Hockey Champions!
Yes, that’s what our girls are! On Thursday May 2, a team of our students travelled to the State Sports Centre to compete in the GSAV’s Division 3 Senior Girls Hockey Competition and return to Clonard as champions. The team, which we entered in the Senior Girls Competition, was comprised of both senior and junior students and many of them had not met each other before arriving at the school to hop on the bus at 6.15am. Many of them in fact had not picked up a hockey stick in the heat of any form of competitive game, ever. On arriving at the stadium, if truth be told, I wasn’t feeling too confident of winning a single game, let alone winning the championship. Our team captain, Serena C, pulled the team in prior to the first game and explained the rules, the positions, and gave the team a few essential pointers. With that the team jogged on, with a few of them visibly nervous. 30 minutes later they came off the pitch having dominated general play to tie their first game with St Aloysius College, who they would ultimately beat 2 nil in the final. The scene had been set for a tournament that would exceed expectations and prove to be a great bonding experience for the students.
The students who represented the school in this tournament were absolutely incredible on this particular Thursday. They were on time and eager to help ready the gear and load the bus. They were respectful at all times and at one point one of our girls hit a ball into the foot of an opponent and then immediately checked to see if she was ok, they made friends with opponents and high fived the umpires, they cheered each other and their opponents. Those who were experienced led and helped their teammates to be better and those who were new to the sport did their best, and visibly grew on the day in both skill and confidence.
So, in the end while they came away with the champions trophy for winning games, they were truly champions for being wonderful young people!
