Goalie transfers: Kettle to HWHC confirmed

The building rumours were a straight swap for Kettle for Gibson, and all has been confirmed, with the swap being made official. With Gibson already confirmed in June (neither will be physically registered with their respective teams yet, without the window open!), a straight swap of Kettle to HWHC makes sense given goalkeepers available for a move and interested. With Gibson's arrival, Kettle wouldn't really be wanting to give up his spot, so a straight swap means he becomes the 'go-to-guy' at Hampstead.

Options for Hampstead would be pretty limited as to goalkeepers interested in leaving clubs they are established at (can't see Tommy, Bailey or Smith wanting to move away, although Smith might consider a swap from EG) and with hockey being officially an amateur sport, players are restricted by commute, jobs and everyday life, so getting an almost straight swap of player ability and team commitment is important for them to build in time for the season starting.

With his commitment to Wales and the increase in international training and practise games, some questions were raised over these commitments, suggesting that it was wearing him down and affecting his match performance, given his slump in play (at least, from the top tier standard of goalkeeping we expect from him). And this talk linked him with rumours of going back West perhaps to join Cardiff to be closer to the Welsh setup. But with working in London, I can't see that myself...

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how well Hampstead adapt to a changing squad sheet and how they will perform with the experience and capability of a 'custodian between the sticks' like Kettle.

 http://hwhockey.club/welsh-dragon-kettle-joins-hampstead-westminster/

Kettle: Surbiton's surefire starter

David Kettle was one of Surbitons standout players as they reached the lofty heights of second place after being in a state of uncertainty and darkness over previous years. Being with him a desire to learn and competitiveness and a want to dominate the league and the games he plays him, he has added an extra umph to the Surrey based, historically great, club. And more importantly, he has fought for accreditation rather than empty words, also coming across into his international displays as he tries to push Wales up and through the world rankings. His game time has been well earned by strong performances, rather than some kind of reputation (which can often be seen in English national league hockey for some reason) and Kettle has really shone out with his battling displays. Always looking to improve and develop as a goalkeeper, he has gone from strength to strength, and hopefully he can recreate this this season and ever on, onwards and upwards!

I have written a lot on David and how much I rate him as one of the best in the British Isles right now, so don't want to repeat myself! And looking forward ahead and to this season and beyond, he has set himself up for another great, especially as he will have his first bite at Euro Hockey League game play, so I can really see him building off the merits of this season past and pushing himself to crack this egg just as well as he has his first starting role in the premier league. But unless he carries on in the same vein, I would cautiously worry (not overly so, don't think I need to!), that he could end up plateauing as seems to happen with goalies at this level as they push themselves to set the standard, and then don't keep pushing it, and therefore never end up as world class talent.

So to keep you intrigued rather than bored, I'll leave you with a link to some of his cracking highlight reel saves (put in a highlight reel, so ironically not just a namesake; those highlight saves that actually get you into wanting to play in goal in the first place!!) and let his ability speak for itself, so I can focus on writing some other blog posts! It's also great for seeing attacking fundamentals with him diving into rather than back against shots and closing down players and using his pads to cover rather than putting his arms in danger (if you play without arm pads, this is dreadfully important and useful to learn off technicality wise).

Here it is then (!):

video