Having completed the first half of the outdoor season with Crefelder HTC in Germany, Tim Lewis has encountered a very different hockey culture to the one in Dublin.
After seven rounds of competition in the Bundesliga, Lewis finds his new club lying in ninth position going into the winter break, which stretches until next April.
On the resumption – after effectively going through a second preseason – the side have four games to play in their bid to make the top eight playoffs or else face a relegation mini-league, a situation he told The Hook he is “pretty desperate to avoid”.
As in Holland, the league is the sole competition for outdoor players while Germany’s commitment to the indoor format sees four months devoted to it.
It means short, sharp bursts of outdoor with the emphasis very much on quality over quantity of fixtures.
“It’s very much a case of playing small amounts of quality matches and then giving clubs extra time to prepare for these matches and to develop their players.
“Hockey in Germany is played all over the country and not just focused in two or three small areas like in Ireland. Each city will have one or two clubs and only the really big cities have two teams playing in the Bundesliga so it means a lot of travelling.
“The guys in the club can’t really comprehend the idea of having 20-25 clubs in the same city and a huge number of those clubs putting out fifth or sixth teams. Crefelder have a first squad, a second team – like a reserves – and a third team which is a social or vets team.”
Lewis says that it leads to some of the toughest hockey he has ever experienced, especially in light of his injury problems during the 2009/10 season.
“The fact that I missed most of last season and all of the summer and I’m playing in more advanced positions for Crefelder has probably meant it has taken me longer to settle to the pace than I would have liked.
“The quality of competition is incredibly high. I would consider the pace to be higher than anything I have played in before, including any international match.
“The players are very determined and give a huge commitment – only one other player from the squad lives in the same city as the club so there is plenty of commuting.
“It makes it a very young sport, all but two of our players are still studying and there is a huge expectation of young players.
“We have three of Germany’s best U-16 players who regularly train at 6am in the morning, go to school and then train again in the evening with the senior squad against national team players and Olympic gold medallists.
“It’s amazing how well the young players fit in to these training sessions and don’t look out of place.
“The development of players is so important in Germany, both on the field and off it and so it makes it a great place for me to learn.
“It’s also probably why Germany are the current Junior World Cup holders, won silver in Delhi at the World Cup despite bringing a young inexperienced team, and four out of the five players nominated for World Young Player of the Year are playing in the league.”
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Glenanne | 18 | 42 |
| 2 | • | Monkstown | 18 | 41 |
| 3 | • | Pembroke | 18 | 34 |
| 4 | • | Railway Union | 18 | 33 |
| 5 | • | YMCA | 18 | 30 |
| 6 | • | Corinthian | 18 | 19 |
| 7 | ↑ | Fingal | 18 | 18 |
| 8 | ↓ | TRR | 18 | 17 |
| 9 | • | UCD | 18 | 12 |
| 10 | • | Clontarf | 18 | 6 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Railway Union | 18 | 46 |
| 2 | • | UCD | 18 | 46 |
| 3 | • | Loreto | 18 | 42 |
| 4 | • | Old Alex | 18 | 34 |
| 5 | • | Hermes | 18 | 32 |
| 6 | • | Trinity College | 18 | 18 |
| 7 | ↑ | Glenanne | 18 | 13 |
| 8 | ↓ | Corinthian | 18 | 11 |
| 9 | ↓ | Pembroke | 18 | 11 |
| 10 | • | TRL | 18 | 4 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Avoca | 18 | 40 |
| 2 | • | Suttonians | 18 | 35 |
| 3 | • | Weston | 18 | 32 |
| 4 | • | Dublin University | 18 | 30 |
| 5 | • | Rathgar | 18 | 24 |
| 6 | • | Portrane | 18 | 20 |
| 7 | • | Mullingar | 18 | 4 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Loreto II | 18 | 47 |
| 2 | • | Pembroke II | 18 | 42 |
| 3 | • | North Kildare | 18 | 33 |
| 4 | • | Railway Union II | 18 | 30 |
| 5 | • | Old Alex II | 18 | 23 |
| 6 | • | Hermes II | 18 | 23 |
| 7 | • | Newbridge | 18 | 18 |
| 8 | • | Genesis | 18 | 17 |
| 9 | • | UCD II | 18 | 15 |
| 10 | • | Corinthian II | 18 | 6 |
November 17, 2010 10:53 pm
The Truth says
I hear he played well against YM. Busy man playing for two teams during the one season.
November 18, 2010 2:27 pm
paul byrne says
you wouldn’t think he could play for 2 teams in different countries, are they not both in the same leagues for qualification for european competition.
think saw something earlier about a yound dutch player coming to Trinity as he couldn’t play also for Pembroke as he plays competitively in holland in their 1st division.
November 19, 2010 12:06 pm
NotGood says
What is this all about? Did Tim Lewis play for Pembroke against YM the other night? If he did he was not eligible to play according to the rules.
November 19, 2010 3:46 pm
Danes says
Surely we want our top players playing as much hockey as they can! If there is a long winter break in Germany makes sense he plays back here
November 19, 2010 7:53 pm
The Skinny Little Skobe says
@NotGood
Just wonderin’ which of yizzer rules did he break bud??
November 20, 2010 5:14 pm
a byrne says
the league positions is used to decide which teams will go into next years AIL which in turns qualifies for european competition, which is is also playing in Europe in, both a qualifying league and European hockey competition.
What is to stop now players from the notrh playing both sides of the border, I am sure there is some regulation to stop this, so wahts the difference between this and Europe,
I understand that winter breaks are taken abroad, but he was well aware of this as were others when they went abroad to ply their trade, so do we expect an influx back into pembroke once the dutch league takes its break ?
November 20, 2010 8:54 pm
The Truth says
Well you don’t see this happening in football, rugby, etc, players playing for two different clubs in the same season. I’m sure Pembroke checked out if there was a ‘loop hole’ to play Lewis but personally I think it’s against the spirit of the game and something that needs to be addressed by the IHA. Let’s be clear other clubs I’m sure will be looking into this as I totally agree with ‘a byrne’ this influences the IHL play off standings within the Leinster league. If I was TRR I’d be on the blower to Darling, Maguire etc….
I’m not a YM fan but they were due to play Pembroke weeks ago but got a cancellation due to EHL when Lewis was playing in Germany for a different team. In fairness is that not a total joke? Dress it up what ever way you want!
The Truth
November 21, 2010 10:03 pm
We are the best says
EDIT – comment has been deleted
November 21, 2010 11:35 pm
F1 says
Loving the insightful comment there mate..
Don’t see why pembroke ever considered playing him. Surely you’re disadvantaging yourself if you’re playing a player that hasn’t trained with you all season? No matter how good bad or indifferent he is.
Definitely against the spirit of the game. I don’t think anything can be done now, but it’s a fair advantage to teams that have already played Pembroke if he’s going to play from now on.
November 22, 2010 8:49 am
paul byrne says
well the rules in the past were you certainly couldn’t play both north and south of the border, I remmeber Monkstown had John McKey playing for them and probably Holywood or someone, he played up the north on Friday night and south on a Sat and as far as I can remember a stop was put to that by the Leinster Branch, but maybe different now, Pembroke may not have broken any rules, but certainly not in the spirit of the league to be bringing in players when not playing abroad, could this be uised for weekend visits by players, or is it because it is a closed break in Germany that the branch allowed it ?