GEBA players celebrate after clinching the club’s seventh title.
Confederation wants to increase players to 300,000.
GEBA women and Banco Provincia men were again the top teams in the Metropolitan championships and it would not have been fair if they had not won the title playoffs. The Argentine Hockey Confederation’s president, Aníbal Fernández meanwhile wants to increase the number of hockey players in the country to 300,000.
GEBA women and Banco Provincia men were again the outstanding teams of the 2013 Metropolitan championships. Both led their First Division A all the way — Banco Provincia winning by a margin of 12 to gain their third title in a row, while GEBA finished nine points ahead for their seventh straight tile. GEBA did it while often playing without four or five internationals away during the year’s busy international schedule.
That is why I say once again that these end-of-season playoffs for the title, now between the top six teams, should not be necessary and could be very unfair if the above mentioned easy top teams had not won them. It is like working hard all season to finish top and then having to play two games on the same weekend, usually in the heat, to win the title again. These playoffs are very exciting, but for years the Herald has suggested to play a proper knockout tournament at the end of the season which would also be exciting. The same can be said for other many playoffs and playouts, etc. which decide other placings, also promotion and relegation, which really had already been done during the season.
Hockey is a team game, but goal scoring has always been the icing on the cake and scorers are most revered, even if the whole team are responsible. Yet it is noteworthy that GEBA and Banco Provincia did not produce the leading scorers. The Rojas sisters, Macarena and Yanina, of Ciudad de Buenos Aires topped the scorers table with 16 and 15 goals respectively, while for the men it was Gonzalo Peillat (Bme Mitre) 28 and Nicolás Delattore (Ciudad) 27.
NEW CLUBS. Six new clubs gained affiliation to the Metropolitan championship — C.A. San Telmo, Club El Retiro, Universidad de La Matanza, C.D. Santa Barbara (Morón), Santa Ángela HC and Colegio Oakhill at the November annual general meeting — taking the total up to a record 107 clubs.
NATIONAL LEAGUE. The season’s National League fixture was reduced to decrease travel expenses, which still did not tempt more Buenos Aires teams to participate. It turned into marathons like five games in four days, the very reason why the format of a few years ago was changed. The men of San Fernando and Universitario de La Plata and River Plate’s women did participate, but went out in the semifinals and their Metropolitan playoffs did not help. The National League semifinal marathon (in Rosario) began four days later and it was terribly hot.
In the case of San Fernando, a strong team which would had a chance, none of their playoff team felt like going, 13 reserves travelled, some were injured and they finished up playing with less players. Provincial teams take the tournament more seriously and arrange their fixtures accordingly, but reorganization is needed. Chilean guest club Manquehue qualified for the eight-team men’s final (Copa de Honor) which was postponed until 2014, together with the eight-team women’s final, for lack of time. All the other finalists are from the provinces.
OWN GOAL RULE. Of trial rules introduced last season, counting “own goals” will be discontinued as of February 1. Many coaches were glad, but I feel that putting through your own goal should count as long as somebody of the defending team (including goalkeeper) touches it in the circle. As it was, I saw some hard shots at the goalkeeper from outside the circle — or the “D” as they call it in Europe — hoping that the goalkeeper would fumble the ball to end in the net.
DOUBLE 150,000 PLAYERS. The Argentine Hockey Confederation rules 23 provincial leagues and Aníbal Fernández, its president, says there are 150,000 players in the country and he plans to increase that total to 300,000. In the Metropolitan championships only 16% were masculine — the same as the year before. No exact figures are available for the rest of the country.
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