Wairarapa did not come home from the Collier trophy national primary schoolgirls hockey tournament in Christchurch empty handed Their effort to finish ninth of the 26 teams won them the Chris Edwards Cup.
Wairarapa's only loss at the tournament came in their opening pool game against Wellington when they went down
3-1.
Then followed draws with Hawke's Bay and defending champions Northland and comfortable victories over Nelson and Invercargill.
These results placed Wairarapa third in what was clearly the toughest pool and in the playoff for between ninth and 16 th positions.
A big 7-1 win over Horowhenua saw them up against a strong Taranaki line-up and despite being reduced to 10 players late in the game Wairarapa came up trumps 1-0.
That win took Wairarapa into a play-off for ninth and 10th with Wellington and after trailing 1-0 early in the first half they fought back well to take the honours 3-1.
Coach Nigel Goodin and manager Denise Foreman were justifiably proud of their side whose record over the whole season makes impressive reading. They finished with nine wins, four draws and just the one loss.
Their ninth placing at Collier makes Wairarapa the top positioned minor province in New Zealand at this level and they made the biggest jump in national seedings of any team, improving eight places on the previous year.
