NOT only did rookie sensation Sam Huxtable take out the Werribee Hockey Club’s player’s player of the year award, the consistent forward polled votes in every game.
The homegrown 18-year-old has played senior hockey in years past, but this winter was his first with a full-time focus on his state league commitments and it showed.
Huxtable told the Weekly it was the biggest honour to be voted by his peers as the standout player for 2012.
“It’s really good because it’s the people you play with who are giving the votes,” he said. “They know if you’ve had an impact on the game.
“I’m pretty stoked, it’s the first year of properly playing seniors out of the under-18s.”
Huxtable was entrusted with the responsibilities on the Tigers’ front-line. He would also be used as a makeshift midfielder in the absence of Jayden Street.
The chance to see the game from a different point of view helped him when he returned to the forward line.
So, too, did the words of advice of co-coach Russell Skoglund, who worked tirelessly with Huxtable and the rest of the attacking players to better their games.
“He had a big impact on the forwards,” Huxtable said.
“He’d sit down with us 30 minutes before training started to show us where to lead and go over the set-up.”
Huxtable has come a long way in a short space of time.
His greatest strength is his ability to read the play and has some neat stick skills. What he will be working on over the summer is improving his goals-to-shots ratio.
“I want it to be up around 75 per cent,” he said.
The Tigers were the surprise of the men’s state league 3 this year.
They made it all the way to the grand final, but suffered a “shattering” 1-0 loss to the Casey Cannons.
Huxtable said the experience of being part of a grand final team at such a young age was priceless.
“Not many people get a chance to play in a state league grand final at the age of 18. I know some people that have played 30 years and never played in one. It was pretty exciting.”
