Grafton Hockey Association junior representative hockey is creeping towards its conclusion for 2023, with the Under 13 Girls State Championships recently completed at the Central Coast.
GHA have strong numbers in this age group and were able to enter teams in both 1st and 4th Division this year.
The 4th Division team competed well with 2 draws and 1 loss in their first 3 games but came through strongly with 3 wins in the second half of the weekend. With a “first past the post” competition and no finals, this meant the girls did not get another shot at winners Albury Wodonga but were very pleased with their silver medal for the weekend.
The 1st Division team played in a very tightly contested pool, and defensively were very strong, conceding only 6 goals over their 5 round games, including a 1-0 loss to eventual joint winners Goulburn. Unfortunately, the goals at the other end were equally hard to secure, and the team finished 6th in the pool. The Grafton girls came out firing in the playoff against Tamworth in the relegation match, and finished the weekend with a 2-0 win, securing their place in 1st Division for 2024.
Congratulations to Olivia Mcintyre, Milla Stephenson and Georgia Skeels who were selected in the 2023 NSW State squad who will compete at the National Championships later this year.
Looking further afield this month, GHA had 3 representatives competing at the Under 18 Women’s Australian Championships in Hobart. Martina Williams was part of the State team who fell just short of a medal after going down in their semifinal in a penalty shoot-out, then the bronze medal match in the same way. Maia Adamson and Eliza Berrick were in the NSW Blues side, who had a good tournament, finishing in 6th place out of 12 teams.
Angie Day