SPORT// GIRLS’ HOCKEY
North Yorkshire
Junior Academy
Three First Year pupils, Niamh
Clements (U13), Carys Haeney (U13)
and Jess Groombridge (U12) have been
selected for the North Yorkshire Junior
Academy squad for Hockey.
As well as their Pocklington School
hockey commitments, the girls all play
for York City Hockey Club. To secure
selection for the Junior Academy Centre
(JAC) squad, they attended a rigorous
assessment day and were all delighted
to hear that they had been successful.
The Junior Academy Centre is a
national directive supported by England
Hockey. It is designed to offer high
U13A XI
quality training and competition, to
develop young players who have been
identified as having the potential to play
at an elite level.
Training with the JAC squad began last
November. The girls will take part in a
total of four regional competition days
and six training sessions at Ampleforth
College (U13 squad) and Queen
Margaret’s School Escrick (U12 squad).
coaching available inside and outside the
school.”
Miss Hornby, teacher of PE and i/c
hockey at Pocklington School said:
“The girls have done extremely well to be
selected for North Yorkshire and the selection
is thoroughly deserved; with continued
commitment to their training, we will look
forward to seeing how far they can go with
their hockey.”
Mr Clements, father of Niamh said:
“The girls are very committed to their hockey,
playing as often as they can and making the
most of every opportunity to take their hockey
as far as they can.”
He added: “Pocklington School has a really
strong contingent of girls currently. It will be
good to see them progressing with the excellent
individually, but as a team. They have
all been committed to training every
week and worked hard to support
each other. The results soon started to
show, with a draw against St Olaves
and a handful of wins against Ashville,
Giggleswick and Hill House. some of the best hockey this season
to beat Worksop College and come
away with a 3-0 win. A fantastic team
performance against Yarm away and
beating Hymers 2-1 at home.
Highlights of the season include
responding to a large defeat, by playing Most Improved Player:
Evie Rennison
even when losing, showing defensive
skill against very strong attacking teams
like Barnard Castle, losing 7-1.
This has been an excellent year for U13
B hockey. Especially an excellent year
for team improvement and personal
development.
The
commitment,
dedication and attitude of the girls
has been a wonderful to coach. They
have all been superbly committed to training, supporting each other through
their development within hockey, not
just winning by one or two goals, but
by seven or eight. Showing excellent
attacking potential whilst working
forwards together as a team, and with
an ability to score goals, we achieved
fantastic wins against St Peters, 9-1,
Hymers, 6-1 and Worksop College, 11-
0. Another highlight includes the girl’s
determination and desire to compete Most Improved Player:
Annie Pearson
U13C XI in a tightly fought contest, also beating
Worksop away 3-1. U13D XI
P12 / W6 / D2 / L4
This has been a real development year
for the U13A team, with some tough
defeats early in the season to RGS and
Scarborough College. They should be
commended for their hard work and
determination to improve not only
U13B XI
P11 / W7 / D1 / L3
Player of the Season: Izzy Rowley
Overall it’s been a term of wonderful
team performances across the board.
Player of the Season: Jessica Dyson
P6 / W2 / D1 / L3 P3 / W0 / D3 / L0
Highlight: Beating Barnard Castle 5-4 Highlight: Not losing a match!
THE POCKLINGTONIAN
71