Of course you should study abroad and visit the vibrant city of Hong Kong. The Dutch Hockey Club welcomes students abroad to join us whilst they are here in Hong Kong. Hear from two of our recent students about their time here. ​

​Voor mij was DHC een leuke aanvulling voor mijn exchange aangezien je in contact komt met expats, je weer van ouds gezellig met Hollanders een biertje kan doen en je natuurlijk gewoon kan hockeyen! Toen ik naar Hong Kong kwam had ik net 2 jaar in HGC heren 2 gehockeyd.  Wat mij compleet verbaasde is dat hockey zo groot is in Hong Kong. Je hockeyt elke week op prachtige locaties midden in Hong Kong, en standaard op een waterveld. Wat DHC betreft biedt het zowel een team op niveau als een team voor de gezelligheid. Er is eens per week een training van zowel de dames als de heren waarna er altijd een deel drankjes gaat doen bij een bar om de hoek, wat altijd gezellig was. Je traint op Hong Kong Island, midden in Happy Valley, op een waterveld. De coach van het A-team en tevens trainer, Ali, is een hele vriendelijke pakistaan die serieus omgaat met het team en naar mijn mening goed training geeft. Als je er een keer niet bij bent omdat je gaat reizen of andere plannen hebt is dat ook geen probleem. 

Daarnaast ben ik samen met 2 andere exchange studenten met een team van DHC, ‘The Hong Kong Dragons’, mee gegaan naar ZOAT. Dit is een toernooi waar Nederlandse teams vanuit heel Zuid-Oost Azië aan meedoen, wat dit jaar plaatsvond in Kuala Lumpur. Het begon allemaal met een politie escorte naar de ambassade, waar een feest was op de eerste avond. De tweede dag begon dan toch ook het hockeyen. Deze dag werd natuurlijk weer goed afgesloten met een optreden van Roel van Velzen in de grootste club die KL te bieden heeft, wat super leuk was. De dag erna was iedereen brak en werden er nog een paar halve potten hockey gespeeld. En zo hoor je het goed, voor ZOAT staat gezelligheid op één en hockey op twee. Het is verder vrij prijzig aangezien je voor een weekend op en neer vliegt, maar wij vonden het zeker het geld waard! Ik vond DHC kortom een enorme toevoeging aan mijn exchange vanwege de hockey en de gezelligheid. Ik raad het dan ook zeker aan! 

Dear friends of the Dutch hockey club of Hong Kong,

With pleasure I joined your team  when I was over as an exchange student in Hong Kong. I really appreciate your warm welcome which was excellent opportunity to meet a lot of other people next to the students at my university. The hockey was exiting and it will probably be the only time in my life that I represented the national team. Next to the hockey I enjoyed the social events, like the beers at the horse racing’s in Happy Valley, and in Soho after the games or the Junk boat trips.
And playing a match every Saturday and trainings on Tuesdays kept me fit and in shape from all the beers and dumplings we had together!

Many thanks for your friendship and hospitality.
All the best! 

Saar

Dear Members, Friends and the Hong Kong Community

The 2018-2019 Hong Kong Hockey Season is nearing and we would love for you to get on-board our Pre-Season activities. 

​Of course you can reach out to our committee for any questions you have, but some important dates are listed below:

DHC Club Day - Sunday August 12th at Happy Valley
DHC Training - Commences Thursday August 16th at Happy Valley
DHC BBQ - Sunday 2nd September at Shek O Back Bar

Tentative Season Start Dates
Men's Season - Friday 7th September
Women's Season - Saturday 15th September

A reminder you can find the locations of all our activities on our Hong Kong Pitch Finder

We really look forward to seeing you throughout this season. Registration is of course still open so get in touch now! 

