Girls wave Tassie flag high at under-age nationals

TASMANIAN girls’ hockey is on the march with back-toback standout performances at the School Sport Australia championships.

Tasmania’s under-12 girls’ side, coached by former Hockeyroo Bianca Langham-Pritchard, has backed up last year’s bronze-medal win with another in Newcastle last week.

Tasmania’s success in the age group was also followed up by a semi-final appearance at the under-16 girls’ championships a fortnight ago.

“A successful first day was instrumental in the team’s success with a 1-1 draw against Western Australia followed by a 2-1 win over New South Wales, who were the tournament winners,” Langham-Pritchard said.

“Every girl in the squad con- tributed to the success of the team. It was their 100 per cent effort, belief in themselves, improved skill level and their work ethic that impressed me as their coach.”

Derwent’s Felicity WilsonHaffenden was named the team’s most valuable player and her coach revealed that she covered up to eight kilometres a game throughout the tournament.

Langham-Pritchard also identified Rosabella Fish, Lucy McMullen, Isabelle and Sophie Kruimink and Piper Emmerton as players to watch over the coming years.

“Hockey is a great team sport for girls because it’s fast, skilful and exciting to play and our recent success in junior girls’ hockey has been due to the commitment of sound coaching from many volunteers,” Langham-Pritchard said.

“We are also extremely fortunate in Tasmania to have a world-class facility and clear pathway for aspiring young hockey players, who can watch both the under-13 nationals and Australian Hockey League this October in Hobart.”

Returning from the Gold Coast, where the under-16 girls lost their bronze-medal match to Victoria 2-0, coach Susan Brooks was disappointed no Tasmanians were selected in the national side.

“Considering we came fourth, I was very disappointed that we didn’t get any girls selected in the national under-16 team, however, it was great to see Camilla Vaughn named a shadow player,” Brooks said.

“We defeated Western Australia, South Australia and ACT to finish fourth in a great outcome and, on top of the under-12s’ result, this is great for the future of women’s hockey in Tasmania.

In other news, Hockey Tasmania opened ticket sales to the Tassie Tigers and Van Demons’ Australian Hockey League matches for October 6 (against ACT) and October 14 (NSW) with sales for grandstand seats selling fast online.