U12 Girls triumph in Holland!

Bronze medal winners at the Holland Elite Hockey Cup!

Holland Elite Cup, April 5-6 - Eindhoven

An incredible weekend of high quality hockey culminated in the East Grinstead U12 Girls taking the 3rd place trophy back to Saint Hill!

Widely considered to be the European Championships for this age group, EG Hockey entered the competition for the first time ever looking to build on a successful season, at such an exciting event, held at a world class hockey venue, Oranje Rood HC.

The girls started in style with a 3-0 win against SCHC-1, before continuing their good form with wins against Groningen HC (5-0) and Top Hockey Academy Talent-1 (4-0), meaning they won their group and secured safe passage to the quarter finals.

In their quarter final, and fourth game of the day, the girls took on Athena Amsterdam, finally breaking down the Dutch outfit to take the win 1-0.

This meant they faced a tricky semi final against top Belgian side, Royal Oree. Despite dominating the majority of the match, the girls were unable to break down their opponents who defended well, meaning shuffles would decide the outcome. Unfortunately, it was not to be and the girls lost 3-2 in a dramatic shootout meaning they would play in the Bronze play-off match.

They would face off against English opponents, Knole Park, in another exciting match this season between the two teams. In front of a large crowd on the clubs main pitch, the girls finally broke the deadlock from a short corner, before KP equalised from a short corner of their own. In a dramatic final stage of the match, EG U12G scored a last minute short corner causing wild celebrations from the EG supporters and coaches!

They lifted the 3rd place trophy in front of their loyal supporters, giving EG their first taste of success at the Holland Elite Cup in their first ever outing. 

"The girls were incredible all weekend, playing hockey well beyond their years. They did everything we asked of them from a game plan perspective, growing into the tournament as it went on - the result was thoroughly deserved. This feels like the culmination of 18 months of hard work for this age group by all the junior coaches and volunteers at EGHC, and to now come away as European Bronze Medalists tells you everything you need to know about this squads commitment and dedication. It is an experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives, and we are all very proud of them."

(Michael Lewis, Head of Junior Hockey)

Thank you to the army of loyal supporters that made the trip out, spurring our girls on. Another huge thank you to the organisers who were incredibly professional, the standard and organisation at the tournament was brilliant.

The trophy is now safely locked in the clubhouse cabinet. Well done, girls!

Squad: A. Watson, F. Lock, S. Toulson, S. Nelson, T. Watt (c), M, Farrelly, C. Long, E. Wood, B.Porter (c), M. Lowe, S. Chaplin, E. Stubbs, P. Lambert, E. Poate, A. Olivier

Coaches: M. Lewis and L. Lambert

Manager: C. Vallis-Wilson