Ones to watch: 2005 - Hockey
Long gone are the days of lumpy, meadow-like playing surfaces and brittle, splintering sticks that snapped at unexpected moments. Hockey has grown into a fast moving and entertaining sport, and both men's and women's blues teams need your support at their games in order to mince the Tabs in fine style this year.
The women's team, this year captained by Kate Adlington, have had a fantastic start to the season. Despite preseason worries regarding the loss of some key team players from last year, a high influx of freshers, some with regional and England experience, has kept the team playing well.
Capitalising on this new talent is new coach John Shaw, who arrived two weeks before term, fresh from commenting on the hockey in Athens.
His new style and ruthless commitment to fitness has seen a much slicker and streamlined Oxford side lining up to face their opponents, reflected in score lines like the 8-1 victory over Brunel.
The most promising victory this season however has been 4-1 over Cambridge, obviously a very good sign for the Varsity match this year.
The Blues end the first half of the season in 3rd place in their league, undefeated at home, and with very good prospects for the all important varsity match.
The men's Blues have had a slightly slower start, suffering from the loss of five central players from lastyear. The new intake from the first year gave a talented side, but one with little natural cohesion.
However after initial stutters in the opening games, the men went on to win the next four games out of five, finishing eighth in their league overall.
The second half of the season looks to be more promising, with twenty players to choose between for the squad of sixteen for Varsity. Competition for places will be tough and no one is guaranteed their pitch time without some hard training leading up to the match.
Cambridge are now playing in a national league, but have been beaten every week so far. They will most likely be entering the varsity match with this serious blow to their confidence affecting their match play, something that the Oxford team can easily exploit.
The Varsity match this year is at Southgate on March 1st, student tickets just £3. Fun starts are 11am.
20th Jan 2005