Unbeaten U18 girls fired up

The Wairarapa under-18 girls' hockey team have set the bar high as they prepare for their national tournament, to be held in Wellington from July 18-23.
They have won all seven lead-up games, with their dominance illustrated by the fact they have scored 30 goals and conceded only two.
Among the teams they have defeated are perennial powerhouses at age group levels: Wellington, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay.
Three of the Wairarapa squad, Katherine Van Woerkom, Jenna Anderson and Felicity Reidy, represented Capital at the national under-21 tourney and their experience has been invaluable, both on the field of play and at training sessions.
Anderson is their leading goal scorer with nine, five of them coming in the one match.
Hockey Wairarapa regional development officer Jesse Workman sees the evenness of strength in all departments as being one of the under-18s' major attributes.
While they have a tough draw at the nationals, he sees no reason why they shouldn't advance through to the top eight and challenge strongly for the major spoils.
Their pool draw sees them playing defending champions Auckland first, followed by Hawke's Bay and Counties Manukau.
Workman suggests some extra motivation for Wairarapa could be the fact that, for a number of the players, it could be the last time they play with each other because they will be heading to university next year.
"Most of these girls have come through the grades together and they will want to make this one really count," he said.
In other representative hockey news, the Wairarapa under-15 girls have lost only once so far this season and are shaping as a strong contender for a top placing at their national tourney.
The under-15 boys have had mixed results, scoring some big wins and also suffering some disappointing losses.
The under-18 boys are in a rebuilding year, with most of last year's side having moved on.
Meanwhile, Workman and Dalefield clubmate Dane Lett were part of the Capital men's National Hockey League squad which played a series of warm-up matches in Taupo last weekend. They lost to Auckland 2-1 on Friday night and to Midlands 4-3 on Saturday, before beating Northland 5-2 on Sunday.
"We were a little bit inconsistent and probably didn't play well enough in both the attacking and defensive circles," Workman said. "But at the same time, we got to use some different formations and strategies, and that should be a big help further down the track."