Congratulations to Louie Reglar from Year 7 who was recently part of the WA team who won gold at the Australia School Sport Under 12 Hockey Championships in Cairns.
Below Louie writes about his recent hockey experience.
Over the course of the last few months I trialled for the School Sport WA Under 12s State Hockey Team. I went through four gruelling trials, the first of which began with over one hundred hopeful players. After each trial, selectors would decide which players would make the cut and which players would be ‘knocked out’.
Luckily, I made it through the last trial and had to drive to Bunbury for a weekend in June, along with the remaining players in the trials, where we played some games against other clubs. During this tournament, the team was to be selected. After a nervous wait, I was told that I had made the final cut and was on the team!
We trained for many weeks before the competition which was held in Cairns, Queensland, from 31st July to 7th August. When the team got to Cairns, it was very humid and we were all tired. On the Monday it was our first game, which was to be against the ACT, which we won 1-0. We had a second game that day against NSW where we were unlucky and lost 2-1. We thought this meant that we would not win the tournament, but instead of dropping our heads we came together, got to work and won the rest of our games except for a draw against Queensland. On the last day it was a tie for first place between us, QLD and NSW, but NSW lost their game against ACT putting us and Queensland in first place with four wins, one tie and one loss.
In the end, we were awarded a gold medal and we celebrated that night at a restaurant. At the airport we were all disappointed to leave but glad to be coming home with a gold medal around our necks to show our friends and family. I was very proud to represent Western Australian in this tournament and hope that I can do so again next year.
Written by Louie Reglar (Year 7)