Category Archives: Academy News

U10/U12 Tournament on Sunday 12 October

We had a very encouraging start to our U10 and U12 competitive season yesterday – eleven matches in all, without a single goal being conceded!
The U10s kicked off the day, with a lot of our players getting their first taste of competitive hockey.  Despite having most of the possession and attacking chances in all their games, they were just unable to score the goals needed to secure the victories they deserved, drawing all their games 0-0!  Molly Fry in goal was only called on a handful of times, but stayed alert to make a couple of important saves and some solid clearances.  Alex Leigh controlled the defence and set up much of the attacking play down the right through Jacob Buckeridge who ran non-stop throughout all the games and set up a lot of the goal-scoring opportunities.  Will Conacher and Ethan Gresty provided much of the attacking and defensive play down the middle of the pitch and, while unlucky not to convert a few of the chances, closed down most of the opposition counter-attacking play very effectively.  Olivia Dyer provided some excellent and tenacious attacking support in her first ever run-out, and Sophie Jones displayed some very composed defensive support on her debut, to ensure we were rarely threatened at the back.
The U12s achieved a very pleasing set of results, winning five of their games and drawing one.  Again, Maddy Sugden in goal wasn’t busy for long periods, but made a couple of decisive saves when required, and Hebe Dixon was largely responsible for keeping the number of opposition chances down with some very solid defending, as well as stepping up to score twice from short corners.  Millie Edwards and Izzy Huxley provided much of the midfield support, getting back to defend and helping to move the ball upfield to attack, linking with Joseph Coburn who ran tirelessly to dominate the centre of midfield.  Also strong in midfield and attack were Alex Dyer, who was rewarded with a goal for all his efforts on his debut for the club, and Natalie Windsor who provided some determined support going forward.  Up front Millie Forster showed great strength in holding the ball to set up a lot of attacking play, linking well with Amy Fry who converted three more of our chances.
Many thanks to everyone who came along to play and support.  It was great to see the enthusiasm of the U10s matched by the developing hockey craft displayed by the U12s, which should set us up for a very enjoyable season and gives us a great base for all our other Academy players to join in with.

U13s CVL – 20 Sep 2014

A great performance from the Whitchurch players yesterday on our first outing at the Shropshire-organised U13s Central Venue League.  We were able to lend 2 players to Shrewsbury as they were short, so everyone got lots of play.

Results as follows:

Game 1 vs Shrewsbury. Whitchurch won 4-2 with goals from Ben Kimberley (3) and Morgan Chapman.

Game 2 vs Telford.  Whitchurch won 3-2 with another hat-trick from Ben Kimberley.

Game 3 vs William Brooke’s. Whitchurch lost 5-2, with our goals coming from Locki Price and Morgan Chapman.  William Brooke’s were an outstanding team, so we did really well with some great defending and goalkeeping from Aaron Swain.

Huge thanks to all the players and parents, and especially to Claire Hamer for running the team on the day.

Club Day 2014 – Full Report

A great day was had by Academy, Juniors and Seniors at our first Club Day (for many years) which was organised as part of England Hockey’s National Club Weekend.

The Academy kicked off the day with their first session of the new year.  A lot of familiar faces missing – they turned up later on in the morning as the latest additions to our junior cohort – but plenty of new ones.  Big thanks to Craig and Lee for helping out this week, and as usual to Neil, plus our ever-keen junior helper Jess!

Here’s a nice picture of the Academy players, parents and helpers at the end of the session.

Whitchurch Hockey Academy, Parents and Helpers

It was fantastic to see such a great turnout of junior and senior players for the next session – a fitness and skills assessment.  The enthusiasm and commitment to that first fitness test bodes well for the season!

And to round off the day, the Mens 1s and Fathom players hosted Northop Hall for a friendly.  Some very promising spells, and some very rusty periods, ended in a 4-3 win to the visitors, and plenty of stuff to work on in training.

Well done to everyone who took part today, and helped organise it.  If you have any more photos of the day, send them through and we’ll put them on the site.