DHC 2018-2019 Committee

New Committee
 
I am excited to announce that we have found a few new members enthusiastic to help us out in making season 2018 – 2019 as great and even better than the last season! This year’s dream team will exist out of:
​
Chairwoman:               Liesbeth van der Zee
Trainer/ Coach/ Kids:   Ali Zeeshan
Treasurer:                    Alexander de Haseth
Marketing & PR:          Sarah Noonan
VP Men:                      Thomas Kluijtmans
Convenor Men:            Daan Kitschman
VP Ladies:                   Pleuni Rohof
Convenor Ladies:        Tessa Brink
VP Kids:                      Kelly-Ann McHugh
Kids Assistants:           Gareth Welsh
                                    Suzanne Reniers
VP social:                    Dorus Reuwer & Judith Zonneveld

Captains:                    
Men’s A: Sjoerd Reniers
Men’s B: Bas Fransen
Ladies A: Charlotte Brearly
Ladies B: Tiffany Lo

Do you feel like you have a great idea for a social? Or are you keen to help out because you have the right connections with a bar/restaurant? Please do not hesitate to reach out to Dorus & Judith or send us an email! We are keen to get everyone in the club involved!

Interested in being co-captain or help the team out as water/beer carrier, organize team social activities or anything else? Please reach out to your captain! We can always use an extra hand!

Read more about ZOAT, Finances and our teams by clicking the link below if you landed here from our main blog page. 

Download our AGM Annual Report below

Dear DHC members, supporters and fans, 

Time flies when you are having fun and I can’t believe this fantastic hockey season (both on and off the field) is already coming to an end. All of this fun wouldn’t have been possible without the great voluntarily work done by our committee members and captains, so a special thanks to them! In this newsletter they reflect back on this season and share some funny insights on how they experienced this season.
 
Personally, I look back with pride on this season. With a dropping number of players joining our club last season, we knew we had to turn things around and that is exactly what we did! With much support from Kelly Ann and Sarah Noonan on our online presence we attracted over 40 new players from all over the world in our kids club, men and women divisions! It was great to welcome these new players to the Happy Valley training pitch again, where under the guidance from Ali we had some excellent training sessions and drinks afterwards.
 
With these great numbers came great results. Halfway through the season our ladies A team was promoted to the Premier Division and with some great wins they secured a solid fifth position at the end of the season. Our men’s A team continued their winning streak in the second half of the season and secured their promotion back to the first division. Our men and ladies’ B teams also did a great job and with some good coaching from Ali they transformed their strategies throughout the season resulting in excellent teamwork.
 
But as many of you already know it is not only the great sportsmanship which makes DHC the most fun to play for. DHC has always been a club for hockey enthusiasts who enjoy the game and meeting new people and for that there were many occasions outside of the hockey pitch such as the start of season BBQ, the Octoberfest, Christmas dinner in Tung Po market, the horse race event, the sixes, not to forget the various Friday night drinks and even now more to follow (junk & summer hockey).

With high attendance rates during the matches, the training and all social events I feel the club is fully ready for a next season. I hope that you enjoyed this season as much as I did and that we will see you again on the pitch in a DHC outfit after the summer!
 
On behalf of the whole DHC committee,
Kind regards,
Michael Koppert

 

Our great coach Zeeshan Ali is not only a FIH Level 3 Registered Coach (as at 2018) he has also been recognised by the Hong Kong hockey community as a great Junior Coach! In this years "Thank the coach" awards, Zeeshan was awarded this prestigious title for his contributions to the Promotion & Development of Junior hockey.
The DHC are incredibly proud of Ali and the work he does with our Junior teams in teaching the skills of hockey. In 2018 our Junior teams grew leaps and bounds finishing Runners up of our final competition. Watching the kids develop and learn how to work together as a team has been one of my most enjoyable moments of this year, and that is thanks to the great work of Ali.

Of course this year it hasn't just been about the Juniors, Ali has taken the Ladies A team from Division 1 to Premier Division where the ladies competed and finished very well in this season. The Mens A team also finished on a high at the top of Division 2. 

So from everyone at the DHC, Congrats Ali, keep doing what you are doing! 

Our Hong Kong Field Hockey Junior development section is taking entries for our Spring and Summer Hockey Season / term after a lot of keen interest by our parents to continue! 

