The Argentina Hockey Festival 2010 was a great success for forth consecutive year!
The main cause is this success is the constant trust and support we get from hockey people from Argentina and other countries, but mainly from Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires by receiving us in their wonderful club again.
In the 2010 edition we had with us Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Club Banco Ciudad, Olivos Rugby Club, Club Italiano Club Lanus, Club Banco Provincia, and San Martin Club, all clubs from the local scene.
We want to highlight the huge effort made by Sutherland High School from Pretoria, that represented South Africa with its Boys and Girls teams in the Under 18 Category; and Bush Rangers from New South Wales, that with its 2 Boys teams in the Under 18 Category and their 2 Girls teams in the Under 16 and Under 18 Categories made us witness the high field hockey level of a potence as Australia.
The festival started early on Thursday 1 st of April with the arrival of all the teams to the facilities of Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires. One by one, all the institutions entered the field and lined up in front of the stage.
After the warm words of Roberto Geneyro, Coordinator of the Female Youth Hockey from Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires; and from Manuel Teran, Director of Team Sports; everybody could enjoy a Malambo dance performed by " Raices Argentinas" with outstanding skills on the "boleadoras".
Finally, at 10:30, the time for hockey arrived. In the first round of matches, we could see in action by the representative teams of Bush Rangers and Sutherland High School .
Not only in the pitch great things happened. Outside we could watch how young kids from different countries and cultures left aside the sport competence to interact socially and build friendships that will last for many years.
On Friday the first round matches continued in each pool of the 3 categories. All the pools were really tight, having to wait until the last match of the day to define the positions on the Girls Under 18 Pool.
With all the positions defined, the finals of the Argentina Hockey Festival were:
- U-16 Girls Final: Club Italiano vs. Bush Rangers.
- U-18 Boys Final: Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires vs. Bush Rangers
- U-18 Girls Final: Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires vs. Club Banco Ciudad.
The winner of the first final in the U-16 Girls Category was Club Italiano. In the Boys and Girls U-18 Categories the host club, Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires, took both trophies to their shelves showing great hockey.
Mrs Lucia Palacio from Club Italiano in the U-16 Girls Final, Josh Gregory from Bush Rangers in the Boys U-18 Final and Mrs Marcela Lugano, goalie from Club Banco Ciudad in the U-18 Girls Final, had an outstanding performance for which they won the Most Valuable Player of the Finals Award.
After 3 days filled with hockey, a moment awaited by all the assistants to the AHF arrived: the Award Ceremony and the Closing Party of the Argentina Hockey Festival 2010.
Held in the Garden Salon of the Bauen Hotel, the ceremony started with the words of the organizators followed by the presentation of a gift and teams pictures for all the institutions involved in the AHF 2010.
Then all the MVP Awards and the Trophies for all the categories were handed.
When the Ceremony ended, we could all enjoy a Pizza Party organized by the Hotel's catering service. With everybody's bellies filled and full of energy the party started: First the Karaoke, with lots of national and international songs where all the willing could pick the mic and sing their lungs out!
When the singing was done, everybody filled the dance floor and gave in to the beat. Reggeaton, Cumbia, Pop, Disco and Techno were the hot rhythms.
Besides the music and dancing, the best thing to witness was the smile in the faces of the boys and girls of different countries that year after year give us strength to affirm that the AHF arrived to the international field hockey scene to stay.
Thanks to everybody for keep on trusting in Team Sports, we wait all of you on April the 2 nd 2010, in the 5 th edition of the Argentina Hockey Festival!
