The Home Blue Jersey and Away White Jersey are identical this time around.

The jerseys represent our nation, heritage and culture. The Greek Keys, our Flag and the Eagles representing the Greek Orthodoxx faith.

The ISBHF Scedule for the upcoming World Bal lHockey Champiionships has been announced.

The Greek Men open their tournament on June 3rd against the hosts Canada.

"We are very excited to be playing our opening game vs the host nation. Playing Canada at home will be amazing. The arena will be packed with a hostile crowd, it will be a great test for our players and they are very eager and anxious" President John Kontitsis

The Woman open their tournament against the defending champions Czech Republic on June 4th.

MEN A Pool

WOMAN

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.

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

A Pool complete

With the commitment of the German Ball Hockey Association the A-Pool of the 2013 ISBHF WC in St. John's is complete. As in Bratislava in 2011 there will be ten teams in the A-Pool.

For the round Robin, that will take place from 2nd to 6th June, the teams will be divided into two groups according to the classification of the 2011 WC.

GROUP A

Group A is led by the reigning world champions from the Czech Republic eagerly looking forward to defend their title and garner their 3rd Gold in a row. They are joined by a strong USA, with many excellent new players. Next team in this group is Portugal wanting to defend their fifth place from Slovakia. The fourth team is Switzerland keen on proving that the average results from 2011 and 2009 were nothing but accidents. The group is completed by France that managed to push Austria out of the A-Pool in 2011.

Czech Republic

USA

Portugal

Switzerland

Austria

GROUP B

Group B is led by the Canadians. For them, winning at home is almost a must. They are joined by the excellent Slovak team that has the capacity to win this tournament as well. A third big squad is in this group:  Greece will be stronger than ever. Germany will be the fourth team in this group. The Europeans are reinforced by some Canadian players of German origin and might very well be a dangerous opponent for everybody. The group is completed by the winner of 2011s B-Pool, Pakistan who replaces Finland. 

Both Finland and Austria were unable to make the trek to Newfoundland and will be missed by A Pool competitors.  However, both nations will be back on world stage for the 2015 WC in Switzerland, maybe perhaps in an A-Pool with 12 teams.

Canada

Slovakia

Greece

Germany

Pakistan

The ISBHF is just finishing the teams for the women's WC as well as for the B-Pool. The ISBHF is confident, that the eight teams for each event will be announced within the next ten days.

The weekend started off with a team practice on Saturday March 23rd. Since the players come from 3 provinces it is not easy to have practices on a regular basis.

They practiced for over 1 hour as Head coach Gus Kourousis and Assistant coach Alex Bovoletis had them working on their special teams. "We witnessed first hand how vital special teams can be, the world champions (Czech Republic) rely on it to win many of their games. They don't really care about winning the 5 on 5 battle, they capitalize on the power play and they are the best at it"

Staying out of the penalty box is the best thing you can do. But in almost all games there will be penalties called and we have to be able to kill them and also score on the chances we get. Last tournament Greece gave up only 2 even strength goals in 7 games. But consistent penalty trouble allowed their opponents to capitalize and win those games.

Later on that afternoon the team played an friendly exhibition game vs Team Italy. The Italians are back after missing the 2011 tournament. They will be in the B pool for this next tournament. The game was full of action but Greece prevailed with a 5-0 win. This was a good test for our team, Team Italy always fields a good team and they will definitely be the team to beat in the B pool. They will be back in the A come 2015. I personally think they can beat many of the A pool teams with the team they have.

Games like this are important for the team. They allow the coaches to work on lines , strategies , roles and improvements. Players get feel and taste of the competition to come in June.

On Saturday night the team got together for a team supper where Head Coach Konstantinos Kourousis and Dimitrios Papastergiou were honored and had their numbers retired.

Both have expressed their interest in playing for the Masters team next year, but they have officially hung them up when it comes to the men's national team.

These are two of the best HBHA players and are highly respected in the ball hockey communities, both locally and internationally. (A special section in the HBHA website will be created for the 2 retired players).

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The first retired number is that of Gus Kourousis #22.

Konstantions Kourousis has played ball hockey since 8 years old, having won National Canadian Championships, World Hockey Championships with Team Canada and being named MVP of the tournament. The list of accolades is too long. But in the short existence of the HBHA Gus has done a lot.

After agreeing to come aboard in 2008 as Head Coach he decided to play in the 2009 WC in Pilsen. He led the team in points and helped Team Greece win the B Pool Gold Medal. He is the 1st and only player to win the Gold Medal in both the A and B divisions and he did it with 2 different nations.

In 2011 he was set on coaching but with the addition of young stars and the chance to play once again in the A pool the itch to play was too great and he once again wore the uniform. He was 2nd in team scoring and helped the team to a 6th place finish in the first  appearance for Greece in the A pool.