As such we have organised a programme at Happy Valley from May 12th to June 30th (8 sessions). All nationalities, all clubs juniors welcome! This is not just for existing DHC Hockey Members. 

In addition we are also scouting for Indoor Hockey facilities for thereafter. 

If you are interested, please visit our Juniors Page for more details. 

Kelly-Ann
​Junior Convener 

March 25th. The 84th day in the year 2018, or for the Chinese readers under us: the 37th day in the year of the Dog. A quick look on Wikipedia teaches us that March 25th is historically quite an uneventful day, except in 1958 when on this date a processor of the European Union was established.  But after today, the 25th of March would be known for the day that DHC A (men section) became THE champion of the second hockey league in Hong Kong. The overcrowded trophy case of the Club and most of its individual A team members was about to increase.

A lot can be said about DHC’s A team. Some interesting facts you should know about them:
• The number 1 position in the league had been permanently captured since the second play round, however the league’s number 2 had been catching up closely since the winter break. DHC therefore needed to win their last match against KCC to become the champion!
• Thomas ‘Wanchai Warrior’ Kluijtmans had the doubtful honor of the least minutes played this season for the Club, shortly followed by Rene van Mill (also known as ‘The Ghost’ for obvious reasons). Two very rare species. If we combine their total number of minutes on the pitch this season, the outcome will show us the exact number of women Michael shared his bed with during University, which by the way, is also close to zero. 
• The Dutch National Anthem played shortly before commencement of the last game, and especially its reference to ‘German Blood’ (The Dutch sing in the first line they are of German Blood), had a dual significance because of the two German star players in the team. After half a year playing with them, we can confirm it is true what they say about the Germans: no sense of humor. But brilliant hockey players!!
• Sjoerd Reniers proudly worn the ‘captains belt’ around his arm this season. We have heard from his wife that he sleeps with this belt around his arm all year through! And yes, it is true that Sjoerd’s Linkedin page makes a reference of being our captain. It is to be hoped for the team that he continues. Great job, Sjoerd! 
• DHC A is the most productive team in their league this season, with a massive total number of goals scored. 75. Gareth made it to team topscorer by netting 15 of them. - Personal facts about my team members’ productivity other than on the pitch are available with me upon request. Some of them are very interesting -
• DHC A conceded one of the least number of goals this season in their league (27). Credits to DHC’s goalie Frank Li, who had an excellent (and perhaps boring) season. For those who are interested in collector’s items: Frankie’s unwashed toque shall be auctioned during the General Meeting in May. Stay tuned!  
• Apparently, the mailbox of the DHC has been flooded this year, mainly with questions related to the status of Berend. The DHC board regretted replying to all this fanmail that Berend actually has a girlfriend (of the non-inflatable sort). However, if you are female in the age category of 50-59, have blond hair and size 42 or above, you stand a little chance for a flirt (every Friday evening at Pastis might be your best shot!).  

Anyway, let’s get back to DHC A writing history. Many spectators found their way to Kowloon and were responsible for a fantastic atmosphere hanging over Kings Park’ stadium, where the game begun at 6 PM local time. DHC took the initiative immediately after the first whistle blow, and it didn’t take long before they started to create chances. Marius converted a rebound into a goal, after a shot of Gareth which got saved by KCC’s goalie in the fifth minute. DHC’s defense was resolute, though KCC got a huge chance not much later. A long ball from their sweeper reached KCC’s attacker which took a shot from the head of the D. Fortunately for the DHC, the shot just went wide.

DHC quickly wrestled their way back into the game. Julian passed the ball to Koene who dribbled into the D and shot the ball in the far corner (2-0). After about 20 minutes DHC scored their third goal of the day, which came off Tom’s stick after a nice combination with Marius. 

DHC continued their attacking game resulting in 2 penalty corners, but unfortunately, they failed to make use of both opportunities. 

