UNBEATEN AT THE U11 GIRLS ISA HOCKEY

The U11A Girls Hockey team travelled to Lee Valley Hockey Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Thursday 24th November for the National Junior U11 ISA Girls Hockey Championships.  It was an early start and a late return but a day full of excitement and success as the girls put on a fantastic display of hockey and a truly incredible performance to finish completely unbeaten all day.  The girls finished statistically in third position out of 16 schools despite winning against the team that were eventually awarded first place.  The girls should feel proud of their amazing efforts and success.

India, Lucy, Molly, Jemima, Gemma, Charlotte, Lily, Ivy and Eliana

The first round saw Copthill dominate from the start and they soon proved themselves against the other competition.  The U11A team were lucky to play 5 of their 6 games on the all important Olympic pitch.  In their first match against The Study, a great goal from India early on in the game gave the Copthill girls the confidence they needed to go from strength to strength.  Copthill were then up against Alleyn Court and we were unfortunate to concede a goal early on.  Great positioning from Charlotte resulted in a fantastic pass to Lucy and an equalising goal was achieved.  With the matches short in duration there just wasn't enough time to make this match a win and the girls settled for a 1-1 draw, a good result but not truly reflecting the ability of the Copthill team.  

Back on the Olympic pitch Copthill secured another win against Gateway School with a 1-0 result.  Copthill had done enough to be ranked top of their pool which saw them progress onto the Cup tournament against the top schools in the tournament from the other three pools.

In the Cup tournament, Copthill had to raise their game even further against some tough opposition.  This they did and in their fourth match against Alton Convent (the eventual overall winners on the ISA tournament) Copthill secured another win.  Jemima was pushed to the limit and made a number of impressive saves, defending with impressive determination and saving Copthill on a number of occasions.  When the break came, Copthill utilised it to the full and some effective spacing, quick passes and good positioning again saw Copthill take the lead and secure their well deserved win.

With little time to recover Copthill were again playing their next match against Malvern St. James and Copthill battled throughout to finish with a draw.  Copthill were dominating throughout but again time was short and the shots at goal were unfortunate not to make this a win.

The sixth game against Ballard School resulted in a 0-0 score when the final whistle was blown.  The girls had most definitely proved themselves and were a team that stood strong throughout the day.

Very unfortunate not to have made the final and frustrating to have remained unbeaten all day and even won against the overall winning team.  A day to remember though and hockey that every member of the Copthill U11 Girls Hockey team should feel very proud of.  Thank you also to the parents for their continual support throughout the day.  

Well done Girls, 3rd out of 16 schools and unbeaten all day was an impressive result.

Mrs Harriss

 And a well deserved little treat at the end of the day!