goodall
Emma Constantinou	Rawson Campbell
Grace Dunkley	Andrew Markarkis
Luca McComas	David Mansell

THANK YOU

Thank you to Benji for all his work with all our junior players and coaches this year and we look forward to him continuing his role in 2025. Thanks also to Jo Bowden who was a great support to me and the juniors section this season.

Thank you to anyone and everyone who helped out with the juniors this year whether it was in a big or small way, it is always greatly appreciated. I’m grateful for the wonderful community we have at TEM, our players and families are what make our club so special.

Leesa