After about half an hour Berend made the score 4-0, thanks to a superb solo via the side and on baseline. Thanks to his quick hand-eye coordination he managed to mislead the goalie and pushed it high into the net (4-0). If goals could be framed, then this one would surely have made it into Hong Kong Museum of Art’ spring collection.

Shortly before halftime, KCC managed to make a goal as well. After a personal mistake in DHC’s defense, KCC was awarded with a penalty corner which they converted with a bit of luck.

As the break arrived, Ali readied some stern words and suggested some new tactics. DHC began strongly in the second half. Thanks to the tireless running of the midfielders & attackers, Julian was able to pass the ball into deeper positions. Berend, Koene, Gareth, Tom, Marius and Daan were all unlucky with shots on goal which went narrowly wide or got saved. Also the 2 penaltycorners which DHC got awarded within the second half, were not converted. 

Defensively, DHC worked hard as a unit – marshalled by Sjoerd & Michael – denying the opponent space in attacking areas. KCC wasn’t able to create any chance in the second half.
​
The 4-1 end result was certainly justified, and in fact could and should have been higher. 

I think it is appropriate to say thank you to our trainer Ali, all of the board members and obviously our very own captain. It is because of their efforts that we can play on a weekly basis.  

It was a pleasure playing with you all, DHC A. My conclusion of the past 7 months (and the preceding 8 seasons) is that we are a bunch of nutcases with a shared interest in chasing a small ball with a stick and drinking a beer afterwards. I am looking forward seeing you on the remaining activities. 

Until then.
Koene

PS: For all whom missed the epic championship battle: there is still a chance to see the DHC heroes of today shining on April 15th in their Cup game. Cards are personally being taken care of by the undersigned, while goals are personally guaranteed by all of our strikers (rumors has it that even Daan promised to score one goal, although that could have been the champagne talking – after all alcohol and overconfidence are close siblings).  

This half of the season has seen the Dutch Junior Section participating in a number of matches and games, including friendlies. 

This last Saturday the Dutch opened our field up to HKCC and Valley Hockey Sections for some friendly Under 6, Under 8 and Under 10 games. What a great idea, the clubs were able to practice game time and met some new friends along the way. Thank you to Rupert (Valley), Gen (HKCC) and Kelly-Ann (Dutch) for organising, and of course to our helpers from Men's Division, Gareth & Jayson, and also to Papeye our Assistant Coach. ​

Thank you to all the parents who have helped get their kids to training & matches on-time, fed and energetic! I have loved seeing the kids grow, begin doing team chats together, form favourite positions and score goals!

In the upcoming season (2018-2019) we are looking to host some Indoor Summer Training, and develop the Under 12 squad. So if you are an Under 10, don't worry, we are looking to field an U12 team. Let us know if you have any friends who are interested in training with us in the lead up to 2018/2019. 

​

Dear DHC enthusiast,

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. It’s that time of the year where we all wind down and spend some extra time with friends and family. It is also the time where we reflect on what we enjoyed most and make plans to make 2018 even more awesome than 2017!

Fortunately, DHC is in good shape due to all the effort from our members and volunteers. In this mid-year update some of these volunteers have provided their view on the first half of the season, which can be read on the following pages.

Personally, I look back at the first half of the season with pride. This season 18 new ladies and 10 new men joined DHC. Furthermore, the kids club has grown tremendously to 32 kids who enjoy learning the game every Saturday morning. With great numbers come great results. After great results last season, and building our ladies teams in the first division, the HKHA recognized the potential of our woman’s section and promoted our A team to the Premier Division. But it is not only the women who are doing great! The men’s A team has not lost a game this season and is well on track on becoming the number one of the league. The men’s B secured a couple of new talented international players, which led to good results.

Behind the scenes a couple of DHC online marketing gurus are constantly updating our social media presence to provide you with the latest updates and ensure that potential new players know that we are the most fun club to play for. We are active on Instagram, Facebook (where we reached 500 fans for the first time in the history of the club) and have an active blog on our website http://www.dutchhockeyclub.hk You don’t have to remember this link as due to the above and some excellent SEO writing, DHC is the first club who pops up in the search results when Googling Hockey Hong Kong.

