Altona Hockey Club

FINALS WEEK 1

And just like that - the 2026 home and away season has come to a close for most of our teams!

Thank you to every single person who played a part over the course of this season. Players, coaches, team managers, umpires, volunteers, supporters, administrators - it takes a lot to pull it all together, and can only be achieved through the collective effort of every person in our AHC community.

We have 6 teams through to the first week of finals this weekend, including two at home for our U16 Mixed and U12 Mixed Pennant teams - as well as hosting the Under 8s and 10s Carnival this Saturday morning (if you are looking for a Bacon & Egg roll in Altona between 8 and 11am Saturday morning drop by).

Check out the game times and try to get out and support our teams for their big games

Final standings for all teams:
JUNIORS:
U12 Girls PEN - 2nd
U12 Mixed PEN - 1st
U12 Mixed DIST - 8th
U14 Girls PEN (Blue) - 7th
U14 Girls PEN (Gold) - 9th
U14 Boys PEN - 3rd
U16 Girls PEN - 8th
U16 Mixed DIST - 1st
U18 Mixed DIST - 9th

SENIORS:
Womens PL - 10th
Mens PL - 8th
Womens PLR - 9th
Mens PLR - 9th
Womens PEN B - 9th
Mens PEN A - 5th
Womens PEN E - 7th
Mens PEN C - 4th
Mens Pen E - 2nd
Mens METRO 1 - 5th
Monday Open - 5th

After three years as our Men’s Premier League Head Coach, Greg Drake is stepping down from the role now that the season has concluded.

Drakey took on the job in the 2024 season and lead the group to a Minor Premiership in his first year, also receiving HV’s Coach Of The Year award. He has made significant contributions to our club over the years, in his capacity as not only Men’s Premier League coach this time around, but also previous stints coaching both MPL and WPL, current Club Coach Developer, and a player with 250 State League 1 games including two SL1 premierships. Beyond this, Drakey has had international responsibilities including Head Coach of USA Women’s National Team, and closer to home he has contributed to Victorian hockey immensely including coaching U21s, coaching (and winning) AHL with the Victorian Vipers, and his current role of the HC Melbourne Women's Head Coach with preparations well underway for their 2026 season after their 2025 grand final appearance.

AHC extends a sincere thank you to Greg for all his ongoing efforts with the club and wider hockey community.

We are now in the recruitment process for the new MPL Head Coach - interested parties can refer to the link in the comments on how to apply 👇

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Danielle Tyrrell, who stepped back from the Women’s Premier League Head Coach role earlier this year after being at the helm for 3.5 years. Dan continues to be an influential presence in the group as a player, alongside her responsibilities as current HC Melbourne Chair of Selectors.

This weekend is the final round of the home and away season, and on Saturday we are celebrating the annual AHC Reunion Round alongside what will be Emma Aitken's 200th Women's Premier League game - an outstanding achievement in itself, made even more impressive by a long hiatus mid-career when she moved to Darwin.

A star through her junior career at Altona, Emma made her State League 1 (as it was known back then) debut for Altona at just 15 years old in 2007, and quickly made name for herself at senior level with searing one handed runs down the right hand side. She had played her first 86 games by the end of 2012 before the move, and when she returned in 2019 and slotted straight back into the Premier League group bringing her experience over the past 113 games. A consistent and dependable player, known for her strength on the ball, passion she brings to every game, and leadership in the squad.

Emma is just the 5th woman to reach the milestone for SL1/PL hockey for AHC.

It's a home game against Essendon for our Premier League sides on Saturday, with Emma's milestone game at 3:30pm following the Men at 2pm, in which Harry Leigh will play his 50th Men's Premier League game. Harry debuted early in 2024 and has quickly made his mark in the team. Also representing Victoria throughout juniors and into Under 21s, Harry brings a lot of talent to the table an asset to the MPL squad.

