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Tour Diary

Pre-Tour Match I vs. U18 Northwest Regional Team

April 23, 2005

It was a fantastic sunny Friday afternoon to play a match vs. the U18 Northwest Regional Team. The match started off well with TFH moving forward right off the get go. TFH penetrated the opposition's circle but were unable to get a shot or penalty corner. The Regional Squad controlled the majority of the first half and was able to net only one goal.

The second half was playing out well until Jill Wade took one for the team stopping a sure goal off a penalty corner by taking a ball off her head. Jill was forced to leave the game and was later diagnosed with a light concussion, which would put her out of action for one week. Emma Guppy was the next victim taking a ball off her face. What's up with balls hitting our faces? Geeez!!

The final score was 2-0 for the Regional Squad.

I was impressed by the effort the team put forth in their first match as a team. We had only trained two times prior to the match and I'm confident of our abilities at this moment in our preparation to peak in Sydney.

Pre-Tour Match II vs. U18 Southwest Regional Team

May 6, 2005

From the immediate get go the TFH Canucks were under immense pressure. The Regional Team brought the game into the TFH circle multiple times in the opening minutes of the game generating quality shots and receiving a handful of penalty corners.

The Canucks were able to fend off the Regional team's attack until midway though the first half when excellent passing set up the Regional first goal.

Towards the end of the half the Canucks play picked up and they penetrated the Regional circle but were unable to get off any shots or earn any short corners.

The second half told a completely different story. The Canucks came out firing on all cylinders. They penetrated the Regional circle and had quality scoring chances only to be turned away by the opposition's keeper. The Canucks earned two penalty corners, but were unable to execute on both.

The final score was 1-0 for the Regional Squad. This matche showed the Canucks the importance of a good start and their ability to turn around at half time and play a much stronger team game. We will have to look to play a full 70 minute team game and not just show up to play the second half if we hope to achieve success while in Australia.

This has been Andrew Schouten for Sports Net News

Garage Sale

April 30, 2005

Canto 1 ? the presale set-up

?One fateful evening at the end of April, after one of our extremely strenuous practices, a rowdy group of girls gathered in my garage to set up the plethora of (quality) merchandise, which would soon be made available to the consumer market of the Saturday morning garage sale keeners. There was an ample array of classy purses (hello kitty, and Louis Vuiton to name a few), as well as some very fashionable frocks and some high quality "misc. items". With pizza to fuel us on our quest for garage sale supremacy, we surged onward in the task at hand: to price said plethora of merchandise. Inspired by the timeless lyrics of Hilary and Gwen, we hollered-back and got the job done.

Canto 2 ? the event

The sun rose, casting its morning glow over a pair of long-forgotten, neon skis. A few steadfast workers stood, ready for action, weapons in hand, waiting for the crowds to storm. The clocked ticked slowly, every second dragging by; suspense was mounting on 34^th Avenue. Suddenly, as 9:00 hit (yes an hour before the intended time of commencement), a crowd was seen over the horizon. We boldly stood our ground, our hearts thumping in our chests; the only thing between the mad crowd and us was a single garage door. Finally, 10:00 came, and the doors were opened. The multitudes swarmed in, as the girls readied themselves for some intense bargaining. Everything was going smoothly, when all of a sudden, the table collapsed and all hell broke loose! Luckily, with some of Chris Newton's handyman repair skills, the situation was remedied, and the day was able to continue without further incident. As the afternoon began, there came a lull in activity. But with some ingenious problem solving skills from Teri, Em, Jill and Claire in the form of roller blades, Aussie hats and advertising signs, we lured the crowd back to the garage.

Canto 3 ? the clean-up

As the relentless throng began to cease, we knew we had one more task at hand: the clean-up. We were weary from various ailments including, over-bargaining, allergies from the dust-mites of the garage, and stomach aches from too many doughnuts, but we persevered, and over-came this, loading up the TFH Denari Mobile with new found zeal. Gill and Andrew transported the leftover goods to the Saints fair as the rest of us packed up for the day.

Canto 4 ? the results

The garage sale was a triumphant fundraising endeavour, both socially and economically speaking. Not only did we bond as one cohesive stick-wielding unit, but we also were able to invest in the purchase of new rain-repellent garments.

