The Lee Valley Olympic Stadium was an immense location to hold the ISA Hockey tournament. It’s so unique and special for the children to have the opportunity to play somewhere that so many elite adult hockey players still dream of.
The day started in the best way possible, the girls secured a 3-0 win in their first match and progressed through the pool stages in 1st with a clean sheet. Some strong attacking runs from Isla and positive post positioning from Romilly kept the goals coming. Annabel and Eleanor worked hard in midfield trying to offer some width to our shape which gave us some lovely options.
We progressed through with the top 8 teams from the 32 schools who entered to compete for the National title. The hockey stepped up and the girls rose to the challenge. There was some wonderful distribution from Sophie in midfield and Brooke, Lottie and Emma were kept busy in defence. Arabella was immense in goal and only let one goal in across 6 matches! She was certainly the reason that the girls made it to penalty shuffles in the 3rd 4th play off.
At such a young age shuffles are a big pressure and I was amazed by how Isla, Sophie and Romilly handled themselves when they stepped up. The outcome was a tough one, but we left with our heads held high and I was so pleased with what the girls accomplished in the tournament. They each gave it their all and together as a squad we did Copthill proud, securing a wonderful 4th place in the National Finals. Well done girls and thank you to the parents for all their support on the day.