Championships positive experience
Three teams representing the Wimmera Hockey Association travelled to Melbourne at the weekend to participate in Victorian Junior Country Championships.
Although they did not enjoy much success on the scoreboard, they gained a wealth of experience competing against the top underage players from country Victoria.
The teams played in the under-15 boys division at Greensborough Hockey Centre in Melbourne’s north, and the under-18 boys and girls teams played at the State Netball Hockey Centre in Parkville.
The under-18 boys competition involved seven teams playing in a round-robin format, comprising teams from Ballarat, Goulburn Valley, Albury-wodonga, North Central, East Gippsland and Bendigo, playing under the name Hockey Central Victoria.
The Wimmera team did not register a victory in their six games, with their best performances coming against East Gippsland, 0-1, and neighbouring association, North Central, 0-2.
Eight teams entered the under-18 girls division and were split into two pools, with Wimmera joining Sunraysia, Goulburn Valley and North Central in Pool A.
Their best result was a close onegoal
loss to North Central. Based on their first three results, Wimmera and North Central were then placed in Pool D for the next round of games, where they were joined by Hockey Central Victoria and Ballarat.
Once again the best result was a repeat of their Pool A clash with North Central.
The under-15 boys competition involved 10 teams split into two pools.
Wimmera was dawn in Pool B with Geelong, Glenelg, Goulburn Valley and Hockey Central Victoria.
They started their weekend with a couple of close games, going down to Geelong by three goals and Glenelg by two, before they suffered a couple of bigger losses to finish their pool games.
This qualified them for a ninth place play-off game against the team that finished in fifth place in Pool A, Sunraysia, and that game finished in a very close one goal loss for the Wimmera team.
Wimmera hockey will resume on Saturday when the games of round four will be at both Kaniva and Yanac.
The next opportunity for players to compete in representative hockey will be at Senior Country Championships over the long weekend in June and Junior State Championships in July.
Results – Under-15 boys: Pool B matches, Geelong 3 d Wimmera 0, Glenelg 2 d Wimmera 0, Goulburn Valley 8 d Wimmera 0, Hockey Central Victoria 6 d Wimmera 0; ninth-place playoff game, Sunraysia 1 d Wimmera 0. Under-18 girls: Pool A matches, Sunraysia 2 d Wimmera 0, Goulburn Valley 4 d Wimmera 0, North Central 1 d Wimmera 0; Pool D matches, North Central 1 d Wimmera 0, Hockey Central Victoria 3 d Wimmera 0, Hockey Ballarat 3 d Wimmera 0. Under-18 boys: Ballarat 3 d Wimmera 0, Goulburn Valley 3 d Wimmera 0, Albury-wodonga 4 d Wimmera 0, North Central 2 d Wimmera 0, East Gippsland 1 d Wimmera 0, Hockey Central Victoria 8 d Wimmera 0.