The BBQ

June 25, 2005

Hosted by the Schouten's' (whether they wanted to or not)

After playing our first real game as a team wearing our tour red uniform (of which we lost to the U16 BC team ?. Not cool), we headed down to 29^th and Pine to stuff ourselves with delicious food. Our genius coach was a little hesitant while purchasing the burgers and therefore a food run made by Mr. Wade was needed. Meanwhile Annie and company headed out onto the front lawn to rehearse 'O to a Mouth guard', while others brought out the bacchi balls to have a "friendly" scrap. Dinner was eventually served ? thank goodness, and the race was on to see who could get through the line the quickest. We all sat on the grass except for Teri who found the cat's litter box (jk? a sand patch). Then came the worst part of the night ? Andrews's speech (Carly made me put this in). After reassuring our parents that absolutely nothing would go wrong and that we're in great hands (i.e. Thelma's, NOT Andrews), it was time for Annie's special gift. All gathered on the side lawn to witness her ballet performed, there were chuckles from all over the place, noticeably from Couz's dad Papa Couz. All in all, it was the first of many exciting events that will occur during the duration of our trip.

Peace out A-Town

Day 1:
Date changed multiple times

Day 2:
July 3, 2005

Day 3:
July 4 2005

Day 4
July 5, ^?2005 (4:36am Van time)

Trip to Ballarat

Today we had an early start with a busy room 203 looking for k-Mac's beloved blankie (if you could even call it that). Everyone went running whether it was for the 20 mins we were supposed to or the once around the block before heading for a last minute shop at the market. The gimps Guppy (sore leg) and Dee (busted ankle) slept in for an extra hour. All in all we ended up having a quick breakfast from the beloved bakery that was so good to us over the past few days. Eventually k-Mac's blanket was found and we all located ourselves at the bottom of the hostel, on the left hand side of Elisabeth Street. Eventually our bus came and figuring out how all the luggage would fit into the small trailer hitched onto the back of the bus. After dropping off the crutches, we headed out of Melbourne on way to the Great Ocean Road. Bus trip was roomy with tons of tunes blasted out of the back of the bus (thanks to guppy). First stop was the beach at Torquay where we found out that the ocean is actually cold in their wintertime. We also found a little strip mall where most of us had some sandwiches for lunch. Of course parents you were wondering when we would implement the usage of your credit cards, and those defiantly came in handy during our power shop (only an hour think how much damage we could have done with 2) at the surf shops. I tell you there was a lot of deals their despite what your bills might say! Heading onto the road again with a pit stop to a golf course to see some kangaroos' we followed the amazing shoreline to Anglesea where we walked from the inlet to the ocean and witnessed amazing surf crashing on the shorelines. Bump tag was played on the bitter cold beach due to the wind chill factor where, Logan proved to be speedy. After a good hour and the loss of Thelmers the Chap to a coffee shop we were on our way home to Ballarat where our lovely host's met us. After being split up at the University of Ballarat who knows what trouble the girls have gotten into. But don't worry I'm sure it's nothing that they wouldn't do at home! Well now that is 5:00am (van time) I must be going ? way past my bedtime.

Gill Wright

(Moral support from The Gupster, who did absolutely nothing)

Day 5

July 6, 2005

THE SECOND DAY IN BALLARAT!

Today was our second day in the small town of Ballarat. We all slowly met at the hockey pitch just in time to start practice. The local news already there to catch some footage of the amazing Canadian touring team. After practice our Billets were in charge of taking us around to the magnificent sites of Ballarat. Most of us met at the Ballarat wildlife park to encounter some crazy emus and huge kangaroos. The best part of the wildlife park was defiantly the baby kangaroo that Kate picked up and the growling emu. Other places that we visited were Sovern Hills and the lake. We then all met at the hockey pitch around 4:00 to play our game. The game went well, at the end of the first half the score was1-0 for us. We picked it up a lot in the second half and brought the score to 4-0. Guppy had her first trip of the tour and it was Delaney's first game. Each game we have become more of a team and have started to play better together in preparation for the tournament in Sydney. After the game our team and the billeting team went out for dinner at the La Prochetta pizza place. After an exciting day in Ballarat we all dispersed (spy club lingo) our different ways either back to the farms, a raging 18^th, or just back home to hangout with our Aussie friends and watch the castle.

Emily Newton

Day 6:

July 7, 2005

Today we left Ballarat early in the morning, saying goodbye to our billet families! We headed off to Shepparton. On the way we stopped in a small town of Bendigy for lunch and shopping! And then off to the wild animal life park in Kaybra?..? for a quick look at the animals, and a frolic with the emus. Then we were back on the road, headed to Shepparton. We arrived there around 4 pm, so we jumped in our hockey uniforms and got on the pitch ready to play. In the first half our heads weren't in the game but we picked it up in the second half, we worked together, scored a goal, but still lost 4-1. After the game the host team organized a BBQ for us, where we ate and then went off with our billet families. In the evening our team chilled with their billet families, some going to the movies, or others chilling in their own personal pool houses.

