Wairarapa under-13 girls hockey coach Justine Robertson is happy with her team's build-up as they prepare to contest the Collier Trophy national tournament in Palmerston North from October 5-10.
Robertson said the team had shown improvement in every game during a pre-tourney programme in which they competed in two mini tournaments. Late last month, they travelled to Blenheim where they defeated Nelson 4-1 and Marlborough 3-1 and lost to Canterbury 1-2 and Wellington 0-3. Then just a couple of weeks back they were in Napier where they drew with Manawatu 1-1 and lost to Wellington 1-2 and Hawke's Bay 0-1.
"We put away Nelson and Marlborough with some good quality hockey and, although we have had close losses to Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Canterbury, they are all ranked higher than us at Collier Trophy.
"I think we have shown we can be competitive against the top teams. In fact, I know we have the ability to beat any of those teams on our day."
-The full Wairarapa squad is: Imogen Bird (striker), Elizabeth Cohr (striker), Abby Crawley (striker), Charlotte Diederich (half), Grace Hancox (goalie), Jessica Hart (fullback), Laura Hartwell (inner), Hannah Maunsell (half), Jasmine Nelson (fullback), Whai Pine (striker), Reese Robertson (half), Maddie Taylor (inner), Amy Wood (inner). Coach: Justine Robertson. Assistant coach: Quenten Robertson. Manager: Harriet Diederich.
