Martinborough and Pirinoa were well represented in the Wairarapa Women’s U18 hockey team, that competed in the National Under 18 tournament in Christchurch last month. Melinda Marshal, Neve Bruce, Amanda Jephson and Ella Kirkup were selected and came together in the team after playing for Martinborough as juniors almost 10 years ago.
Now all are playing for their respective school 1st XI’s – Melinda for Kurinui College, Neave and Amanda for Wairarapa College, and Ella for St Matthews.
Through the years playing in various Wairarapa age grade representative hockey teams they’ve had great support from team manager Carolyn Jephson, and in the last few years been coached by Ana-May Gudsell, who is off to the Masters Hockey World Cup in South Africa later this year.
The team did exceedingly well at the tournament to make it into the top 8 of all the regions in the country, considering the small pool of schools and players Wairarapa draws from in comparison to the much larger regions. Wairarapa was in a pool of three with Canterbury B and Auckland B, and after a narrow loss to Canterbury B, the team clicked into gear and put in a great performance against a strong Auckland B side to advance to the round of 16.
There they came up against Northland and put in their performance of the tournament to win 2-0, with great connection between the backs, midfield and strikers, much to the delight of the coaches. This got them through to the top 8 where they lost to eventual tournament winners North Harbour in the quarter final.
All the local girls had fantastic tournaments. Melinda and Ella were always a menace up the front in the striking positions, Neve was immense in the midfield particularly in the win over Northland, and Amanda was a wall throughout the tournament on defence.
Thanks to all the local businesses who have supported the Wairarapa age grade representative teams. Its an important step in the development of these local players to be able to test themselves on the national stage.
