Our U11 girls had a fantastic day at the IAPS Nationals qualifying tournament in October, where 18 schools from the South West battled it out for a place in the National Finals.

With a high level of hockey on display the girls had to dig deep throughout the day. Excellent performances in the morning saw them top their group with two wins, against Queen’s Taunton and Port Regis and a draw with Farleigh. The Quarter-Final saw us take on King’s Taunton Prep, where only a fantastic goal from a short corner, during a five minute period of ‘golden goal’, could split the two teams, seeing us progress on to the Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, an excellent performance by Clifton College meant that we did not make it to the final, but the girls should be immensely proud of their efforts.

In the play-off for the bronze medal, neither 12 minutes of open play or a five-minute period of extra time could split us and All Hallows. Despite extremely tired legs the girls battled it out from beginning to end and were delighted to eventually share the bronze medal.

Although we just missed out on qualifying for the National Finals, the girls gave it everything and should be nothing but proud of their efforts. A simply fabulous day of hockey, with huge amounts of enthusiasm, dedication, teamwork, learning and fun.