U8, U9, and U11 Teams Showcase Talent in Exciting Hockey Fixtures

It was a week of thrilling hockey action as the U8, U9, and U11 girls from King’s Hawford took on RGS The Grange in a series of competitive fixtures. Each team displayed great enthusiasm, teamwork, and growing skill under the warm autumn sun.

U8 Girls Hockey vs The Grange

A very excited group of U8 girls travelled to RGS The Grange to play their first competitive fixture in the warm afternoon sun. Fourteen girls were well-prepared, having learned the basic skills in their first few Games lessons. Each mixed-ability team played three, ten-minute matches against the host school’s teams and there was some lovely gameplay on show from both schools. In Miss Lake’s team, Bella dominated play, tackling safely but furiously to win the ball, scoring no more than five goals during the afternoon. Team captain Emily shone in defence, clearing several wandering balls away from the King’s Hawford goal. On Miss Holtham’s pitch, Alice got stuck in, making good, confident tackles and drove the ball forward when in possession, whilst Bonnie defended the goal well, making tackles when needed. With Miss Odam, Tanith showed diversity playing strongly in both attack and defence positions, and Maddie provided some excellent tackles to regain possession. Each girl should be proud of their accomplishments in their first fixtures; we now have areas of strength to develop and areas of development to focus upon in Thursday training sessions.

U9 Girls Hockey vs The Grange

The U9 girls travelled to RGS The Grange on a bright, sunny afternoon for an exciting round of hockey matches. Divided into three teams, they played in a round-robin format, eager to showcase the skills they had learned from last season. From the first whistle, the girls demonstrated commitment and determination to control the ball and dominate the field. It wasn’t long before they were rewarded with goals from Sylvie, Ellie H, Alanna, and Connie.

Still relatively new to hockey, the teams were coached on the pitches by King’s Hawford staff and cheered on by supportive family and friends. The girls pushed forward continuously, showing excellent control, with some displaying impressive stick work, including turning on the ball and reverse stick technique. With minimal prompting, they spread the play, passing confidently to the wings and forwards. Alanna and Ellie H worked well together, while Amelie contributed strong defensive play to support the attack.

Playing 5v5 allowed the girls to experience both attacking and defending, learning the importance of teamwork. They responded well to feedback between matches, improving their passing, and ball control, and using a low sweeping technique in defence. Fearne and Ellie M demonstrated this particularly well. Strategically, the girls made an effort to stick to their positions and maintain spacing, with Ffion dropping into a defensive role and sprinting out to the wing, while Georgia performed strongly in midfield.

This match provided a great opportunity to demonstrate key school values of courage, resilience, and sportsmanship. From a coaching perspective, the girls grew in confidence as the matches progressed, driving forward with increasing conviction and showing the teamwork we aim to instill in every Games session.

The players of the match were Alanna and Ellie H in attack and Amelie B in defence.

Miss Odam’s U9 Team vs The Grange

Lead out by Ffion as Captain this team started the attack immediately working hard to get the ball up the pitch towards goal. Evelyn held the defence whilst Georgia and Ffion worked hard to cover the whole of the pitch from the midfield. Ellie M had a fantastic game making well-timed tackles when necessary and piercing attacks towards goal. The girls showed tremendous teamwork and gained valuable experience for the rest of the season. Mrs Butt was particularly pleased with the girl’s efforts in attack with Georgia and Ellie showing strength and determination.

Mrs. Butt’s players of the match were Ellie M and Georgia P.

Mrs. Butt’s U9 Team vs The Grange

On a glorious sunny afternoon, the U9 girls set off in high spirits for their match against RGS The Grange. The minibus journey was filled with excitement and anticipation, with the girls eager to show their progress. Once on the field, they looked sharp and focused during the warm-up, led by captain Aurelia.

From the opening whistle, the team displayed excellent form. Persie scored a fantastic early goal to give the team a flying start, and Tilly soon followed up with another well-placed goal to extend the lead. Elise played a key role in attack, relentlessly driving the ball forward with precision and skill.

Defensively, Eleanor stood strong, clearing the ball confidently and ensuring that the opposition’s chances were limited. Her calm, composed play under pressure helped the team maintain their shape.

Both teams played with great sportsmanship, celebrating each other’s successes. After the final whistle, the girls were still full of energy and capped off the afternoon with three cheers for their opponents, ending a fun and competitive day. The U9 team showed impressive progress, continuing to develop their skills and teamwork.

Player of the Match: Tilly C

Mrs Butt’s U11 Team vs RGS The Grange

In scorching hot conditions, the U11 girls faced a challenging match against a well-drilled RGS The Grange side. Unfortunately, we travelled one player short due to an injury, requiring a last-minute reshuffle of positions and formation. Despite the odds, the team displayed incredible resilience, determination, and teamwork throughout the match.