Most importantly, I am happy to see that under the excellent guidance from Ali we now have a weekly training attendance of over 30 active players who all enjoy the game and sometimes a drink afterwards. There were many socials and I feel that the club spirit is peaking! Let’s bring this great positive vibe with us to 2018!

On behalf of the whole DHC committee we wish you a healthy 2018 with many enjoyable hockey games!
​
Cheers,
Michael Koppert
Chairman DHC

​Check out our More Chaos Video here, and if you would like a copy of our newsletter in PDF, download below. 

Ho Ho Ho  
​
Merry Christmas and happy new year to all of our DHC MINI HOCKEY STARS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Wish you all the very best for the New Year 2018.
 
This year 2017 DHC grew tremendously which brought us some outstanding performances and results. Especially our DHC Ladies A team, who qualified for Premier Division through great effort and dedication. Our Men A are still unbeaten and are on top of the league till the end of the year, which is very impressive. Our men and ladies’ development squads did a great job in their games and their results are quite impressive too.
 
We had great number on trainings and matches, which is very positive sign for DHC especially our development team players attend all the trainings, keep the number high in next session of the league in 2018 and I am very hopeful that in coming days DHC will be one of the biggest Clubs in Hong Kong.
 
I am so happy with the efforts from all of our players which gave me a lot of motivation to work harder. Keep the moment in 2018 see you all in New Year.
 
Best Regards, 
 
Zeeshan Ali
Field Hockey Player- Coach 

Ladies A – written by Charlotte Brearley
The Ladies A's have got off to a flying start in the first half of the season, having played 9 matches and only losing 1. With a number of new players joining at the start of the season, the team quickly gelled and were a force to be reckoned with, both on and off the field!
 
With Ali’s excellent guidance, we have scored the (joint) highest number of goals of any team, had a rock hard defence and ran rings round the opposition. And off the field, we have barbecued, hot potted, had lots of pitch side ciders (the team’s preferred tipple), dressed up for beer fest and celebrated Christmas festivities. 
 
All members of the team have trained, played and socialised hard which has made for a brilliant first few months. We are very sad to say goodbye to the incredibly talented Maud, Emma and Charlie, who have all been a huge asset to team and will be sorely missed. Thank you girls!  
 
The wonderful team spirit, the dedication and silky skills have led to a mid season promotion to the dizzy heights of the premier league post Christmas. A well deserved outcome and a challenge we’re chomping at the bit for! 

Ladies B team – written by Tiffany Lo
The Ladies B Team was up against quite a challenge this year. Many players from the last season were unable to play again this season either because they moved away, has clashing work schedules, or even some to start a family or move up to the A team! On that note, we definitely benefited from the aggressive recruitment efforts of Liesbeth, Sarah and Kelly-Ann to name a few.
 
We welcomed a lot of new players from far and wide as well as some from other local clubs, but as a result, a lot of work needed to be done to form cohesion and structure within the team. To add to the challenge, we retained our position in the First Division in Women's Hockey and were up against a lot of really tough competitors, most of whom had been training and playing together for much longer.
 
Unfortunately, this has been reflected in our first half-season results, having won just 1 game out of a total 9 played. Regardless of the result, the team has been having fun with every game, with incredible highlights such as our newbie to hockey, Bonnie, scoring her first two lifetime field hockey goals in our win against Aquila A. Aside from that, training numbers have been strong, and with plenty of social events building up team spirit, I'm certain we can finish the next half-season strong. 
 
Also, a big congratulations to the Ladies A Team on completely smashing the First Division and being promoted to the Premier Division for the next half-season!

Men’s A team – written by Sjoerd Reniers
“Men Dutch A, re-grouped, re-motivated and going very strong in the 2nd division of the league” 
 
After our relegation last season from the 1st to the 2nd division there were some doubts how the team will cope with that, whether players would leave or not? 
 
