Auckland Hockey Champions - Third Year In Row
Auckland Hockey Champions - Third Year In Row
August 06, 2020 at 12:12 PM
Congratulations to the College Boys 1st XI Hockey team who have won the Auckland Hockey Championship for the 3rd year in a row! The team have gone through the 2020 season unbeaten, with their win against Auckland Grammar 1-0 last night clinching the title.
The boys scored in first five minutes with captain, Dylan Muggleston scoring from a penalty corner. They then held Grammar scoreless for the rest of the game. The boys would like to thank all those who came along to support them on the night.
Coach, Ramesh Patel said, ‘We had six senior players back from last year along with nine new boys playing for the first time at 1st XI level. The new players are quite young and with so many new players on the team, there could have been an expectation that the opposition would win. The boys did so well! I think what has helped hone their skills is each Friday morning, we invite up to four former Saint Kentigern players back to help bring the students up to speed. Because we didn’t have the usual early season preparation, due to the Covid-19 lockdown, we were really grateful for this extra help to make the team competition-ready. I’d also like to thank manager of the team, Mr Paul Bennett, who does a fantastic job and makes it all happen.’
They team now moves on to the start of the Super City competition next week. Good luck boys!
Team: Hamish Campbell, Luke Holmes, Jacob Horton, Nikheel Lal, Archie Manning, Dylan Muggleston, Oliver Reid, Adam Searle, Luke Simon, Japsimrit Singh, Mansimrit Singh, Grant Slark, Alex Smith, Isaiah Su'a, Mathew Vaughan
Coach: Ramesh Patel. Manager: Paul Bennett
HOCKEY BOYS’ 1ST XI COACH - RAMESH PATEL
The College is extremely fortunate to have the services of Ramesh Patel to oversee the development of our Hockey Programme. His background in sport is outstanding. As a player, he competed in four Olympics - 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 - winning a Gold Medal at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. He also played in four World Championships in 1973, 1975, 1982, 1986.
Ramesh was the New Zealand Hockey Federation Chief Executive for 22 years between 1989 and 2009. As a coach he has won four Rankin Cup competitions with College 1st XI teams (three with Auckland Grammar in the 1980s and one with Saint Kentigern College 1st XI Boys in 2018) and coached the New Zealand U18 Girls’ team in 1996 and 1997 in tests against Australia.
He has a background as a maths teacher, so he is familiar with the school environment. Ramesh started coaching at the College in 2011. For the first seven years, he coached the 1st XI Girls’ team and since 2018, he has been in charge of the 1st XI Boys’ team. The 1st XI Boys won the Rankin Cup in 2018 and came 3rd in 2019. Over the last 10 years, the 1st XI Boys have also won the India Shield in 2017, won the Auckland title on four occasions and the Super City title on two occasions and have consistently been in the top three hockey teams in Auckland. The 1st XI Girls have won the Auckland title on one occasion, have gained a 3rd placing in the Super City competition on two occasions and have consistently been in the top four hockey teams in Auckland.
