8 it is! Greek Woman confirmed for WC in St.John's

The HBHA is extremely proud to announce that it will be sending a women's team to the upcoming world ball hockey championships in St . Johns Newfoundland. At first the HBHA was indecisive whether their would be any interest to put a team forward. The harsh economic conditions in Greece have made it very hard for those girls to attend a tournament in Canada. However over the past few months many woman have shown interest. The hard work from HBHA members John Kontitsis, Alkie Zisidis, George Vouloumanos and Jim Papastergiou has produced results. Over 16 girls have now confirmed their presence.

"We are very anxious for St.John's, this will be our best team ever. A mix of youth and some veterans will pave the way for growth within the woman's game and spark some serious interest going forward" 

Jim Papastergiou will be leading the charge behind the bench. "He brings an impressive ball hockey resume that will propel the women to their potential and their best result ever. We are very happy that he has accepted this challenge"

The woman's roster will be posted on our website within the next few days.

We have also attached the ISBHF article below:

EIGHT TEAMS AT WOMAN'S WC

Group E is lead by team Slovakia who has won the WC 2011 in Bratislava. The team of head coach Jaroslav Kolibik is determined to defend this title. The USA, who attends with a motivated new team, will be the top challengers of the Europeans in this group. B-Pool winner Switzerland will work hard to get in an optimal position to qualify for the A-Pool for the first time in history. The fourth team in this group is the newly formed team Italy, that will try to surprise the three long established competitors.

Seeded on top of Group F are the Canadians. The girls around outgoing head coach Christine Pellerin will move heaven and earth to get the title back they lost two years ago to Slovakia. The team of the Czech Republic, that finished all world championships on the third place, will once again try to break into the canado-slovak phalanx and to qualify for the A-Pool final on 9^th June. Great Britain, for the second time at a WC, and Greece, for the third time at a WC, are completing the group. The girls from the British Iles had worked hard in the last two years to shorten the gap to the top teams; everybody is curios on their performance this year. Greece, due to the economic crises in the motherland has struggled hard, but finally managed to put a competitive team together.

ISBHF is looking forward to an excellent women’s WC in Newfoundland.

Final Men's Roster 2013 (modified)

The team that will represent Greece in St.John's Newfoundland for the 2013 World Ball Championships is ready. The team waas originally announced in December but due to certain issues a few of the players had to be replaced. The decisions were not easy, players came to the camps prepared and made it difficult for the coaches to narrow down the final picks. "We believe that at this point in time we have chosen the players that best suit the style of play we are looking for. Every player has a different role to play and they were each chosen for exaclty those roles. This will be the youngest team ever assembled by the HBHA. This young crop of players is ready and eager for St.John's.

The roster consists of 21 players. (12 forwards , 7 defenceman and 2 goalies). Team Greece has usually taken 24 players in the last 2 WC. However due to the young players on the squad and their ability to log many minutes, we felt that 21 would be enough. This also enables everyone to dress and nobody has to sit out any games.

The squad consists of 18 returning players and only 3 new faces.

The HBHA is proud to announce the following roster for the 2013 World Championships. (names + # of WC)

FORWARDS:

Left Wing:

Anastasios Bozinakis (3rd WC)

Peter Koutsogiannopoulos (3rd WC)

Craig Stojsin (2nd WC)

Nick Tsastaronis (1st WC)

Center:

George Nistas (2nd WC)

Stefanos Govas (3rd WC)

Michael Barbas (2nd WC)

George Vouloumanos (3rd WC)

Right Wing:

Kevin Kuczmarski (1st WC)

Jimmy Nistas (3rd WC)

Bobby Dourmissis (2nd WC)

George Tsakalos (3rd WC)

Defense:

Joshua Barbas (2nd WC)

Joey Barbas (2nd WC)

Daniel Novis (2nd WC)

John Adamou (1st WC)

Mike Hionis (2nd WC)

Chris Manos (2nd WC)

Paul Barbas (1st WC)

Goalies:

John Vrettis (3rd WC)

Fotios Moshonas (4th WC)

Staff:

Head Coach: Konstantinos Kourousis

Assistant Coaches: Alex Bovolets and Timothy Acheson

GM: John Kontitsis

Assistant GM: Alkiviadis Zisidis