However, at the start of the new season all of our core players showed up and together with some fresh players we immediately started to form our Dutch A team for this season. From the beginning the team showed motivation, dedication and fighting spirit. The number of players for both the training sessions and the matches were higher than they have ever been in last season! Which resulted in the following astonishing figures so far:
 
No 1 in our league standing! 
Out of 12 games, we won 10, drew 2 and did not lose a single match! 
 
This result naturally contributed further to our already high team spirit. After our Christmas break we unfortunately will miss some strong (students) players who returned to the Netherlands to finish their studies. Nevertheless, we are confident and more focused than ever to become CHAMPIONS this season! Go Dutch!!!
 
Men’s B team – written by Bas Fransen
Men Dutch B had a good first half of the season with 5 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses, clearly with an upward trend, also thanks to the outstanding coaching of Ali.
The team has been welcoming a number of great new players, such as The Young Four (Tom, Gavin, Angus and Eric). And new players keep joining the team.
Dutch B now represents 7 nationalities (!), has definitely the potential to do great in the second half of the season!

What a great start to the hockey year for our Junior Hockey section! We have been blessed to be back at Happy Valley on Saturday mornings, with Coach Ali, his assistants and weekly Senior section helpers all contributing to a growing hockey community. The kids love how Ali puts his drills together, and our U6 kids especially love the fun hockey games where they get to run around and chase their friends.
We welcomed back a number of our previous kids, one of which (Gigi) celebrated her birthday with a Dutch Hockey Cake and have grown to a squad of 32! We celebrated Halloween with a dress up themed Christmas morning, and so far this season we have had two hockey tournaments run by HKFC and HKHA where we entered U10 and two U8 teams in each. Each team improved significantly from the first tournament, some amazing goals scored and growth in each player.
We look forward to the remainder of the season, and are looking to run some summer coaching through Easter and beyond to keep those who are interested active during the summer season. We would also love to have an U12 and even U14 team next year, so if you know any kids who might be interested in joining the spirit of the Dutch.

Kelly-Ann McHugh

The DHC 2017/18 season got off to a great start in August with a sizzling BBQ at Shek-O beach to welcome in the new season. With a great turn out from our Men's, Ladies and Junior players and parents old and new the Club mixed and mingled enjoying (sort of) the scorching hot day and staying cool with some drinks and a swim before we got the coals burning and the steaks on! A fantastic effort from all who helped shop for food, cook and make sure drinks were topped up. Although there is not much recollection of what really happened towards the end of the night, sore heads the following morning definitely suggest it was an all round success.
 
With the teams now well acquainted and training underway we kicked off September with our first monthly Club social at our Sponsor's bar Mokum! This is where it pays to be early as the first few drinks are always on the Dutch! It was great to see the new players come out to get involved in some "third half" team bonding and once we'd drank the pot dry and had our fill of Bitterballen in Mokum, the keen (and still standing) headed on for some late night dancing and the always inevitable 2am kebab (how our ladies made it to the game the next day is still a mystery)!
 
After a busy October and a false start on the much anticipated annual Oktoberfest, we finally got a Club social in the calendar for early November with Lederhosen and Dirndl's donned and litre of beers in hand this is always one of the funniest nights of this season! Based on the blurred photographic evidence that came through, if you missed this event you definitely missed out, there was German bands with dancing and beer swigging and hilarious carnage to boot, even the journey home which practically took and hour and costs in excess of $300 didn't put a dampener on the night! 
 
With all our teams ending this half of the season on a high (especially for our Ladies A securing a place in the Prem Division from January) we made sure we celebrated properly with a good old fashion local Christmas Party at Tung Po Cooked Food Market. A great turn out from both the men's and ladies’ squads. The party carried on well into the night hitting our usual LKF side street bar for a boogie to the band and as always, 3am kebabs!

Sarah Noonan

We are always looking for new players! Please invite your hockey friends to our training sessions or one of our many social events. We have attached the following flyer to this newsletter. Feel free to share around in your network! Connect with us at our Membership page.