Playing with Heart: U11 IAPS Hockey Journey

We knew IAPS would be an exciting and challenging occasion so, before the tournament, we decided not to measure our success simply by the scoreline. We’ve probably all asked our children after a match “Did you win?”, but a score cannot tell you how hard a team worked, whether players supported one another, whether they made brave decisions, applied something learned in training, bounced back from a setback, or improved from one game to the next.

Performance-based goals focus on the things we can control. They encourage improvement, reduce pressure, promote teamwork and give every player something meaningful to contribute towards.

So, our three targets were simple: “Go early”, “Find the space” and, in keeping with our school mantra, “Look after each other.”

Go early does not mean rushing. It means recognising an opportunity and responding quickly. It means taking 16s and free hits before the opposition can reorganise, but equally being alert to opponents doing the same and transitioning quickly from attack to defence.

Did we do it? In spades!

Imogen reacted early, after gaining possession in the defensive D, quickly finding Becky up the wing. Maddie and Aria took their 16s early and began rolling the ball out before striking it, changing the angle, confusing the opposition and finding space higher up the pitch.

Our second goal, find the space, was equally evident. Elodie understood her role up front and made intelligent runs into space for Lilianna to fire the ball through. Sophie also demonstrated excellent awareness, drawing defenders towards the centre before driving wide into the space she had helped create.

But perhaps the most pleasing target was look after each other.

It was Aria lending Imogen her spare stick when Imogen’s broke mid-game. It was Daisy sprinting over to Poppy after Poppy bravely put her body on the line defending a short corner and picking up an impressive bruise as a result! It was  Maddie taking the time to make IAPS keyrings for the team and teachers. It was Amber congratulating Savannah on an incredible 22 saves across the day.

So, did we achieve our performance goals? Absolutely.

Are we improving? All the time.

Are we hungry to keep improving? Definitely.

I could not be prouder of this group. They demonstrated courage, intelligence, teamwork and, most importantly, genuinely looked after one another. A scoreline can never tell this important story!