Girls' Hockey

Michaelmas 2011

This term saw significant success for the girls’ section of the hockey club. 72% of the 108 matches played across all the teams have been won or drawn.

In the senior teams, after starting the term by winning the prestigious St George’s 6s competition, the 1sts won or drew 8 of their 10 matches in the block fixtures, with a particularly pleasing victory over St George’s Weybridge just before Long Leave. We had high hopes for the 1sts in the county and regional competitions this year. In the Surrey championships they did not disappoint, reaching the final. They went on to compete in the South regional competition where they won their group easily, but were unlucky to come up against a Kingston Grammar School team containing many of the team that had been crowned National U16 champions the previous year.  We produced a fine performance in the semi-final, but eventually went down by two goals to three (a very respectable score-line considering that Kingston went on to win the final 13-3!). The 2nd team also had a good season, ending the term with a convincing 7-3 victory over Charterhouse 1st team. At 3rd and 4th team level we had our best results for a log time, with plenty of enthusiasm from a large number of VI formers keen to win places in these teams.

In block fixtures the U16 teams improved on their results of last year, managing to win or draw more than half of their matches.  At this age group, the county team, which was made up of a mixture of UVth and LVth players,  also won their group convincingly at the heats stage of the county championships, winning all their matches by the same score-line, 5-0.  Unfortunately they went out on flicks in the semi-final to a strong side from Reigate Grammar.

The U15A team had one of the best records of the term, winning 7 out of their 9 matches. They finished the term strongly scoring 20 goals in their last four matches, without letting in any against them.  Their victory over Wellington 4-0 was particularly impressive given that they had lost to this team the previous year. The U15B and U15C teams also had good seasons winning or drawing 75% of their matches.

The most successful team of the term was the U14As. They did not lose a match all term in block fixtures, scoring over 50 goals in their ten matches. In the county championships they were runners-up and they then went on to win their group in the regional competition. In the semi-final, played earlier this week, they beat a very strong Kingston Grammar side 4-3 to end up as runners-up for the South region.  Early next term they will now play against Kent College in the National Qualifying competition, hoping to secure the victory that would secure them a place in the Nationals at the end of February. The U14B and C teams also performed well, rarely losing their matches, and showing plenty of spirit and enthusiasm in their approach.

In the early weeks of this term, Cranleigh was pleased to see a record number of individual successes for girls in representative competition.  Seven girls were selected for regional hockey squads at their respective age-groups after attending training and assessment sessions over the summer holiday period. Katie Batchelor, Lizzie Wait, Georgia Lord, Emily Robinson, Chloe Nicholls, Charlotte Calnan and Olivia Camsey deserve special congratulations for this achievement.

All these successes would not happen without the dedication and expertise of the hockey coaches, and I’m sure all the girls would like to thank them for all their support over the term.

Colours for hockey were awarded to Georgia Watson, Katie Richards, Mara Waters and Mia Milne.

CEN/RCEKK