Grammar Windsor Hockey 90th Celebration 11 September
President Doug Ray
Welcome everyone and thank you for being here to celebrate 90 years of our Grammar Windsor Hockey Club from 1932 to 2022. I particularly welcome our past players and members joining our current members today: your achievements and mana underpin our existence and is what Grammar Windsor continues to build on and be recognised for. We have a diverse presence here today including our oldest and life member 96-year-old John Kernoghan, alongside our Juniors granddaughter of 1933 Harvard Cup winners team captain Garth Twigden. As well as players of national renown, those who demonstrate longstanding club commitment, and those who play for sheer enjoyment and camaraderie, thank you all. My partner Christine and I have been here a mere 18 years since our goalkeeper son Taylor’s first Year 6 season. From a family catch-up in France, we wish we were with you. Joining the committee of 2007, we committed to a rebuild of our Juniors programme, ultimately doubling to 200 players including participating in NZ Representative tournaments, and being recognised in the same league as Howick Pakuranga, Sommerville and Southern. We had begun our club rebuild, with our Juniors who are our future. Next start-up has been creating our youth teams. Our Youth Girls within four years won the Auckland Hockey Championship Cup, unbeaten throughout the season. From there we created Championship and Premier Youth Boys teams, the latter led by two exBlack Sticks champions. Our mid-season strategy of channelling our proficient Year 8 players into Youth, and our older Youth into Seniors, continues to grow these teams’ strength and our club future. Our reputation of organisational excellence and a family friendly, inclusive yet competitive club continues to attract a cohort of diverse players, who benefit from our ethos of fun first, building confident participation, skills, and expertise, all of which is well aligned with research and practice shown by Auckland Hockey and international coaching experts.
Our Seniors are now five teams, with our ambition for 2023 onwards to resume participation in Premier Reserve, and then progress to Premiers. We are ambitious and have the desire to continue to succeed at the highest level possible.
Essential to our players success are our coaches and managers across the club, our Juniors and Youth coordinators, our Club Captain, and this season and onwards, our Club Coach. The time, energy, and expertise you invest has attracted new players, given better performing teams, and built our reputation as a club to which to belong, shown by a sold-out summer hockey programme. Besides being outright fun, summer hockey connects existingmembers and attracts new players to the next winter season playing for Grammar Windsor.
I thank our proactive, self-reliant, and talented Grammar Windsor committee who have given us a wonderful historical event today. This season our committee has also rolled outClubHub connecting all members, a new club-wide player uniform, and our new website,Facebook, and Instagram channels which showcase our relevance as unique, on trend, and forward looking.
Thank you everyone associated with team Grammar Windsor, for your valuable contribution, camaraderie, and achievement over these 90 years, and for being here today to celebrateour continued success.
We have an illustrious record and a fantastic outlook ahead. We look forward to celebratingour Centenary in a decade.
Thank you all for giving us a successful 90 years as Grammar Windsor Hockey Club.
President Doug Ray