President: Jayesh Rama ph. 630-3599 Secretary: Anita Patel ph. 576-6973

Welcome to this last bumper issue for the year, and what a year it has been!!!! The hockey season had ended in a great climax with two out of our four teams WINNING their division for the 2000 season!!! That was not the end of it…..two weeks later North Harbour Indian Sports Club hosted an "Invitational Social Hockey Tournament". Not only was the weather great (as promised) but it was a day that was enjoyed by all!!!

It is not quite so over yet as we still have our AGM and prizegiving to go, so read on to find out the latest account of the year and whats to come!!!!!!!!

Namesta,

Well we have come to the end of another season of hockey competition. Congratulations to all our Kheladies who gave it all their best for ‘Team Poppadoms’. Well done men on Winning the Division 1 Championship and Winning the Division 1 Final for the 2^nd year running. A moment to remember for a life time. I must not forget the efforts of every one who played in the 7 aside competition that was held prior to the start of the season where we finished Runners Up. Congratulations to Allan (Doc) Dickie for being chosen the teams "Player of the Year" award which was presented at our team dinner.

Achievements for the year for "Team Poppadoms" were:

WINNER OF DIVISION ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

RUNNERS UP DIVISION ONE GRAND SLAM

RUNNERS UP D1 7-ASIDE COMPETITION.

To think the season had just finished ..’NO’ before we put our boots of for the year or have any ideas of recovering with seasons aches and pains there was more hockey before the end of the year. With a weekend off we were straight in to our own Invitation Hockey Tournament held on Saturday 7th October
This was a day of grueling and physical hockey with many who were caring for their pulled or strained something or another. But the show had to go on.
Any way our Hockey did not finish there. Before our tired and aged bodies had time to recover we went straight in to the following Sat. 14th Oct for
the Bi-Annual Indians National Golden Oldies Tournament Hosted by Pukekohe. Another great sunny day enjoyed by all who participated even
when it meant playing on grass fields it brought back lots of memories but still had a problem stopping that bouncing ball. We even had one of those
"Minties Moments" when our goalie Tarun intercepted a pass inside the 'D' and fell down clinching his leg (he had pulled a muscle) An open goal went begging. But there were no losers at this tournament as everyone wins whether it's catching up with old friends (playing for them as well) or visiting relatives between games. Having an enjoyable day and not forgetting the evening social that followed it was pleasing to see a large group of us in attendance. This year a large collection of trophies were presented for various subjects ranging from the oldest player (72) to the invention
of the plastic ball, this trophy was awarded to a new team - North Harbour Indians Sports Club. We all so collected a trophy for the Spirit of Hockey.
Well here's to a very good end to a very successful year.

Back Row (left to right) Allan(Doc) Dickie, Tarun Patel, Balvant Patel, Bharat Unka, Suresh Kanji, Pravin

Kalidas, Prakash Prema, Dilip Lala

Front Row (left to right) Pradeep Nathoo, Amrat Patel, Narendra Uka, Dennis Morar, Kirit Limbachia, Steve

Campbell, Chan Dullabh

Hi my name is Anil Bhana, I was a member of the D1A (or maybe the DOA) 2000 squad. D1A had a different philosophy than most teams, we weren’t obsessed with winning we were just happy to participate…..well actually we were obsessed with winning we just couldn’t score more goals than the opposition.

We had an interesting season, it started with a hiss and a roar and then went down to a hiss, and then down to a whimper and then up to a roar and we ended up with a nice hiss.

We had a couple of new dads in the team, Aneel Ravji and Raj Govan were both blessed and this would explain why they were the most eager to play, and were always the most reluctant to leave the turf.

I would like at this stage to thank a good friend of mine, Mahesh Lala. Mahesh did me a great service this season. I stated at the beginning of the season that I was going to be the teams lead goal scorer, but my attempt was seriously threatened by another member of the squad, Anand Rambhai. So half way through the season Mahesh "accidentally" smashed Anands face in. Cheers Mahesh I owe you one. Mahesh didn’t smash Anand’s face in as such but seriously dented it!!! Anand had to have 5 plates inserted in his face and this won him the teams coveted prize of best injury.

