Ipswich Hockey Club’s foundations are undoubtedly stronger than perhaps they’ve ever been and we've a very talented and wide base in place. From Under 8s through to U16s the club has seen some notable successes this season including the boys U16 being crowned East U16 champions, the Girls U14s dominating the East T2 and the Boys U14 losing narrowly to Reading in the National semi finals. In fact the juniors, as I remarked at the AGM, are playing at a higher level that the rest of club when it comes to outdoor hockey and that naturally means we’ve a strong base and this will benefit all the senior teams.

It does however, start really young and recently the U10 and U12 boys and girls qualified and took part in the East U10 and U12 championships. The U12 boys and U10 boys qualified as Suffolk Champions and the U10 and U12 girls as runners up.

It proved to be agonisingly close and quite an emotional weekend. See below for the reports:

Boys U10s Runners Up
Tears, lots of them. It just wasn’t to be with the boys losing 0-1 in the final to Hertford. It really hurt considering how well they have done this season and this was their solitary loss, main even more painful as they narrowly beat the eventual winners in the group stage. The boys have been a blast to coach and lead this season – full of talent, energy, goals and some serious grit. Selection for the final team was tough and some very good players missed out. Zach Murray, Archie Southgate, Charlie Utley, Thomas Ward, Max Lever, Rasmus Holmefjord-Phillips, Cheng Sevindik Kit, Toby Glassbrook, Finlay Blemings made the final squad and beat Magpies 3-1, Chelmsford 2-0, Hertford 1-0 and Saffron Walden 2-0 in their groups stages before beating Bedford 2-1 in the semi final. There were impressive goals from Lever, Holmefjord-Phillips, Ward and Southgate throughout the day but come the final, a 20 minute match, they just could not find the net against a good opposition who's winner came from a corner. Next season only Thomas remains as an U10 as the rest of the boys graduate to U12s so we’ve some rebuilding to do! Thank you to all the parents who have given up their time and of course well done to all the boys – silver in the East, I know they’ve a gold in them at some point in their Ipswich Junior careers.

Girls U12 6th place
So close, the girls did everything but score in their last game against Bedford – a win would have seen them in the semi finals. I’ve had more fun than I ever thought I would coaching the girls U12s over the last 2 years – they are full of life, sigma, pookies, yea bhoys and are determined, hard work, polite and pretty talented. The final selection was tough with some very good girls missing out; the following represented the blue of Ipswich: Tami Oluwatamilore, Kitty Abrey, Georgie Gedge, Isabelle Pineo, Tilly Piercy, Annabelle Ward, Sofia Dean, Darcey Sharratt, Juno McConnell, Eliza Vickers.

Having coached them for some time, they knew what to expect, INTENSITY, go right, get shots away and back yourselves. Their first game gave everyone goose bumps – an amazing 1-0 win vs Magpies with sharp shooter Sofia Dean on the board. They beat Old Loughtonians, and Crostyx, losing to Saffren Walden, drawing with St Albans and then the agony of a 0-0 against Bedford when a win would have seen them through to the semis. Their play off game vs Chelmsford was a bit ‘after the lord mayors show’ and they went down 0-2. Goals came throughout the day from Ward, Abrey, Dean and Sharratt but what really impressed was their defensive tenacity, strong tackling from Vickers and Gedge being a highlight along some amazing saves from Tami. Most of these girls move to U14s next season and have a bright future but just as importantly waiting in the wings is a very talented group of U12 girls who we’re expecting great things of next season. They will need a new coach next year so volunteers welcome!

Boy’s U12s Semi Finalists
The U12 boys had a very successful Sunday in the sun at Harleston.

They started by losing a tough fixture against the eventual winners, Harleston Magpies. But, this allowed the boys to get going and they proceeded to win the rest of there group matches; beating City of Peterborough 4-0, Blueharts 1-0 and Crostyx 3-1. The boys played some great hockey with Robin, Lewis and Noah defending well and moving the ball around to find the midfield. Rufus was showed great energy in the middle of the pitch to be back helping the defence and driving forward to link with the attack or to arrive late at the top of the D to strike at goal. Will showed some great skill and a good desire to do the dirty yards in defence. Albie was similarly effective showing some great vision with his passing. Ollie was a constant threat on the right making good decisions when to linking with others and when to drive to the baseline. Finley hassled from the front and, as always, made great leads up front.

The boys met Upminster in the semi final and put in their best performance of the season. They played superbly as a team in defence and attack producing some great passing hockey. Unfortunately a combination of the Upminster goalie being in good form and some shots going agonisngly wide meat we couldn't get the breakthrough. Upminster had a direct approach bulit around 1 giant of a boy (easily taller than Wardy!), Toby comfortably saved a few of his shots until a horrible topped effort snuck in and one went flying into the roof. The boys did not give up and pulled a goal back through yet another lovely move. They, pressed for the equaliser but could not find it. They had played better but not been on the right end of the result (1-2).

The 3rd/4th play off saw Ipswich, once again, put in a great performance against Cambridge. But, once again they came up short 1-2.

Overall, a great day of hockey and the boys should be proud of the excellent hockey they played in a great competitive spirit.

Girls U10 11th
A debut tournament for a young team – they secured a competitive draw against Magpies and fought very hard against some much older teams. Special thanks to Natalie in goal and for to all the girls who put so much energy into training for the tournament. Tabby should be very proud of all the work that she took on getting the girls ready. Well done Natalie Ransome, Clara Scrivener, Eloise Griffiths, Gabby Swindin, Annabelle Nasta, Harriet Pheasant and Maya Bostock. Some excellent pictures including the club lion to follow!