Day 7:

July 8, 2005

??????????? This morning we left our billets in Shepparton in order to catch the 11:30 flight to Sydney!? We flew in two groups, half hour apart, and the second group, while waiting for their flight had lunch with some of the Magpies! (famous footy players)? We arrived in Sydney at around noon, and bussed to the Sydney YHA.? We all agree that this Hostel is the nicest hostel we have ever been in! It is also in a prime location right downtown Sydney!? Some of the team rushed off to the Sydney opera House and went to a play called "Two Brothers" while the rest of us wandered down to Darling harbour where we had an amazing dinner on the water and then went dancing!

Claire Ashburner

Day 8:

July 9, 2005

??????????? The sun shone valiantly over the Sydney youth hostel as the TFH Canucks feasted on a luxurious, decadent breakfast of dry toast, old croissants and stale cornflakes. 8:15 came and the team (minus a certain Annie Ellison) was off to the Sydney Olympic park for a pleasant little jaunt around the pavilion. The big cylinders were especially nice. Thirty-five minutes later, when at long last we found the pitch, the Canucks underwent an extreme fitness extravaganza (aka a light jog). Stealth spying on the Belgians and Dutch was to follow. After some follow up for Dalaney, the red and black headed on back to the hos-tel (after Annie Emma and Kate admonished a delightful midmorning snack of fresh fruit on a sunny hillside) and then meandered over to Manly Beach. An anonymous team member (named Claire) forgot her bus ticket, and Sydney, who is choosing to go unnamed, lost her wallet, which resulted in a return trip for half the team. Once we were safely landed on Manly, the team-led by the SPY CLUB-dispersed for Operation Acquire Expensive Things, commonly known as shopping. A small fortune later, the ladies moseyed on down to the beach to check out some surfing. Or more specifically, to check out some surfers.?

??????????? The more motivated members of the Canucks took in a footy game at Sydney Cricket Grounds after self-navigating to the field upon Andrews's cold abandonment. Ps. Send food and supplies. Starving girls in Australia, your children are perishing. GO SWANS boooo Cats . Obviously the Swans came out on top much to Andrew's discontent. Other members of the team made a second trip to K-Macs favourite crape shop for some purposeful carbo loading. Right. The girls then made the long trip down to for some pinball and pop. Of course, these responsible young women abided by their 12:30 curfew, minus some deviates who's identities will remain confidential ( named Annie Gups Cous and Maddie la) partook in a friendly 1:45am international field hockey match against the Belgians in the Hos-tel lobby being careful, of course, not to disturb the neighbours. Some girly gossip and eccentric pyjamas later, the team dropped into a sumptuous slumber, all in all making our first full day in Sydney a SMASHING success.

And we all got a good night sleep. Right.?Commentary by Annie Ellison I will be here all week For suggestions and Praise, Email me at AnnieLa@Dutch.com

Day 9:

July 10, 2005

The members of the team that had a good nights sleep from the day before were keen on getting up early to indulge in an early morning breakfast, which consisted of the previously mentioned food. The rest of the girls enjoyed a leisurely sleep in. Those eager to shop were out of the hostel and into the market near by. After a gander through the market, it was back to the hostel for some (??) and on to further shopping for others. Back at the hostel some of the girls (aka. Annie and Teri) took part in afternoon read. Others sat back and relaxed in the TV lounge (Virginia) and watched some Aussie footy, checking out the athletes and enjoying the strange foreign game. There was a social party in the sauna room that was full of rowdy Brits and confused Belgians. Our girls were brave and stuck in there and mingled in with the foreign fellows. Our afternoon tea was postponed until the shoppers returned. Mean while they were caught on the train coming back from Westfield mall. There was a security stop and the train was evacuated and then loaded one by one. Not to worry we think everyone made it. Our afternoon tea was kicked off when the girls arrived and a team meeting was held afterwards covering team strategy and points of improvement. We quickly got changed into our Vancouver Canada t-shirts and went downstairs to eat dinner with the rest of the teams who also were fortunate to stay in the same hostel. We intermixed with the teams and got to know some of the players who thought we were a selected team from Canada with an international coach. We insured that that yes, we were from Canada and that our coach tells us that inside we are all winners. After an over and/or under cooked steak we went out to Coles to shop for food that we could bring to the field or to also supplement our luxurious breakfast. Upon our return to the hostel we unpacked our "healthy" food and either retired to our rooms, went for a swim or chose to sit in and watch the evening viewing of the Aviator, myself included (Carly). By this point in the evening we were pretty tired and fell into our beds to get a good night sleep for the challenging day ahead of us, the start of the tournament.?

GO TEAM CANADA!!!!!

- Carly Stone

Day 10:

July 11th

? By Delaney Hoole

??????????? Today was truly an excellent start to what we hope to be an excellent tournament. We were all wrenched out of bed at the ungodly hour of eight-o-clock. Those of you back home may think that eight is a decent hour to wake up, but for a group of eighteen teenage girls, well?that's a different story. So, still rubbing our sleep-filled eyes, we all trudged downstairs to eat a breakfast of soggy toast, and [what the Aussi's call] cereal, (which is just some flakes thrown into cold-ish milk [editors note: what else is cereal suppose to consist of?]). We all were then herded back upstairs to get ready to head out to Olympic Park to play some good, old fashioned hockey!