A quick run down of the team would go some thing like this

Sunil Morar (C) : Swore a lot in Indian

Jusmant Summond : Swore a lot in Scottish

Anand Rambhai : Swore a lot a Mahesh Lala

Mahesh Lala: Swore black and blue that it was an accident

Nalin Ravji : Swore he’d never wear his short shorts again

Rajnikant Ranchodd : Left the team to peruse a hockey career

Satish Patel: spent a lot of time at the turf (he played for two teams and his wife played for the women’s team)

Dilip Sukha: Is still trying to work out why he wanted to play for us.

Aneel Ravji : Was dependable

Raj Govan : Was solid like a rock

Sailesh Manga: Almost got killed in a freak snow storm

Jayesh Manga: Was pleased he didn’t go hiking with Sailesh that weekend

Kiran Bhika : pulled his groin a lot

Mahesh Gordhan: believes Telecoms mobile network is far better than Vodafones….NOT!

Anil Bhana : Was lead goal scorer for the team…Yeah baby yeah!!

Our final game stats ended up with 3 wins 4 draws and 7 losses. This was a learning season for D1A, we have learned that it feels good to win, we learned that you don’t give up till the final whistle has blown and we have learned to stay and least four meters at all times away from Mahesh Lala when he has a hockey stick in his hand.

On behalf of the team thanks to any one who supported us and we are ecstatic at the fact that we didn’t come last on the table!!!!

Cheers

Anil

Ps It was an accidentally injury to Anand.

The 2000 season of the D2 girls was filled with multiple achievements of varying degrees. It was a year of Semi Finals, Penalty Strokes and a Green Card.

The year for us had its patches, we had a few really great games and a few not so great games. Let me show you the contrast between the beginning of the season compared to the end. At the beginning of the season, just before a game the girls would attempt some sort of warm up (this usually incorporated a jog/stroll around the turf), as the season went by, our warm-ups started to get a bit more complex (or should I say constructive) where we had the mission of running and passing the ball towards each other till we got to the goal. Secretly I think the idea of this exercise was for us to look good in front of the other team. Another aspect that changed through out the season was the quantity of whiteboard sessions we had. It started of simple enough where the idea was to let the girls know where they should be on the field, but as the season went on these ‘whiteboard sessions’ started getting longer and longer!!! The whole directive was now based on game plan and strategy and where each person should be if any of the four hypothetical situations should occur.

Practices were another thing…. it was a bit exhausting having practices on a Monday straight after playing on Sunday, (that was something that could not be helped by the exec) which might explain why we didn’t always have a full turn out. Nalin would always plan them strategically where we would spend more time setting up a drill than us actually practicing it!!!

Once there was a hint of us making the finals, things started to turn around for us. More and more girls started turning up to practice (a full turnout was an achievement in itself) and more and more people were willing to offer the girls team advice about the upcoming challenge that awaited us.

I think the highlight of the year will definitely have to be the semi final, everyone on the turf was playing to their full potential. It was a very intense game with a nil all draw. This meant that it went down to penalty strokes!!!! Only having taken one penalty stroke throughout the season was a novelty in itself, but having a penalty stroke playoff was a bit too much for the girls to handle. Penalty Strokes aside, as one wise old man had said "The D2 girls were unbeaten at full time during the semi finals." That is an accomplishment in itself which I think our girls can be proud of.

I will like to take this time to mention a special thanks to Nalin, whose time and commitment into the girls team this season had been extremely valuable and I would also like to thank Manoj, Reg, Jayesh and Mahesh whose input had been of tremendous benefit to the girls.

Last but not least I will like to thank the girls for giving it all they’ve got this year. The commitment and dedication shown (esp in the Semis) proves that there are no boundries!!!

Bring on Division One!!!!!

Anita

Back Row: (From left to right) Moneka Dayal, Kavita Patel, Rosemary Brereton, Bharti Ranchod, Joanna Underwood, Angela Fraser, Shrina Keshaw, Anita Patel, Jayesh Rama

Front Row: (From left to right) Nalin Ravji, Eela Dayal, Illa Patel, Monica Nana, Nalisha Morar, Veena Mitthal, Pragna Patel, Manoj Sukha

What is there left to say? After all, we won the championship, people (those of you who care about these things.), with only a single loss in the process. Yet the slightest mention can still induce some of us to go into denial, and experience that dreadful emptiness the nation feels (or should feel) whenever our grossly overpaid All Blacks lose to grossly over-rated England, of all teams. Some might say we are too young and too naïve to appreciate the nobleness of sharing. Well, they just don’t get it, do they?

