On Saturday, 7 July Macquarie Hockey competed in the annual Gail Simmons Gala day, a fundraiser event for Breast Cancer. This year Macquarie had three teams compete on the day; The Magettes, Macquarie Pink and Macquarie Superheros. The weather was inclement and it looked as if it would be a hard day to play hockey. Fortunately, winning was not the goal for the day and with pre-game tactics placed to one side the three teams had only one objective. To have fun.
With such a goal in mind the club colours were placed to one side and a more inventive approach was taken. The Macquarie Superheros lead the charge as they dressed up as favourite comic book characters. A special mention for outfits must go to Riley Ellsmore, the quiet and soft spoken fullback of the men’s first grade team. His Spiderman outfit made him a hit amongst the kids.
To run through all the results of the day would be superfluous. This day was about the North Shore hockey community raising vital funds for Breast Cancer. Although there were some notable moments that should be mentioned. The Magettes toughest match was against an under 10’s team, who clearly didn’t want to lose to a bunch of ‘girls’. After a few minutes the Magettes knew they were in a fight when some of the under 10’s started to engage them in smack talk. With a vocal crowd supporting the kids and the Magettes unable to counter effectively the game ended in a draw. This effectively quelled the Magettes ambitions to progress further in the competition.
Macquarie Superheroes were the surprise packets of the day. Fridge’s pre-game warm-up of a beer and cigarette delivered the right results as he led the team all the way to the semi-finals. This unexpected result enabled the first and only face off of the Macquarie teams, the Superheroes vs. the Macquarie Pinks.
The Macquarie Pinks, having cruised through the rounds took on a determined Superheros team. With bragging rights on the line it was the Pinks who walked away victorious, though perhaps a little battered and bruised.
With history almost in their grasp the Macquarie Pinks came up against a white hot Manly Hockey team. Unfortunately history would have to wait for another year as the Macquarie Pinks were felled by a team intent on winning. The result may not have gone the way of the Pinks but they can be proud of their performance.
A slight change on an old cliché best sums up the Gail Simmons Gala day; Hockey was the winner on the day!
PS: If you haven’t seen them already, Jola has posted some great photos from the Gala Day on the Mac Uni Hockey Facebook site. Check them out!