After being out of the Inline Hockey Australia National Championship for the past 5 years, South Australia returned to mix it with the best inline hockey players in Australia.  This year’s event was hosted at Skate Paradise in Logan City in Brisbane, which is a purpose built skating rink with the surface comprising painted concrete.  Apart from South Australia (SA), teams came from Queensland (Qld), New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (V), Tasmania (Tas) and Western Australia (WA), although the latter only fielded one team for Senior Men and one for Masters divisions.

South Australia fielded teams in Under 9, Under 13, Under 15, Under 17, Under 23, Senior Men, Masters, Veterans divisions and had South Australian players represented in Tasmanian teams in Under 11, Junior Women (17 and under) and Senior Women (16 and over) where South Australia did not field a team.  There was also a division for 50+ year old competitors.  Depending on how many teams were in the division determined how many minor round games and how many finals would be played.

This post follows the South Australian teams and players and some friends playing in the other teams, with particular emphasis on son Jordan’s under 15 and under 17 division teams.

Well into the tail end of the championship on Day 6, the South Australian teams would know where they might be placed for finals competition.  Some would fair better than others, especially the Under 17s and Under 23 teams.  Saturday would be mainly finals, with Sunday having the Grand Final games and medal presentations.

At the end of the championship South Australia had shown they would be a formidable opposition in the next Nationals, with silver medals to the Under 17 and Under 23 teams, and bronze medals to the Under 9 and Under 13 teams.

Please note the photos here from Friday 4/10/2024 to Sunday 6/10/2024 are just a small selection (to save space on the website!).  Contact me for more information.

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4/10/2024 Friday Day 6

– featuring Under 17, Under 13, Veterans, Senior Men

Under 17 – Vic v SA 1-2.  This one was expected to be a hard fought game, as all Vic/SA encounters are any sport!

Under 13 – SA v Vic 3-0

Veterans Qualifying Final 4th v 5th – Tas v SA 5-4

Senior Men Minor Semi Final – Vic v SA 1-4

5/10/2024 Saturday Day 7

 

– featuring Under 17 (3 games), Under 15, Under 23, 

 

Under 17 Major Semi Final 1st v 2nd – Qld v SA 5-2.  Having lost this one, SA would have to play the winner of NSW v Victoria playing in the Minor Semi Final.  They were hoping for NSW!

Under 15 – SA v Vic 1-5  

This was to be the SA Under 15s last appearance.  After having been unable to secure a game their tournament was over.  Only 1st and 2nd teams had a single final, the Grand Final, which home state Queensland took out 5-0 against Victoria.

Under 23 Major Semi Final 1st v 2nd – Qld v SA 2-3. 

The narrow win to SA would put them straight into the Grand Final.

6/10/2024 Sunday Day 8

Under 17 Preliminary Final – SA v Vic 6-2. 

With SA dominating over Victoria (with Rory Moffat scoring 4 goals), they set up a repeat showdown with Queensland in the Grand Final.

Senior Men Preliminary Final – NSW v SA 4-3

With the game locked at 2-all at the end of Regulation time, there was 5 mins of overtime 3-on-3, and neither team could break the deadlock, so the game went to shootout.  New South Wales were successful to continue onwards to play Queensland in the Grand Final and win.

Under 17 Grand Final – Qld v SA 5-2

After bouncing back from their defeat in the Under 17 Major Semi Final to Queensland, and then disposing of Victoria to have another tilt at the home side, the SA team were hoping to go one better and take the big prize and a fairy tale end to their campaign after being out of the Nationals for 5 years.  Queensland would open the scoring at the 15:40 mark, but SA fought back to level the score at 9:06 when Cruz McKechnie-Klose scored on a sharp angle after an assist from Craig Brunato.  The Queensland however would strike back with 2 goals to take the 3-1 lead at the break.  The second half was very tight with neither side finding a way past the excellent defence of both teams.  Eventually Queensland would add another, but Rory Moffat struck back again 30 secs later.  But time wasn’t on SA’s side, and Queensland would add a late goal, to take the championship with the 5-2 win.  

Junior Women Grand Final – Vic v Tas 3-1

The Tasmanian team (with 4 SA players) put up a gallant fight but the Victorians were too good in the end.

Under 23 Grand Final – SA v Qld 1-7

After their last close encounter in the Major Semi Final which saw SA pip Qld 3-2, this final encounter was expected to be close.  However, it wasn’t to be, as Qld came out with an effective game plan that worked well to dominate and take the win 7-1, showing the value of having the home rink and training since January!  The lopsided game saw the need for SA to make a goal tender change and put young Angus Schuppan (from the Under 17 side) in between the pipes to see out the game.