Strangely, our campaign to--alas -- draw the 2000 Grand Final began way back in the dying stages of the last century, when a few of the guys (who are married and shall therefore remain nameless) lobbied vigorously for a "pre-season" phase starting no later than mid-January. Personally it was hard to see the appeal in starting so early, but then some of us haven’t been down that aisle, er, road in life yet. Naturally, there was a concern that the players would burn out before the season had already begun. Needless to say, like the brave freedom fighters of old, nothing could deter these happy husbands in their admirable quest.

Somewhat abruptly, though, their dream became a nightmare when, after practice one evening, Steve suggested that most of us were recovering from training and practice games like we had just spent several hard nights on the town (cleaning office windows, I suppose). There was simply no excuse; in four weeks time he expected a marked improvement—yes, a fanciful notion reminiscent of my own days …Well, with the wisdom that comes only with age and child-rearing experience, Steve decided to forgo the fitness test, sensing, no doubt, that we had a better chance of winning if we had a full team.

Almost immediately the squad was boosted to 15 players for the start of the season. At this point, much to his wife’s dismay, Bharat became co-coach. Once we started winning regularly, his seemingly brutal sense of realism provided a useful contrast to Steve’s "yard-glass half full" approach when assessing our performances. Even after a reasonably convincing win, it was quite normal for Bharat to consider that yard-glass to be still one-tenth empty, metaphorical alcoholic that he is. Steve, on the other hand, agreed that some improvement was needed, but, you know, "A win’s a win" as they say. Fence sitters that we are, I think most of us could see merit in both points of view. So, to be fair, it was difficult to take either of them seriously.

To an outsider, our path to the finals probably seems quite unremarkable given that, for the most part, even when we did play badly we could always call upon probability/fate/freakish ability to come to the party when we needed it (such is the power of faith, folks). There was some startling innovation going on behind the scenes, though. Steve, for instance, took team talks to a new level—literally half-way up the changing room wall on one occasion, where all those trite statements (Robbie Williams springs to mind) most players, for some baffling reason, expect their coaches to repeat time and again before a game were prominently displayed like some flaky religious mantra, on half a dozen sheets of photocopy paper.

Raj, on the other hand, took a more surreal approach. In a characteristic frenzy of activity, he would often illustrate a number of different tactical scenarios by squirting his water-bottle haphazardly on the changing room floor, as our team couldn’t afford a whiteboard. When he finally calmed down, those of us who had a vague idea of what he was trying to say had to rush over to have a look before the "players" and the "field markings" all coalesced into an anonymous-looking puddle-- one pregnant with hidden meaning, and Raj’s saliva.

**************

I’d be lying if I said that huge cheer our supporters gave us as we ran onto the field for the second half of the semi-final was not a little moving; with due respect to Indians everywhere, I remember thinking to myself, " If this was Calcutta, those dug-outs would be ablaze by now." When the teams were tied at full-time and Steve chose five of us to take strokes, I’d also be lying if I said good old Number Twos didn’t enter the minds of some of us at that point. A timely release of natural gas by Johnny eased some of the tension. But even this sparkling show of kindergarten wit couldn’t detract from the fact that, not for the first time, this absurd and ultimately futile activity transcended everything else on the planet. After all, there were other issues to ponder, such as, "Do our sticks come from sustainably-managed forests?" or "How many oil spills occurred in the process of creating the ‘grass’ that we now stand on?" On the other hand, "How many delinquents are off the streets because they now play hockey?" (At least eleven.) In any case, a loss was unthinkable.

So we made the final. Free from the threat of genocide or persecution, we didn’t really have a valid excuse to not do the business. But when one wants something as badly as we did, one tends to fluff one’s lines and generally make a fool of oneself, so to speak. As a result, we showed about as much talent and inventiveness as Robbie Williams ordinarily does. (Oh, there I go again. Sorry all you starstruck females and …males???) The sprinklers, of course, had the last say.

But it was another happy year. Special thanks to our supporters—we did it for you as well– to our coaches, their wives and kids of course—and, it goes without saying, the Exec. Committee for making it all possible, legally I mean.