We're looking forward to seeing new and old members alike down at the club on Saturday - click here for all the details on Reunion Round 👉 https://www.facebook.com/events/s/ahc-reunion-round-2026/1414057837234453/

World Cup debut for Connar Otterbach, let’s go 💪

Tune in for the Kookaburras last pool game tonight against South Africa, live on 7Plus from 7pm.

Great work Ben Guy (pictured), once again coaching the HC Melbourne Futures boys!

If you are looking an U17 player looking to nominate, they are now open with the link below.

Congratulations to Molly Klix and the Victorian Women for taking home silver at the Hockey Australia Country Championships this past weekend! Molly took a a brief step away from her Women's Premier League goal keeping duties to represent the state alongside familiar faces Emma Hatton, Kahlua Smart and Ashlee Craig. Fantastic performance from Molly including a nail-biting shootout win against NSW in the semis, and a great result overall!

The Altona Hockey Club is deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Studley, a respected Life Member whose contribution to our club spanned many decades. The Studley family’s commitment and involvement played a profound role in shaping the growth and development of our club.

Jim started playing at Altona in 1946 in the U/18 team. This was the first season after the end of World War 2 and the team were eventually runners up. The following season (1947) Jim played in the Club’s 1st grade team (B1) and was a member of the Premiership team which also gained promotion to A2. The team was knocked out in the first week of finals (1948) but would go on to win the Premiership (1949) and earn promotion to A1 for the 1950 season.

1950 was the first season Altona would play in the highest grade of Victorian club hockey and Jim was an inaugural member of the first team. Jim, along with Altona teammates Bill Smith and Robert Handley, was selected in the Victorian Colts (U21) State team for the tournament in Sydney. There was an unusual occurrence this season with the Colts team playing in the A1 competition. This resulted in players on occasion playing for the Colts in the premiership competition instead of their own club. This experiment lasted one season. Altona were narrowly relegated at the end of the season, missing out by 1 point on retaining A1 status.

In 1951, Jim was captain of the A2 team which went on to win the Club’s second A2 premiership in 3 years and regain a spot in the A1 competition. Altona would remain in A1 until 1955 with Jim a constant member of the team.
Jim stepped away from hockey during the 1950’s to focus on work, family and build his family house. He would return during the 1960’s to coach junior teams which included U/12 Premierships in 1966 and 1967. He was also active with fundraising and social activities with his house being the drop off point for newspaper collections (old newspapers could be collected and exchanged for cash) as well as a gathering point for social BBQs. It was during this time that he was awarded Life Membership of the Altona Hockey Club.

Jim was supported throughout by his wife, Ruby, whose dedication as a volunteer enhanced the club in countless ways. During the 1970s, Jim continued to coach our junior players, and he remained a familiar presence on the sidelines at SL1 matches, proudly watching his sons Garry and Geoff represent the club.

His legacy lives on in the club that our current members are privileged to uphold.

A huge congratulations to Chloe Agius and Lee Paterson who have both been selected to represent Victoria at the 2026 Australian Championships!

Chloe is in the girls Victorian team as a bottom age player and continues her great rise which included a Women's Premier League debut earlier this year.

Lee is in the Boys development team, his first state team and great reward for the effort he has put in - also playing senior hockey this year, and going from missing out on U14 Wildcats last year to making the state team this year is an incredible effort.

They will both travel to Canberra for the tournament in October.

It's Indigenous Round this weekend at AHC - we have all of our senior teams playing at home across the weekend and we'll have our Indigenous kit proudly on display across every game. Swipe through below to see the story behind the incredible design, commissioned by Altona Hockey Club to Wadawurrung artist Billy-Jay (BJ) O'Toole (Papul art).

SATURDAY @ AHC
12:30pm WPLR vs MCC
2:00pm WPL vs MCC
3:30pm MPL vs MCC
5:00pm MPLR vs MCC
6:30pm MPC vs Waverley

SUNDAY @ AHC
11:00pm WPE vs Melbourne Uni
12:30pm WPB vs Hawthorn
2:00pm MPA vs Doncaster
3:30pm MPE vs Werribee
5:00pm MM1 vs Brunswick