U11s show grit and determination at the IAPS National Hockey Championships

The U11 girls played at the National Finals of the IAPS championships held at Millfield School for the first time in our School’s history.

 The girls played RGS The Grange Worcester in the first game, which despite us dominating the game and having a number of chances, finished goalless. The girls were having to get used to playing very intensely for a short period of time as the games were only five minutes each way.

Our next game against Hawthorns School followed a very similar pattern with the girls dominating possession, but unable to take their chances and were punished on the last play of the game when the opposition scored off the post to hand us our first defeat.

We then got our tournament up and running with a well-deserved win over Spratton Hall, followed by a very close (0-1) defeat to Queen’s College. With two games left, we still had a chance of getting out of the group and the girls showed great character to beat Durlston Court School 1-0. Unfortunately, despite some great play, the girls lost their last game to St Piran’s 0-2. That result put us 5th in the group (out of 7 teams) leaving us 17th equal in the country. Result: 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses.

The girls worked really hard as a team and they gelled so well both on and off the pitch, but unfortunately did not quite get the results that their efforts and skillful play deserved.  However, that’s sport and luckily they are all young enough to have another go and come back next year – it was a great first attempt. It says a great deal about this team that the girls were very disappointed not to have got through to the next round, but having qualified for the national finals is a tremendous achievement for our U11 girls baring in mind that the schools we were playing are considerably bigger than us.

All the girls played really well and were a great credit to the School both on and off the pitch. They have worked tirelessly in training to improve their skills and take on board advice about how to get better. They have been a joy to coach all season and we still have the Norfolk championships to come.

Team: Isabelle M, Alex G, Eleanor T, Emily H, Evie W, Grace H-K, Edith D, Lily-Ella P-H, Gracie C

A special thank you to parent Mr Julian Tomkinson who kindly provided us with copies of his photos taken on the day.