SCT Gerard's Hockey
This was a busy year for our SCT Hockey Team, we started pre-season in the summer, playing hockey and doing fitness as any times as we could. Sami, Brendon and Ms.Scott all trained us as hard as possible to try be one of the top teams this year.
The league didn’t go too well for us this year, but it bonded us all and we have so many fun memories from playing the matches together. It was time for our cup run to begin, and with a strong team, an amazing coach and an incredible captain, Lara Burke, there was nothing stopping us, until our beloved coach Brendon resigned as our coach to coach Foxrock. However we all kept our heads held high and although we knew we’d miss our coach, we got two new full time additions to our team. Elena Tice and Mrs. Scott co-coached our team, and with that we had a new and improved all girls hockey squad.
In the beginning it was difficult to change the tactics and plays of our game play, but after a few weeks with our new coaches we were better than ever. Sami trained us to the best of our ability trying to make us the fittest, fasted and most physical team. Our first cup match was against Alexandra College, a very strong team that we had played more than once earlier in the year. We won 1-0 with an incredible goal from a short corner, after our celebrations home on the bus, the next day we were straight back to work training for our next cup match against Rathdown.
Rathdown were also very strong competitors, that we had trouble beating in the past, however we were more than ready for this cup game. Niall the coach of the Junior team, videoed almost every match for us and we analysed each detail of our gam play in preparation for the Rathdown game. It was a very even game but we came out on top after giving Ms.Scott a heart as it had gone to 1v1s.
We were very anxious to hear who would get in the next round as it was the quarter finals, and when we heard it was Mount Anvil, we were initially a little nervous as they had beaten us 6-0 earlier in the year. We quickly got over the fear of playing them again and were determined to win, we changed are passage of play completely and perfected our new defensive style of play, and by the time it had come to the big day we were confident that we could win the match. We scored the first goal but sadly let our guard down and MTA made it 1-1. In the second half we didn’t leave anything on the pitch , everyone played their hardest and ran there legs off, sadly it wasn’t enough as the final score was 2-1 to Mount Anvil. We were all still so proud of each other for how we played and worked as a team.
This year has been amazing, I will miss all of the sixth year girls next year, as they were so welcoming to everyone who stepped onto the pitch. I cannot wait for hockey next season and I’m grateful I got to play on the squad.
The league didn’t go too well for us this year, but it bonded us all and we have so many fun memories from playing the matches together. It was time for our cup run to begin, and with a strong team, an amazing coach and an incredible captain, Lara Burke, there was nothing stopping us, until our beloved coach Brendon resigned as our coach to coach Foxrock. However we all kept our heads held high and although we knew we’d miss our coach, we got two new full time additions to our team. Elena Tice and Mrs. Scott co-coached our team, and with that we had a new and improved all girls hockey squad.
In the beginning it was difficult to change the tactics and plays of our game play, but after a few weeks with our new coaches we were better than ever. Sami trained us to the best of our ability trying to make us the fittest, fasted and most physical team. Our first cup match was against Alexandra College, a very strong team that we had played more than once earlier in the year. We won 1-0 with an incredible goal from a short corner, after our celebrations home on the bus, the next day we were straight back to work training for our next cup match against Rathdown.
Rathdown were also very strong competitors, that we had trouble beating in the past, however we were more than ready for this cup game. Niall the coach of the Junior team, videoed almost every match for us and we analysed each detail of our gam play in preparation for the Rathdown game. It was a very even game but we came out on top after giving Ms.Scott a heart as it had gone to 1v1s.
We were very anxious to hear who would get in the next round as it was the quarter finals, and when we heard it was Mount Anvil, we were initially a little nervous as they had beaten us 6-0 earlier in the year. We quickly got over the fear of playing them again and were determined to win, we changed are passage of play completely and perfected our new defensive style of play, and by the time it had come to the big day we were confident that we could win the match. We scored the first goal but sadly let our guard down and MTA made it 1-1. In the second half we didn’t leave anything on the pitch , everyone played their hardest and ran there legs off, sadly it wasn’t enough as the final score was 2-1 to Mount Anvil. We were all still so proud of each other for how we played and worked as a team.
This year has been amazing, I will miss all of the sixth year girls next year, as they were so welcoming to everyone who stepped onto the pitch. I cannot wait for hockey next season and I’m grateful I got to play on the squad.
Muckross Hockey
This year was my final year of getting to play on the Muckross JCT team and Junior League team, this was my third year on the team and all of the fourth years decided that we would do our best to make sure we ended our final year on a high.
