Young Guns Excel, Boys Competitions Hot Up

On Sunday 23 April 2023, Beacon HC entered the junior festival hosted by Bloxwich HC at Willenhall E-ACT Academy, fielding U10 and U12 mixed sides, U14 and U16 boys teams, and U14 Girls.

The U10s had a superb tournament, winning three games, drawing one and losing one, with Alfie and Jacob grabbing seven and six goals respectively. U10 keepers Drew and debutant Lucas 🏅 kept the opposition attackers at bay and even helped out Barford and Cannock in goal.

The U12s made a slow start but once they found their rhythm there was no stopping them, resulting in two high-scoring wins. Their attacking play was particularly exciting at times, which bodes well for future tournaments: Aamir, Edward and U10 Alfie each scored three, with James also getting on the score sheet. Full report from Mikaela below.

The boys U14 and U16 teams found the going extra tough, as the standard in the boys events is increasing with each tournament, a great sign for the future of Staffordshire hockey. We managed to score in each competition though, with Finn and Jeevan netting for the U14s and U16s respectively 💪

See results section below for news on the Girls' event.

U12 Match Report by Mikaela

Watching these boys build as a team over the months has been very special. They have worked hard learning skills, positioning and most of all teamwork during each tournament and have come together to be successful and look like they are really loving playing hockey.

Today they came up against some very strong opposition but got stuck in, scoring plenty of goals themselves.

Logan had a blinder in goal really owning that space, as well as playing out in the first game coming close to scoring. James was on fire scoring goals and getting back to support defence. Arun was a pocket rocket, putting himself on the line in defence and attack. Edward was outstanding in possession and positional play, scoring a hat trick. Aamir was technically brilliant on the left midfield, opening up that side of the field and again scoring more than once. Ethan was a force to be reckoned with in defence moving the ball to the attackers strongly. Luke was solid in defence providing stability and vision when taking free hits.

Alfie played his first tournament with the team and slotted in perfectly scoring plenty for his new team.

All the boys played so well, listened and showed how much progress they have made this season. It has been a pleasure to work with them. Well done!!

Big thanks to volunteers Mikaela, Rich, Linnie, Laura, Ed and Jon for managing the players and umpiring, Rob for most of the photos, Kerry for the junior stats and Richard for the help with lifts! Thanks also to the parents and players for supporting the event 😊 We are also grateful to Barford Tigers HC for helping us out with U14 and U16 boys, and to hosts Bloxwich HC for putting on a great day of sport for our county’s youngsters.

There are more monthly junior festivals to come in May, June and July. Watch this space!

Results & Scorers

U10 Mixed

Results: 4-0, 2-2, 6-0, 1-2, 3-0. Scorers: Alfie 7, Jacob 6

U12 Mixed

Results: 1-4, 0-2, 5-1, 4-1. Scorers: Alfie 3, Aamir 3, Edward 3, James 1

U14 Girls

The three teams in the girls’ event also included Bloxwich U12 Boys and U14 Girls. The sides each played each other before all the players mixed together (see group photo) for a barnstorming 6-4 match at the end ⚽️⚽️⚽️

U14 Boys

0-1, 0-1, 0-4, 1-4. Scorers: Finn 1

U16 Boys

Results: 0-3, 1-3, 0-1, 0-2. Scorers: Jeevan 1

📸 Photos below. There are more to come later in the week - there are that many!