This year started off on a sad note following the farewell of 4 senior players last year, however we welcomed new comers Lexi Cummings, Hannah Currie, Alex Dore and Emily Jackson who had recovered from her injury.

The Burnside XI girls hockey team had a tough secondary school season this year with placing 6th in the Canterbury competition unable to secure a win on Friday nights. We were so grateful to have some supportive students and of course our dedicated parents on the sidelines at every game cheering us on. Although some games did end with disappointing results, our coach Scott Anderson encouraged us to improve after every game with the goal of reaching our peak performance by winter tournament week. By learning from these games, training consistently twice a week throughout the season to improve not only our skills but our mindsets as well.

Some highlights from the SSP league include our 2-2 draw with Villa Maria and our close match against St Margarets that resulted in an unlucky 1-2 loss. Luckily they were able to secure a convincing win midway through their season against Ashburton College during the Ashburton Exchange.

However due to last year's success at the Audrey Timlin tournament we were able to travel up to Auckland to compete in Federation Cup. Our first game of the tournament was a tough match against the predicted winners St Cuthberts and we went down 10-2 with Hannah Currie and Payton Anderson scoring these two important goals. Even though St Cuthberts went on to win the whole tournament we were ecstatic that we had scored 2 of the 3 goals that they conceded all week. Sadly after a loss to Palmerston North Girls High 2-1 we missed out on top 16. We managed to win our final pool play game 1-0 in a challenging game in the pouring rain with the turf flooding due to heavy rain, Charlotte Lambie scoring this important goal. This put us third in our pool and sent us into Marie Fry Cup for the remainder of the week.

After the disappointment of being kicked out of the top 16 we remained to keep our winning streak and won our next game against Western Heights High. This game was a very important game for us as it meant we would be able to compete in Federation cup again next year if we secured the win. The girls played an amazing game clutching our 2nd win of the year 3-0 with Ella McLeod slotting the first one in and then Payton Anderson with the next 2. This win meant that we were to play Wairarapa College next. The girls put up a great battle and the game was very even throughout the match which ended up in a draw. Our first shootout for the year kept the sideline on their toes but unfortunately didn’t quite get the dub, losing 3-1. This put us out of the running for first place at Marie fry. Nevertheless the team kept a great positive mindset going into the second to last game for the year. The girls had a fantastic game against Queen Margaret College winning 5-0 with Payton Anderson earning a hat trick, Ella TeAho earning her first goal ever and Kelly Newlands with a beautiful reverse. Our last game was a tough game against New Plymouth Girls High who we had faced earlier in pool play where we won 1-0. This game was again very close, finishing the game with no score. Just like our first shootout we didn’t manage to snatch the win but we were still proud of our achievements and finished with playing some great quality hockey.

A huge thank you to Scott Anderson for all the time and effort he put into our team year after year, we appreciate you so much and you’ve helped all of us improve over the season. Thank you to his wife Shelly Anderson, you were our team mum for the week, you accompanied us to tournament and kept us fed and cared for during the week. Finally, thank you to our incredible manager Señora Moreno for all the behind the scenes organising, planning and most importantly all of the washing you did on tournament.

We became a family on and off the field and are sad to be farewelling Alex Dore, Hannah Currie and Emily Jackson who are leaving Burnside this year and we wish them all the best for the future.

Lastly, as leaders within the team we are so proud of the culture that has developed over the course of the year and we can’t wait to go back to Fed Cup next year with this talented group of girls.