To the team, couldn’t have asked to have played with a better bunch of blokes; mind you, had no choice either. But anyway, the remainder of the squad comprised of:

Satish & Suresh – both married. Draw your own conclusions.

Himan & Pinakin – both "chronologically- challenged": apparently unaware that Fiji & NZ occupy the same time zone.

Jayesh – will probably consider retiring now, having been acknowledged as "the best PC stopper on

the Harbour." (Steve)

Dwayne – innocently suggested a hot bath and a massage from wife/partner to reduce post- game soreness.

Sures– innocently suggested that the rest of us meet up at Stables 24hr Bar & Grill on a Sunday night.

Vinay –(Closet Terrorist) suggested in changing shed one day that somebody should light a match and blow the whole place up (can you believe it?) after one of us had just used the loo.

Devendra – to whom there was more to life than hockey, namely, the price of tomatoes.

Anil –accustomed to casually rolling up late, or not at all to practice. In other words, took his place in the starting line-up for granted – and got away with it. Can only admire the guy’s style.

Reg – brought into Prem. Res. as a learning experience. Achievement according to Johnny: learnt to pass the ball to him.

Sanjai – "Goldie" or "Tinnie"? Somehow had the knack of getting his stick in just the right position at just the right time at a couple of crucial moments in the season.

Joe – gave away his ticket to the opening ceremony of the Olympics to play in our semi-final, just as we would have expected him to. Good effort.

After a successful season it has come to the unenviable task of collecting all the club property in preparation for next year. To assist in this process we would appreciate it if you could ensure all uniforms and club equipment (e.g. balls, cones, First Aid Kits and goal keeping gear) are returned to either the Property Managers or your team captain before or at the AGM. Unfortunately you will not be eligible for your refund of your uniform bond for uniforms received after this date unless prior arrangement has been made with the property managers.

We thank you in advance in anticipation of this task being completed successfully.

Property Coordinators:

Sures Lala 849 3943

Suresh Naran 815 8484

The Sports Gold Loyalty Programme was recently launched at the 2000 Sports Expo and has had an enormous positive response. Being a member of this programme entitles the cardholder to earn valuable Sportsgold loyalty points. Such access will include Sports tickets, movie passes, travel packages, CD’s, clothes, videos, sports gear….and the list goes on and on. Another important aspect is that it is FREE TO JOIN WITH NO OBLIGATION !!!!!

Not only will you have tremendous benefits available to you, but also the club itself will also benefit through having a share of the brand licensing fees arising from the Sportsgold brand. It is a Win Win situation so please send away your application enclosed today!!

(See application for more details)

I guess I should have known better than to talk to the President about stuff that was on my mind, after all everyone who knows Jayesh’s favourite therapy is to get it out in the open and talk about it .So he suggested I write a snippet for the newsletter about my perspective/experience as a British

Indian infiltrating the kiwi Indian league sports club.

I was really apprehensive to arrive at my first game, in at the deep end totally not expecting to play. Save for Rose and Angela, I’d not been around so many Indians playing sport together for 14 years ! People were quietly friendly, the focus was play, most of the other players were clearly much younger than me. So I was there feeling- oh so.... totally self-concious,

which is so...... -what I still feel going out there every week !

After a few weeks people told me that I was visibly getting better,- praise was uncomfortable, but gratefully received even though it was tinged with the knowledge that I must have been actually really awful for the first few games**** ! and hey, I still throw in a few whopper blunders from time to time.

Now I’ve survived to the end of the season, I’ve been assessing what I feel about my kiwi sports adventure. Mostly I’ve been impressed by the way everyone pulls together and how committed and organised you all are.I find

settling into the "group’ hard work but its always an effort to find your comfort zone in a new place where everyone else seems to know each other

.Being a bit older than most of the crew didn’t seem a problem to anyone but me and my fitness level that was until I revealed my age and everyone finally did the maths when told them I had’t played for 14years!

Fortunately for me, so far in my brief young life, I’ve travelled enough to see how other exiled Indians choose to live in the USA, South Africa and of course in UK. I reckon its partly the climate, but Kiwi Indians have a really strong spirit of adventure and zeal for life. Whilst there are lots of families living in fairly traditional setups there’s a willingness to participate in the resident culture. I came to NZ with my parents initatially to share a holiday with them and learn about the family we have.

