After a long and eventful pre-season we are finally under way. The new ground is looking great and everyone is starting to get the feel of it now. I would like to thank all those who helped out over the summer, pulling up the ground and with any other job around the club. We would not have our new ground if it weren't for the efforts of these people. This year the men ’s section has entered 6 teams into the Victorian Hockey Association competition.

It is great to see all the old faces at the club, but even more encouraging is all the new faces. On behalf on the club I would like to welcome all of our new members, and I hope that your involvement with the club is a beneficial one. We have a number of juniors playing in the senior section again this year and doing very well. It is only looking brighter for the club when you see the talented juniors coming through the ranks and getting involved with the seniors.

As many would now know, Cameron Hunter our senior coach has been forced to go overseas on business, and has stepped aside from the coaching position. As one of the players and also a committee member I would like to thank Cameron for all of his efforts over the past 18 months. No one actually realised how much Cameron did for this club until he was gone and we all had to step in and take over. We also wish Cameron well and look forward to his return. I am also pleased that Ross Walker, a long time member of the club has taken over as senior coach. Ross has been able to keep the squad focussed and I am sure with his extensive hockey knowledge we will all improve our hockey under his guidance.

State League had a shaky start to the year, loosing their first two games to Kew and M.U.H.C, who have both come down from State League 1 this year. An unlucky draw against Footscray, where we had double the amount of shots has got them going again this year. Two hard fought wins at home against Ballarat and Albury, along with a scrappy 2-0 win over Yarra has placed them in fifth position, and only a couple of points out of the four. With the competition a lot stronger this year, we all really need to put in a huge effort over the middle part of the season and set ourselves up for another finals campaign. It has been very encouraging to see a number of younger faces in the firsts. I would particularly like to mention four players who have played their first State League game for the club this year: Craig Hardham, Brett Dempster, Ian Smyth and Danny Benjamin.

I would also like to congratulate David Hammond on his appointment as club captain, both Steve Maguire and Rob Graham on being named David ’s vice captains. We all wish them well and support them in their leadership roles this year. There is still along way to go this year, so lets look after ourselves, get behind the club and try to support Moorabbin teams when they are playing. We have a big home round this weekend, so make a bit of an effort and go and watch a game that you normally wouldn't go and watch.

Ashley James

Men ’s section Co-ordinator

This year we were set the extra task of filling an additional team after the Elwood guys decided to go it alone. With the recruitment of a number of additional players this has proved most successful with everyone settling into things quite well. Many thanks to Brad O ’Brien and Gary Simmons for managing the second team.

"New " recruits to our teams this year include::

At the completion of round 7:

Team contact details are as follows:

 Many thanks to our team managers.