The puck stops here

Bock, who has kept goal for the South African national team for a decade, recently played in the IIHF Division 2B World Championships that were recently held at the Grand West Casino in Cape Town.

City Times sports scribe Logan Green caught up with the national goalkeeper to find out a bit more about his career, his experience at World Champs and the status quo of ice hockey in South Africa.

LG: Tell me about ice hockey in the East Rand and the current situation of the sport in South Africa.

AB: So, on the East Rand we have one ice rink, at the Festival Mall in Kempton Park, where there is one club who play out of the rink, and this is a mix between Sabres (the junior divisions from u-14 to u-20 and then Division One and Division Two) and the Wildcats (Premier Division). The Premier Division in Gauteng has only two teams participating in it, but the games are always extremely tight and the teams are equally matched, which makes for exciting hockey. In South Africa, we have sevens rinks at the moments, with new rinks opening in both Durban and Port Elizabeth recently. The best rink in the country is definitely in Cape Town, at the Grand West Casino.

LG: How and when did you get into the sport and why did you decide to pursue it?

AB: I started playing ice hockey when I was 11 years old and have been playing ever since. We lived in Jeffreys Bay when I was younger and my brothers used to go ice skating all the time in PE. When we moved back to Johannesburg, my brothers wanted to try play the sport, and at the time the Boksburg Fun Factory was still open, so they went down there and found out about it. They started to play and, as you do, I followed in my big brothers’ footsteps and started playing about two years later and have loved it ever since. One reason ice hockey always kept me interested was that it’s a different sport that not many people play. The community is small, so you make tons of friends and there was always an opportunity to travel with the sport.

LG: What are the overseas prospects like for a South African ice hockey player?

AB: Well, it’s tough for South African ice hockey players to make it on the other side of the pond, the same as it would be for, say, an American Rugby player to make it in South Africa. We currently have two youngsters playing proper college-level hockey in USA, and they are doing a great job. I pursued a career in Canada for a year, but things never worked out and I came back to finish my studies. But, as the coaching and understanding of the game in South Africa has improved, we consistently have players of a higher calibre who can go over and give it a shot.

LG: You play goalkeeper, why do you play in this position and what specific characteristics/qualities make a good ‘keeper?

AB: It wasn’t my choice to start playing goalkeeper (they always put the fat kid in goals), but then I started getting really good at it and carried on playing. Goalkeeper is a great position in the team. In ice hockey, a goalkeeper will face an average of 35 shots per game, so if you are on form, you are winning the game for your team, but, on the other hand, you can also lose the game. I would say that the top five characteristics of a good goalkeeper are: reflexes, coordination, speed, confidence and a strong mindset. All these attributes can be found in any great goalkeeper and, as a goalkeeper ages, maturity becomes a big part of his game. Not unlike football, you usually won’t see goalkeepers cracking the starting role on teams before the age of 28.

LG: What do you think is the future of the sport in South Africa and does it receive enough backing?

AB: Ice hockey has had its ups and downs in South Africa over the past 10 to 15 years. It feels like the sport is growing again, especially in the lower age groups, where we see more and more children on the ice at practises. We have some coaches around the country whom are doing great things to attract youngsters to the sport. The hard part is to keep the children interested (their parents at least), but there is lots of travelling involved and the sport can get expensive. Unfortunately, the sport does not receive any funding or backing whatsoever and it becomes expensive, not only for the equipment, but to actually pay for the ice time. Club fees can range from anywhere between R550 to R850 a month. Equipment alone costs an arm and a leg. My equipment, for example, costs in the region of R80 000.

LG: You recently played at the World Champs (where SA didn’t do too well). What was that like and what did you learn from your experience there?

AB: Yeah, we played in the World Cup in Cape Town, where we finished sixth out of six. It is always an unreal experience to play against the best players from their respective countries. It is also an honour to play for your country on home ice. We did manage to beat New Zealand (3-1) for the first time ever, which was a brilliant match in front of 5 000 fans in the stadium. Every year we go to the World Champs we learn something new about the small things, like our preparation leading up to the tournament and how to look after ourselves during the tournament. Unfortunately, we have been relegated to the lower division for next year’s World Champs, but we can only take what we have learned, win next year’s tournament and be back up in the division where we belong.

LG: What are your goals in the sport and what vision do you have for the sport in SA?

AB: I have been involved with the sport for about 18 years now and have been representing our men’s national team for the past 10 years, so what I really want to do is try my hand at coaching and help the youngsters in our teams to get better and become a better player than I have been for the country. I’m hoping things can keep growing at the youth levels and we can keep these youngsters interested, so they can experience the things that I have with the sport. The ups and downs, the friends we have made, the tournaments all over the world and the opportunities I have had to travel. Not only that, but the sport does help develop you into a true sportsman; you are playing with 18 other guys from different parts of the country and different backgrounds, and working together for one cause on the ice, you learn to understand others and work together.

LG: What next for Ashley Bock in ice hockey?

AB: I think the next thing for me is a coaching role. But, for now, I am 28 and still have a good 10 years in me of club level hockey in South Africa. I’m not ready just yet to give up my mantle to the younger goalies.