ON FORM: The Wairarapa under-13 girls hockey squad: back row, Reese Robertson (captain, left), Justine Robertson (coach), Maddie Taylor, Harriet Diederich (manager), Hannah Maunsell, Abby Crawley, Jessica Hart, Jasmine Nelson, Quenten Robertson (assistant coach) and Laura Hartwell. Front row, Whai Pine, Elizabeth Cohr, Tegan Mitchell, Amy Woods, Charlotte Diederich, Grace Hancox and Imogen Bird.
ON FORM: The Wairarapa under-13 girls hockey squad: back row, Reese Robertson (captain, left), Justine Robertson (coach), Maddie Taylor, Harriet Diederich (manager), Hannah Maunsell, Abby Crawley, Jessica Hart, Jasmine Nelson, Quenten Robertson (assistant coach) and Laura Hartwell. Front row, Whai Pine, Elizabeth Cohr, Tegan Mitchell, Amy Woods, Charlotte Diederich, Grace Hancox and Imogen Bird.
Wairarapa under-13 girls hockey coach Justine Robertson is happy with her team's build-up as they prepare to contest the Collier Trophy national tournament in Palmerston North from October 5-10.
Robertson said the team had shown improvement in every game during a pre-tourney programme in which they competed in two minitournaments. Late last month, they travelled to Blenheim where they defeated Nelson 4-1 and Marlborough 3-1 and lost to Canterbury 1-2 and Wellington 0-3. Then just a couple of weeks back they were in Napier where they drew with Manawatu 1-1 and lost to Wellington 1-2 and Hawke's Bay 0-1.
"We put away Nelson and Marlborough with some good quality hockey and, although we have had close losses to Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Canterbury, they are all ranked higher than us at Collier Trophy.
"I think we have shown we can be competitive against the top teams. In fact, I know we have the ability to beat any of those teams on our day."
-The full Wairarapa squad is: Imogen Bird (striker), Elizabeth Cohr (striker), Abby Crawley (striker), Charlotte Diederich (half), Grace Hancox (goalie), Jessica Hart (fullback), Laura Hartwell (inner), Hannah Maunsell (half), Jasmine Nelson (fullback), Whai Pine (striker), Reese Robertson (half), Maddie Taylor (inner), Amy Wood (inner). Coach: Justine Robertson. Assistant coach: Quenten Robertson. Manager: Harriet Diederich.
All games at the Collier Trophy tourney will be played at the Palmerston North twin turfs and the Wairarapa draw for pool play is: Monday, October 5, v Mid Canterbury at 11am and v Manawatu at 5pm. Tuesday, October 6, v Counties Manukau at 10am. Wednesday, October 7, v Tauranga at 11am and v Horowhenua at 5.15pm. Quarter-finals take place on Thursday with semifinals on Friday and the final on Saturday, at 2.30pm.