We trained every Sunday morning in Muckross school, rain or shine, it was something we all looked forward to, not just for the hockey, but most of us weren’t in the same school as each other and it was a way of seeing our friends and making new ones.
Our season began with all of our league matches, sometimes we would have no training weeks in between matches and they would be back to back, we had an incredibly strong team this year and everyone took each match as importantly as a cup match. We won or drew every league match we had played bar one against Pembroke HC. Our two toughest matches of the league were in our semi-final and final, both matches went to 1v1s. Our semi-final was against Kilkenny , the whistle blew but the score line was 1-1 , so our captain Charlie, teammates Fiona, Orla and Ella and I decided we would take them, thankfully we scored and saved enough goals and we were through to the final of the league.
Our league final was in Sionn Hill, against Avoca HC, this was our most challenging match of the league, we scored the first goal, but they quickly made it 1-1, instead of 1v1s we got 10 minutes extra time and although we were in their half the whole time we couldn’t seem to get a goal in, the whistle blew again and the 1v1 team got ready to take their chance on the goalie, our goalie only let in one goal and we scored all of ours bar one, Ella Malone took the final 1v1 and we knew if she scored we would win, we had no doubt in our minds that she could do it and thankfully she scored. It was an amazing end to an incredible season and the whole team couldn’t have been happier as we knew all of our hard work had payed off.
The Jacqui Potter Cup started for us mid way through our league, and all of us who had played in it before were more than excited, we had won last year and we wanted to do it again. Our first cup match was against Newbridge HC, where we beat them 5-0, there was a lot of preparation for every cup match and we were so happy to get this result. We were then into the quarter finals against Pembroke who were the one team that had beaten us before, we were more than eager to win this match as it would put us back on top to continue our cup run, we won that match 1-0 and were over the moon.
We knew that the semi-final was going to be tough but thankfully we beat loretto beaufort 2-1 we couldn’t have been happier, but we knew we needed to start focusing on the final.
The final is always on Paddys day in Three Rock Rovers HC, we were against, Railway Union, this was the third year in a row that we had met them in a final, although we won last year we knew this was going to be an intense and difficult game. The match was 50/50 the whole way through and it could’ve been anyones game, our team stayed focused and strong and thankfully we won 2-1. We were all so proud of each other and none of us could stop smiling.
We found out that we had made history in Muckross HC that day, as we were the first team to ever win both the cup and league in the same year. Although I am excited to be moving up to senior club level I will thoroughly miss playing on the junior team and I’m so happy I was apart of it.
We trained every Sunday morning in Muckross school, rain or shine, it was something we all looked forward to, not just for the hockey, but most of us weren’t in the same school as each other and it was a way of seeing our friends and making new ones.
Our season began with all of our league matches, sometimes we would have no training weeks in between matches and they would be back to back, we had an incredibly strong team this year and everyone took each match as importantly as a cup match. We won or drew every league match we had played bar one against Pembroke HC. Our two toughest matches of the league were in our semi-final and final, both matches went to 1v1s. Our semi-final was against Kilkenny , the whistle blew but the score line was 1-1 , so our captain Charlie, teammates Fiona, Orla and Ella and I decided we would take them, thankfully we scored and saved enough goals and we were through to the final of the league.
Our league final was in Sionn Hill, against Avoca HC, this was our most challenging match of the league, we scored the first goal, but they quickly made it 1-1, instead of 1v1s we got 10 minutes extra time and although we were in their half the whole time we couldn’t seem to get a goal in, the whistle blew again and the 1v1 team got ready to take their chance on the goalie, our goalie only let in one goal and we scored all of ours bar one, Ella Malone took the final 1v1 and we knew if she scored we would win, we had no doubt in our minds that she could do it and thankfully she scored. It was an amazing end to an incredible season and the whole team couldn’t have been happier as we knew all of our hard work had payed off.
The Jacqui Potter Cup started for us mid way through our league, and all of us who had played in it before were more than excited, we had won last year and we wanted to do it again. Our first cup match was against Newbridge HC, where we beat them 5-0, there was a lot of preparation for every cup match and we were so happy to get this result. We were then into the quarter finals against Pembroke who were the one team that had beaten us before, we were more than eager to win this match as it would put us back on top to continue our cup run, we won that match 1-0 and were over the moon.
We knew that the semi-final was going to be tough but thankfully we beat loretto beaufort 2-1 we couldn’t have been happier, but we knew we needed to start focusing on the final.
The final is always on Paddys day in Three Rock Rovers HC, we were against, Railway Union, this was the third year in a row that we had met them in a final, although we won last year we knew this was going to be an intense and difficult game. The match was 50/50 the whole way through and it could’ve been anyones game, our team stayed focused and strong and thankfully we won 2-1. We were all so proud of each other and none of us could stop smiling.
