In closing this Newsletter, I cannot let the opportunity go by without commenting on the ‘events’ of our recent Bendigo weekend. While this season was always going to be a ‘re-building year’, I have been very happy with the progress we have made. In particular, the turnouts for our practices, while far from perfect, have been substantially better than any other club in the competition. The Junior B’s in particular have been as dedicated as I could have asked for, even with the 6am trainings. But that only make it more frustrating when we go and default games on short notice, as our Junior A and Senior A teams did two weeks ago in Bendigo. Hockey is a team game; showing pride and respect for your club, your team-mates and your opponents are an important part of it. Indeed, if it were not, I would not be here! But at times a few of us forget that ‘showing respect’ means occasionally doing things we are not that keen on, such as driving to Bendigo for a game. I know it is a long drive for just one game, but it is matter of showing respect for your team-mates who do want to play, for the Bendigo players who, while they are not driving to Melbourne this year, have endured many more drives down the Calder than any of us, and for the volunteers who have put a great deal of time and effort into arranging this whole competition so everyone could play. We have two more trips to Bendigo this season and I don’t want the Demon’s good name dragged through the mud as the ‘club which couldn’t be bothered’.