PUBLISHED 13 July 2023
It was another fantastic Hockey season at AKS and all the teams should be proud of their progress and performance. Of course, none of this would be possible without the ferrying around of pupils from parents and the support on the sidelines has been great to see. Thank you to all of our parents for their continued support.
It is testament to the ability and depth in talent in our teams that an incredible number of 30 girls were selected to represent Lancashire at various age groups throughout the season and huge congratulations to all those girls. In addition, an outstanding group of players were also selected to attend the England Hockey Talent Academy. The Talent Academy is intended for the highest potential 15-18 year olds and so a huge congratulations to Olivia M, Lisa P, Beth R, Kirtika S, Charlotte T and Lucy W on this incredible achievement.
At the junior end of the school, the U12a team remained undefeated in all of their matches amassing an incredible 74 goals and conceding only 5. On a bitterly cold day in March, they also retained the Jean Torrance Trophy after an outstanding day’s hockey. For the first time, it was also fantastic to welcome teams from our prep school as well as 3 teams from as far afield as Edinburgh to this wonderful tournament. The dedication to training has been absolutely outstanding from the year 7’s this year with over 30 girls attending hockey training throughout the year and we have consistently fielded U12a & b teams of exceptional ability and potential. The depth of talent in both squads bodes well for the future indeed.
The U14’s also had an incredible season. Over 25 girls have represented the team at this level and they are to be commended on their dedication and commitment. It was a pleasure to watch them play at the NW Finals and with a little more luck on the day, they could have qualified for the National Finals. They demonstrated their prowess with a well-taken win over the team who did qualify for the Nationals and so we certainly do have high hopes for the future. This team have been ably led by their leadership team of Amelia H, Esther T, Lily G and Lucy W.
At the senior end of the school, results went against AKS for both the 1sts and the U16’s at the start of the season as the team found scoring goals a real challenge. However, their determination and zest for the sport was unrelenting and results in the latter part of the season made for better reading! A convincing performance against Wilmslow and a decisive win against Bradford Grammar following a draw against them earlier on in the year demonstrated just how much this team developed. It was also wonderful to see their commanding win against the boys 1st XV in this traditional match.
The U15 team also had a brilliant season winning 70% of their matches. Their cup run ended in a 1-2 defeat to Solihull School in the third round after an outstanding game of hockey. Both teams fought with real passion and skill and unfortunately, Solihull just managed to steal the winning goal.
Another undoubted highlight of the year was the Alex Danson-Bennett Masterclass. Many of our pupils were inspired by Alex’s coaching and it was a wonderful way to finish the season. My thanks to Mrs Ferguson for her organisation of the event.
The undoubted highlight of the year was the qualification of the U13 hockey team for the National Finals placing the team in the top 8 in the country. This is an outstanding achievement for a school of our size and the entire squad deserve much credit. We travelled to Nottingham on the Friday afternoon ready for the tournament on the Saturday and although we weren’t able to win the trophy our players learnt an awful lot about playing at the very top level. The U13’s should be proud of their performances throughout the season.
To all of our players this year in all of our squads, thank you for your commitment, effort and good humour throughout the season. Well done on all your progress and all your achievements. I hope you are looking forward to getting going again next season and of course, for our senior teams, next season will culminate with the long-anticipated tour to South Africa. Special thanks this year go to our year 13 leavers (Prisha, Ziv, Liberty, Freya and Alicia) who leave after 7 years of commitment to school hockey and extra thanks to Prisha for all your hard work captaining the senior hockey squad this year. We will miss you all and wish you well for the future!
As is always the case, thanks go to all of the hockey staff for their guidance and coaching. On behalf of everyone involved in AKS Hockey, thank you to Mrs Roberts, Mrs Hanham, Mrs Ferguson, Mrs Whorlton-Jones, Mrs Haynes and Miss Raby for all your time and commitment this year.
Roll on season, 2023-24!
Rachel Mason
Head of Girls PE & Games