This year for the Girls 1st XI Hockey team, three new players; Gabriela, Amelie and Grace, joined the team. With a strong side of four Year 13’s who had been in the team since Year 9, we were destined to play great Hockey this season.

Unfortunately, due to Covid, our National Federation Cup Tournament was cancelled, after working so hard to stay in the competition last year. Nevertheless, a Premiership South Island Tournament took its place.

Before Tournament Week, we were playing in the 1st XI Canterbury Schools' competition every Friday night, playing against some of the toughest teams in NZ each week. We played very well throughout the season leading up to our tournament.

Tournament Week in early September was tough as we had the most competitive pool of Rangi Ruru, St Margaret’s, Villa, St Hilda’s and Lincoln. Our pool ended up very close with the top two teams ending up 1st equal, and Villa and us ending up 3rd equal. Unfortunately, due to goal differentiation, we missed out on the opportunity of making the Top 5 and instead played off for 7th, since there were no playoffs. It was a tough match against Columba (from Dunedin), but we managed to secure the win and place 7th in the South Island.

A highlight of this year's season was definitely winning against Rangi Ruru 2-1 in pool play of the tournament. This was a result that hadn't happened before in at least 5 years, showing how much potential this team had.

Once our tournament was over, we still had our final game for the Friday night competition to play, where we were to play STAC for 5th. A close game resulted in a tie which both teams agreed was an acceptable finish, considering we had both beaten each other in the past games.

None of this could’ve happened if it wasn’t for Scott Anderson, the coach of our team. For the past five years, Scott has put many hours into improving how we play and read the game and I know all the girls are very grateful for this. Thank you for everything you've done for this team. 2020 was also Scott’s last year coaching for Burnside, a great achievement!

Another thank you and goodbye to Senora Moreno. Senora was the manager of our team for the past four years, filling drink bottles, collecting and doing washing, as well as being our friend. All your hard work behind the scenes was very much appreciated and we wish you all the best for the future.

Finally thank you to all the supporters and parents. We appreciate you coming to our games and supporting us on the freezing Friday nights. To the parents, thanks for feeding us, taking us to and from games and training and being our number one fans. We love you all!

Farewell to the five Year 13’s; Payton, Ella T, Paris, Ella M and Emma, as well as Coach Scott, manager Senora Moreno and tournament cook, Shelley.

As captain of the team for the past 2 years, I am sad to leave but I can't wait to follow your success in the future. All the best for the upcoming seasons and UP THE CABBAGE!

Payton Anderson

Captain