??????????? Our first game was a tragic start to the day. We played the Durham Girls Side (they were from jolly old England) first. It was a hard fought game but we just couldn't pull through. The English girls scored first, but we came back to tie it up in the end of the first half. Unfortunately, the other team came back in the last two minutes of the game and scored an unfortunate goal to win the game. This was extremely unfortunate because we had dominated most of the play.

??????????? Our second game, on the other hand, was a prime display of our excellent hockey skills. We played the "Tassie Devils" from "Tasmania" (that's a little island somewhere off the coast of Australia I'm told).? Anyways, we played them and due to our immense skill, we smashed the ball right into the back of that tiny net!! Leaving the score 1-0 at the end of the fist half. The second half was a bit dodgy at times with the Tassie's all up in our end, but we managed to hold them off to finish the game with a win of 1-0!

Highlight Reel:

• 1-0 win over the Tasmanians in our second game! Congrats girls!!
• K-Mac and my excellent bench-warming!
• My extremely graceful fall down the stairs today!**

Day 11:

July 12, 2005

??????????? Today was the second day of Hockey Fest, and we were scheduled to play our next 2 games. We had to wake up nice and early to get to our first game on the Olympic Pitch for an 8:30 start time against the Victoria State Team. We had already played this team back in Melbourne, so we had an idea of what we were up against. We played hard and tried our best, but couldn't come out with the win; we lost 2-1. During the break we made some international friends by playing "Bump Tag" with the Tassie Devils. Our next match was against the New South Wales team called Moorebank. We didn't know what to expect, but they were the "home team." It was a frustrating game, and unfortunately we lost 2-0. This was a game that if we had played with the same heart from the Victoria game earlier that day, we would have achieved a much more successful outcome. When we got back to the Hostel, we switched rooms in an effort to help us all to clean up our rooms and had a dinner of pork gristle. We then went for gelato, and a relaxing steam in the sauna, ready for the challenge

Day 12:

July 13th

Sydney

??????????? Today was the last day of the round robin play and our last game was against the tricky Dutch.? A tough fought game ended in a win for us (4-1). ?Then it was off to the show grounds to showcase our talent in the semis, against the same DUTCH team. We took it to them, again.? To mix it up the forwards played defence and vice versa, with some fantastic results! (Memo to Celia: IOU Maddie 1 car for scoring backhand!!!!) After our games we all moseyed over to the stadium to watch a few sticks fly.? Back at the homestead we found out it was "Retro Tennis" night at local dance spot.? So we all whipped out our white tennis skirts and rocked the Casbah.? Some of us stayed for the dance competition (which Claire won), while others enjoyed the very hot sauna in which there were European tourists bathing the only way European tourists do.? After a random adrenaline charged night we all made it to bed; out tennis skirts safely tucked in bed and our towels hung to dry and all set to play the Tasmanians in the finals for the trophy (5^th) tomorrow morning!! GO CANADA!

Day 13

July 14, 2005

T'was the last day of the tourney down under and all through the hostel, not a creature was stirring because we had a late night ?.thanks to retro tennis night.? Eventually we all ventured downstairs for one of our last bland breakfasts of dry dry toast and cereal with particularly warm milk.? We then sauntered to the train station for our last trip to Olympic park. Tears, tears( that is the sound of young girls crying).? Long story short we ended the tournament in 6^th after an extremely un-lucky match versus the Tasmanian team. It was their aerodynamic body suits that cost us the game. We were too distracted by their bright colours and EXTREMELY form fitted spandex apparel. After our match we stayed behind to watch both championship games, and to no ones surprise Japan cleaned up nicely. After the matches we had a frantic kit trading session. Some of us managed to walk away with things such as a brand new stick for a measly Canadian sweater, or a Japan national team jacket. We then returned to our hostel for cleansing. For dinner that night we ventured to the Mandarin club for a tourney banquet filled with chewy squid and random meats covered in ketchup sorry, I mean tomaaaato sauce.? After some obnoxious rowdy cat calling we hit the dance floor and busted some moves. The Canadians brought the party. Canada, HELL YEA! We then returned back to our hood for some fun and games where we once again played pinball and danced.? Roses are red and violets are blue I love brad and Logan does too.? We retired early??in the morning after someone played a rowdy match of cricket in the hallway and selfishly kept everyone awake? Andrew (who chooses to go un named).. cough cough. We said our sad goodbyes to all the friends we made during the tournament.. even though some of them were non English speaking and hit the sack. 16 days down 1 to go. Tears tears. SYDNEY WE LOVE YOU.

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