In 2013 he has committed 100% to coaching. The HBHA is very pleased and looking forward to seeing him lead the young team towards a podium finish. The players can learn much from Gus on and off the floor.

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The 2nd retired number was that of #58 Dimitrios Papastergiou.

Jim as he is known in Ball Hockey circles has been responsible for basically assembling and gathering Greek players in Canada.

In 2005 he helped organize and create the former Greek Ball Hockey program that won the bronze medal in the B pool inPittsburgh USA. In 2007 he reached out and found more Greek players in Montreal, New York and Vancouver.

When the HBHA was created in 2008, the committee reached out and invited Jim to the evaluation camp. He made the roster and was a big part of heping the team with the Gold in the B pool in Pilsen.

Once again in 2011 he made the roster and participated in the WC is Bratislava.

Jim has played in 4 World Championships and also recenlty played for Team Greece in 2012 in their first ever Masters Cup (players of 40 yrs old + ).

Jim will certainly be part of the 2014 Masters team as well.

The HBHA has named Mr Papastergiou head scout as he is responsible in one way or another for recruiting a large part of the players that Greece has sent to the World Championships.

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We would like to congratulate and thank both Gus and Jim for the terrific work they have done for ball Hockey and the HBHA in particular. We hope that both of you will be involved in the HBHA for a long time.

Congratulations !!

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The team also had another 2 hour practice on Sunday march 24th, as the coaches had the players work on specific drills. The practice ended with a a little skills competition.

The first was the targets, where each player had 6 chnces to hit the 4 corner targets.

Bobby Dourmissis and Daniel Novis each hit the 4 targets on 5 shots.

The Second skills competition was the hardest shot.

Daniel Novis and Josh Barbas both hit 101 mph on the radar, but they couldn't beat George Nistas who clocked in at a crazy 106 mph.

 

Greek Independence Day

, National holiday celebrated annually in Greece on March 25, commemorating the start of the War of Greek Independence in 1821. It coincides with the Greek Orthodox Church’s celebration of the Annunciation to the Theotokos, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear the son of God.

Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1453. The Greek revolt was precipitated on March 25, 1821, when Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the flag of revolution over the Monastery of Agia Lavra in the Peloponnese. The cry “Freedom or Death” became the motto of the revolution. The Greeks experienced early successes on the battlefield, including the capture of Athens in June 1822, but infighting ensued. By 1827 Athens and most of the Greek isles had been recaptured by the Turks.

Just as the revolution appeared to be on the verge of failure, Great Britain, France, and Russia intervened in the conflict. The Greek struggle had elicited strong sympathy in Europe, and many leading intellectuals had promoted the Greek cause, including the English poet Lord Byron. At the naval Battle of Navarino, the combined British, French, and Russian forces destroyed an Ottoman-Egyptian fleet. The revolution ended in 1829 when the Treaty of Edirne established an independent Greek state.

In celebration of Greek Independence Day, towns and villages throughout Greece hold a school flag parade, during which schoolchildren march in traditional Greek costumes and carry Greek flags. There is also an armed forces parade in Athens.

Article #2: By the President of the United States:

or go to www.stjohns2013wc.com

Up until a few weeks ago the idea of sending a team to St.John's seemed like a longshot. Despite several attempts to assemble a team the costs were simply too high for some players. The idea was put on hold.

However recently some woman have come forth and expressed their interest in playing and assembling a team. This has once again sparked interest within the HBHA and we have set out to see if we can perhaps get enough woman to send a team. In the lst 2 weeks over 14 girls have show interest and 12 of them have already confirmed. 

We are currently searching for players who are motivated, eager and excited in representing their nation at the world stage.

If you are interested in participating and experiencing a week of fun playing ball hockey. Please contact us immediately. It is NOT too late, as the next few days will determine wether or not we can put a team in for St.John's.

Contact info: George Vouloumanos at 514 924 6448 or e-mail him at georgevouloumanos@gmail.com

Thank you

John Kontitsis

HBHA President

"We want to thank eveyone that attended. The funds we raised enable us to help our players partcipate in the upcoming World Ball Hockey Chamionships" Events such as these and the people who come out to support us enable the HBHA to keep costs to a reasonable amount. Without their support we would not be able to field a team in the World Championships or any other event.

Special thanks go out to a few specific individuals. 2011 Mens Player Konstantinos Papapostolou for helping organize the event.  Andronikos Moshonas who basically organized the first 4 events, designs the tickets and posters. Mike Hionis and Lithograph Excel who print the tickets and posters free of charge and Steve Zervoudakis and his company MOOV.

Congratulations to Mr Louis Bertachas for claiming top prize.