In a unique turn of events, the Old Canberrans’ Hockey Club (OCHC) is the only association with both its men’s and women’s teams in the top four of their respective competitions.
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Indeed, the OCHC sides have gone one better: they’re both in the top two.
Their results appear to be as much the result of mentality as much as skill – both teams noted that one of their pre-season goals was to aim for the top four.
“We always hold pretty high expectations of ourselves, especially in the last few years,” women’s captain Catriona Bailey-Price said.
“We do expect a lot of ourselves and that we’ll make the top four.”
Similarly, key men’s player James Day said that “Coming into the season, after the year we had last year, we wanted to be in the top two spot.
“We wanted to have that second chance if we needed it for the finals.”
The men have achieved their goal, and are now comfortably the leading side in the CL1 division with 15 wins and three losses, while the women have 13 wins, two draws, and two losses, which has them sitting behind Tuggeranong.
Most recently, both sides played against Goulburn on Saturday, and came away with strong wins.
For the men, it was a particularly sweet victory as Goulburn had previously beaten them in round eight.
“Last time we played them we got a bit of a touch up,” Day said.
“We’re coming off a couple of not great games, so it was good to play well.”
Ahead of the finals, which both the men and women are all but guaranteed to make, there are still adjustments for OCHC to make.
“I think we’ve gotta keep doing what we’re doing at the moment,” Day said, referring to his side’s recent strong form. We’ve had games where we’ve let off for ten minutes and let the other team back into it.”
Similarly, Bailey Price emphasized the need for her team to remain focused an play as a unit.
“When we play as a team, that’s when we look the best,” she said.
“There were periods on the weekend where we connected several passes up, down the field, and that’s when we look our best, when we play that selfless game.”