Pip and Elizabeth were rock solid in defence, holding the backline and making well timed tackles to keep the opposition at bay. In goal, Mary made several crucial saves, demonstrating quick reflexes and clearing the ball safely out of danger.

The midfield battle was intense, with Olivia and Chloe showing immense grit and determination, working hard to cover every inch of the pitch.

Millie also played a vital role, running out hard on defensive short corners and putting her body on the line to block dangerous shots. Her bravery and speed helped neutralize several attacking threats from RGS.

On the attacking end, Pippa scored a fantastic goal, capitalizing on well-executed short corners, which were a highlight of our attacking play.

A special mention must go to Iza and Thea, who stepped onto the pitch as injury replacements and made a huge difference. Their energy and contributions helped keep the team competitive, adding fresh legs and confidence when needed.

It was a tough encounter, but the girls played with heart and fought hard until the final whistle. Despite the result, this early season game provided invaluable lessons, and the team should be proud of their resilience and effort. There’s much to build on, and with this kind of determination, the girls are sure to grow stronger as the season progresses.

Player of the Match: Elizabeth N

Miss Lake’s U11 Team vs RGS The Grange

After supporting Mrs Butt’s team from the sidelines, it was the turn of Miss Lake’s team to face RGS The Grange. The match play was fairly level with both teams gaining possession and making advances towards the D before the opposing team regained the ball. Chloe T worked tirelessly in defence, ably supported by Lily. Thea and Olivia W made full use of the wings, whilst Iza and Sophie ran furiously up and down the pitch, both attacking and defending when necessary. Goalkeeper Lyra made some excellent saves and cleared the ball well. The girls should be extremely proud of how they played, which for most of the team was their first fixture of the year (after last week’s cancellation); there was some beautiful hockey on display. RGS’s player of the match went to team captain, Thea, whilst Miss Lake’s star player went to Olivia W for fantastic effort, enthusiasm and marking of the opposition.

Match report by Thea

U11 girls played against RGS and it was a very competitive match but the girls played hard and tried to keep control of the ball. Lyra bravely took on the position of GK and was very skilful in defence along with her defenders. Iza played tactfully well and Thea was always in the D to try and score. Chloe had great blocking in the D. Lily took to the sidelines and Sophie shadowed players well as did Olivia W where she was good at keeping pressure on the attackers. Thea was awarded player of the match.

U10 Hockey  – Miss Holtham’s Team Report by Daisy E

By the time we got to RGS, Miss Holtham’s team was raring and ready to go! We started playing positively – RGS attacked hard from the whistle, but in defence, Ruby, Charlotte and Abby worked had to hold them off and the score was 0-0 when we came off for halftime. After a quick team chat and a reminder to communicate with each other nice and loudly on the pitch, we went back on – Annie worked really hard in the middle, tackling well and creating some good chances, but RGS were quick to intercept, and broke through our defences repeatedly, despite some strong efforts from Daisy, Indie and Ruby in defence, scoring a couple of goals in quick succession. Valerie made some great clearances, saving us from conceding more, but the match ended in a deserved win for RGS, and we came off committed to working hard on our communication and on using more space on the pitch for next time! Ariana was voted player of the match by the opposition for her hard work on the wing.

Match report by Jasmine O – Mrs Beech’s Team

It was a lovely sunny Wednesday afternoon when we travelled to our local rivals RGS. After a good warm-up, RGS won the toss and started very strongly in the first few minutes scoring a goal. We were all determined to level the score. Rosie, Charlotte and Adelyn worked hard in defence. Florrie, Maysie and I worked well together in the midfield. As a team, we kept the pressure on and Charlotte made a great pass to Maysie who got her stick to the ball and it deflected into the goal.

Bella came on to make some great passes on the wing and Zara was solid in defence. We ended the second third 3-1 up after a fantastic goal from Florrie. Rosie did an excellent pass in and Florrie did a really strong push that the GK couldn’t stop.

In the final third, I passed the ball into Maysie who nearly scored but Adelyn got the rebound off the RGS GK to score the 4th goal. Robyn saved a goal attempt from RGS late in the game and we ended the match 4-1 to us!! A great result.

This is our first year of doing proper short corners. There were many in this game so we got to put our training into practice. We defended them really well and RGS weren’t able to score. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to score from an attacking short corner but we definitely have a lot of potential in this part of the game.

Well done to Florrie who was voted Player of the Match by RGS.

Thank you to Mrs Beech and Miss Holtham for your umpiring and support.