My parents now live in India in an international community and have made their own Kiwi Indian friends. Last October we stayed in Wellington with an Indian family with whom my parents had befriended in India and he took a day off to go to the Te papa Museum. I was really excited by the prospect as I had heard so much about it on the news here and I love museums and art anyway. As many of you will know its huge and far too much to take in in one day but I was particularly interested in one floor which illustrated the

different people who had choosen to settle in NZ. There were drawers with saris and old photos but I was caught by a photo on the wall taken in the 1940’s of an all Indian Hockey team, - a clear indication that Indians have taken an active representation in sport since their arrival. Then casually my dad’s friend pointed out his father as one of the players ! That made a

huge impression on me and my Dad. Despite the fact that there is a significant population of Indians in the UK and its so bloody cold that you would have thought we’d have enough sense to

want to keep both warm and fit but no. Sport is not the British medium of cohesiveness. Yes its true that we do have so many other cultural events opportunities to meet that punctuate our calender that sport doesn’t have to be one of them. Everywhere around the globe elder Indians are complaining that the young ones are straying from the fold and they feel threatened by this. The youth retort by saying that if they left the motherland to get themselves and the children a better life then you have to take the rough with the smooth, but my opinion is that integration into a resident culture should not be regarded as a negative product of progress. Whilst your British counterparts may know more about their own identity and religion,

how many of them have the courage to really thread it into their contemporary lives? Sure I miss the contemporary Indian culture stuff the

music, the art and the theatre but thats all marketable, - given time will get here. Surely its better to invest your time engaging in an activity of togetherness like sport here in NZ keeping fit than to go on the stale ritualistic pilgrimage of visiting relis you don’t know, can’t remember

names of ,possibly don’t like, who don’t really have a clue about their own culture any more that you could glean from reading a good acedemic book !

Its probably a bit outrageous of me to make comments like these but if your lacking a common motivator , then your onto a non-starter. I still feel like I’ve got a long way to go here with finding people who understand me -

its happening slowly, but I love the outdoors, (and hey no one can argue about this country’s beauty), even if I struggle at hockey I love playing a team sport. For me this is what I like about NZ life its contemporary, its here, its now !

The 7^th of October saw the club host another epic 'NHISC mini tournament' which wasn't actually that 'mini' with 14 adult teams and almost a 100 juniors participating.

It was a great day as teams battled it out for the 'wooden spoon' in their respective divisions. One of the highlights of the day would have to have been the official lighting of the tournament BBQ -something that even Cathy Freeman would have been proud of!!

As always a successful club event cannot take place without the help and support of its club members. The executive committee would like to extend a big thank you to all club members and supporters who contributed in making it a most enjoyable day for all of those who participated. The result has been an increased profile for the club within the wider community, which will serve well for the club's future development.

NHISC would also like to once again thank the Poenamo Hotel for their generous support during the 2000 season and for enabling this tournament to take place.

If you have noticed a bright glow over the hockey turfs recently, it will probably be due to the growing maturity and confidence exhibited by our club U-16 hockey team.

The team has played with significant determination, flair, skill and creativity. Their results have been excellent against much more fancied teams.

Results to date:

Vs Takapuna Green Lost 5-3

Vs Hibiscus Maroon Won 3-1

Vs Hibiscus Blue Won 6-2

Vs Takapuna Black Won 2-0

North Harbour Hatch Cup to be played 5 Nov. 1.30pm

All players have shown great team spirit and dedication to improving their hockey, resulting in exciting games and great goals.

Team members are:

Blair Burden David Clousto

Nick Aston Brad Fleming

Vinay Hira Mark Holt

Andrew Horne Chade Julie

Joseph D Pina Kayle Exeter

Nick Ravji Aneel Smith

Sunil Unka Jeremy Williams

Watch out for these names in our Premier side in years to come.

Thank you to all supporters at our matches, it is very much appreciated.

YEAR 2000 JUNIOR HOCKEY

It is proposed NHISC enter junior teams in the North Harbour competition. These will be 6 and 8-a-side teams. Parents who are interested, please forward names to Raj Patel, ph. 480-2578.