A very excited group of Year 6 girls traveled to London to play in the ISA National Hockey Tournament held at Lee Valley Hockey Centre in London (the venue for the London 2012 Olympic Games and International Hockey matches in the UK). The girls were amazed by the facilities on offer and were keen to get playing. 

In the morning they played strong opposition against Copthill School and Lingfield College but sadly lost 2 - 0 to both teams. After a very lively thunder storm play resumed in the afternoon. During the break in play the girls had the chance to meet Holly Hunt, current GB Hockey player who signed autographs, answered questions, and allowed the girls to see her gold Commonwealth Games medal!

As a result of their performance in the morning, the team progressed to the Bowl competition in the afternoon. The girls played some great hockey in the afternoon drawing an exciting game 0-0 with Crackley Hall School, beating Ipswich High School 2 - 0 (with two great goals from Cressida), and finally drawing 1 - 1 with Claire's Court (goal scored by Coco). 

Following those wonderful performances in the afternoon the girls qualified for the Bowl final where they played Ibstock Place School. Ibstock got off to a strong start in the final creating some early chances. Some excellent individual skills saw Fleur score a wonderful goal to give MSJ a 1 - 0 lead. Ibstock kept pushing and eventually scored an equaliser. Both teams had good opportunities to win the game but at the final whistle, the game was a 1-1 draw. As the game was drawn the winner was to be decided by penalty strokes! The U11 were very calm and collected with Rosa and Fleur scoring their penalty strokes. Two brilliant saves from our goalkeeper Isla saw MSJ crowned the U11 ISA National Bowl Champions!

 

The U13 squad also traveled to Lee Valley Hockey Centre for the U13 ISA National Hockey Championships. Throughout the morning the girls played some great hockey, finishing this section of the tournament with 2 wins and 2 losses. As a result of the morning's performance, the squad progressed through to the semi-final of the Trophy competition where they faced Bedford Greenacre. The squad played really well and won the match 1 - 0 progressing to the final where they would play St Anselms School. 

The final was a close and exciting game with both sides having early opportunities to score, the game remained close throughout with St Anselms School eventually scoring to be crowned champions. Both Mr. Notman and Mrs Leathart were incredibly proud of the performance of the team who worked incredibly hard throughout the day making excellent progress and playing some wonderful hockey.