Notable acquisitions strengthen Dalefield

Dalefield looks set to make a bold showing in the Wellington premier division women's hockey competition this coming season with several notable acquisitions strengthening their team.
New coach Nigel Goodin had the luxury of having no fewer than 24 players participate in a selection trial and admits there were a few headaches before settling on a 17-strong squad which is now preparing for their opening match on Saturday, March 28.
"There were a few unlucky ones, it was just great to have so many players to choose from and unfortunately some had to miss out," Goodin said.
"But it's good to have them on standby, you never know what will happen as the season goes on."
The two major losses from last season are goalkeeper Sara Crofoot, who is at Massey University, and experienced utility player Jodi Graham who is having a break from the game but has indicated she will still fill in if required.
Gains include a former Wairarapa representative in Leah Kershaw who played for Indians last season, Brooke Taylor (also from Indians), Abby Hill (from Northern United) Norma Stein, a Bay of Plenty-Tauranga representative last season, and promising youngsters from local colleges, Jordan McGregor, Jade Foreman, Paige Goodin and Leanna Johnson, who will take over the goalkeeping role.
Good news too is that former Wellington and Canterbury rep Janeen Bruce is returning to the fold after missing most of the last two seasons , as is Kylie Smith who has been out of the game for some years.
And back from last season are Ana-May Playle, Georgia Burton Chloe Stevens, Libby Noema, Karen James, Alice Davies and Amanda Pottinger.
Pleased as he is with the talent at his disposal coach Goodin warns it might take a game or two for Dalefield to produce anything like their best form as they will go into their opening competition game without the benefit of any pre-season fixtures.
"Right now we are still working on combinations and you can't expect everything to click right from the word go," he said.
Dalefield men's coach Mark Fenwick is in a very different situation than Goodin leading into their opening Wellington premier division match, also on March 28.
He is down on numbers from last season with the major losses including Manawatu national league player Dane Lett and Tobyn Yeo, who have both gone to Manawatu, national age group rep Shane Hodgkiss, who has joined up with Northern United and goalkeeper Orin Lockyer, who is now in the Waikato.
Not available either are former Wellington senior rep Daniel Juno, another to move to the Manawatu, and Thomas Annear, a prominent Wairarapa age group player who will be part of the Northern United side.
There is some bright news amid the gloom though with Wairarapa College teacher Willie Schaefer transferring from Northern United and Geoff Ewington recovered from the hand injury which limited his appearances last year.
An Englishman tutoring at Rathkeale College, Louis Samuels, is also part of their line-up.
Captaining Dalefield will be one of their star forwards in Rowan Yeo and they will again have the services of the Mason brothers, Greg and Chris, Willie Waitere and goalkeeper Alan Brady.
The latter is, however, currently sidelined with injury and Fenwick himself actually played in goal when his squad took part in a pre-season mini-tourney in Palmerston North last weekend.
Fenwick was happy with the results achieved by his side there with a 3-3 draw against Wellington's North United being followed by a 3-5 loss to Bay Independent of Hawke's Bay and a 1-4 loss to Palmerston North-based High School Old Boys.
"We competed well, and that was the object of the exercise," Fenwick said. "We've still got a lot of work to do but it's given us something to build on."