We found out that we had made history in Muckross HC that day, as we were the first team to ever win both the cup and league in the same year. Although I am excited to be moving up to senior club level I will thoroughly miss playing on the junior team and I’m so happy I was apart of it.
SCT BBQ and Hockey Match
Monday the 23rd of April was a day full of fun and excitement, I had a lot to look forward to as I got the chance to play in the annual hockey match where the sixth year boys and girls play against each other, and later on that day was the SCT BBQ.
The sixth year girls kindly allowed the SCT hockey team twenty minutes playing time in their big hockey match. After school all of the girls playing got ready in the H block together and couldn’t wait to go down to the pitch to hopefully beat the boys. I really loved getting the opportunity to play this year as my sister is in sixth year and it was so nice sharing the experience with her. I got to play around ten minutes of the match and loved every second of it, although some of the boys weren’t too familiar with the rules of the game, the odd few gave of us a run for our money when they scored the first goal of the game. We quickly came back of course making it 1-1, sadly the final score was 2-1 to the boys but it didn’t matter as every one had so much fun and I was just glad to be apart of it. After the match I had the Barbecue to look forward to. I was really excited, as I had been told by some of the team that had gone to this before that it was one of their favourite parts of the season. All of both teams and their parents gathered in the dining hall where we all sat and talked together, the TVs in the dining hall showed us all of our pictures from the season on a slideshow. Once we had all finished our food it was time for Mr Geraghty, Mr Drummy, both teams coaches and captains to make their speeches. After our coach , Ms Scott, had made her incredible speech she presented us all with our jerseys, our captain, Lara made her speech after that and it made everyone in the room smile, she went through our season step by step, from pre season, to the hockey match earlier that day, it was delightful to be able to look back at all of the fun moments we had together but it was sad knowing we wouldn’t be playing with the sixth years again. Jason and Ethan made their speeches and sadly the night began to come to an end. I cannot wait to do this all again next year and I’m so glad that we were all able to celebrate both teams and coaches together. |
Leinster U17 Holland Trip
This January I received the most exciting news that I had been chosen for trials for the Leinster u17 Holland Trip 2018, a few of my friends had been selected for this trip last year and said they had the time of their lives, so I was just honoured to have a chance of going.
I have done Leinster trials before, I had been on the u15 summer panel a couple of years ago, sadly I got to the final round and didn’t make the team, but I had learned so much that summer and really improved both my hockey and fitness, so I was more than excited to be apart of something like that again. There was only meant to be one trial before the team was selected, but because the standard was so high there were two. Instead of getting nervous and psyching myself out I decided I would just try my best at the trials by using my best skills and decision making. Although I was happy with how I played, you never know what coaches are looking for, so I thought it could’ve gone either way. After a long anticipated wait my Mum finally got an email saying that I had made the team, I was over the moon. I knew most of the girls on the team from club and school hockey, but it was great to meet new people. Our two coaches were Rob and Noelle, I had never had Noelle as a coach before so I was really excited to learn from her, and I already knew that Rob was an amazing coach, our team manager who organised everything from our gear to the flights was Claire Byrne, who was Head Girl in Gerards when she was in sixth year. We tried to get as much training and matches in as possible but it had proven difficult due to the snow, about two weeks before we were leaving for Holland, our coaches organised as much training that we could squeeze in, along with training we had two practice matches against Loretto HC and Corinthians HC, we won both matches and were more than ready for our big trip. Before going hoe at our final training session, it was announced that I had the honour of being captain of the team, to say I was happy would be an understatement, I was even more excited for the trip now, even though I didn’t think that was possible. We all had to be up at 3 o’clock in the morning for our flight, we all slept the plane and bus to the hostel we were staying in, and after we got our rooms it was time to start training, after training we had our first match against a German team, they were incredibly strong and I think that match helped us realise that for the next two days we were going to be playing and playing against some amazing hockey. In the space of 3 days we played 9 ,30 minute matches , they were intense but it was some of the best hockey I had ever seen. At the beginning of the trip we set a goal to win 4 matches, draw 4 matches and lose 1 and that is exactly what we did, even though we had don so well, sadly we came 10th in the tournament, due to goal difference. There was an up side to not winning because it meant that we got to watch the boys Dutch and German team play against each other in the final, it was an incredible game and I learned a lot from watching it. None of our team wanted the trip to end, we had all bonded so much and played so well together, we were honoured with the fair play cup and we got to bring it home. This trip was one of the highlights of my whole TY experience, and I hope I can do something like that again. |