The hockey season has zoomed by with six teams competing in an exhilarating season.

Over 100 girls registered for hockey and the 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, 5th XI, and 6th XI were selected. It was very exciting to see our largest registration for a while and proving what potential we have coming through in hockey at Christchurch Girls’ High School.

The 2nd XI had a strong year with Kirsty McCombe returning to coach the team. The time and effort which Kirsty put into the team was demonstrated by the side with a noteworthy 5th place finish in the Canterbury Secondary School Girls Division 1 grade. The team displayed some great hockey as the season progressed, resulting in two of their players, Charlotte Binne and Claudia Wiffen, being selected into the Canterbury U15 B team. The team then followed their gutsy performance with a 5th place finishing at Chris Arthur Cup in Ashburton.

The 3rd XI was coached for another season by Christchurch Girls’ High School old girl, Kate Bayliss. Her investment and encouragement was rewarded with the team placing 3rd in the Canterbury Secondary School Girls Division 2 grade.

Diane Hubrick coached the 4th XI. They had some challenging games and improved immensely throughout the season, where they came away with 2nd place in the Division 2 competition.

The 5th XI was coached by another old girl of Christchurch Girls’ High School, Elizabeth Kingston. With some outstanding hockey on show, the team was rewarded for their determination, finishing 4th place in the Canterbury Secondary School Girls Division 3 grade.

Stu Pluck and John Drummond were the coaches of the 6th XI. They competed in the same division as the 5th XI, and earned 7th place for their hard work.

The 1st XI had a remarkable season. The side pulled out some exceptional hockey which saw them reach the Secondary Schools’ Premier Division final against St Margaret’s College. This was the first appearance for the Christchurch Girls’ High School 1st XI since the 1960s. This resulted in the following players being selected for representative teams:

U18 Regional team - Sophie White

U18 Association team - Grace Murphy and Georgia Leslie

U15 A team - Gracie Ansell, Emily Bowden, Cass Hetherington, Bella Stephenson, Millie White, and Sophie Williamson

U15 B team - Rose Stephenson

Tournament for the 1st XI was in Whangarei. Going in with an open mind, we just wanted to play some skillful hockey.  After a rocky start in pool play, the girls showed why we were there, playing some outstanding hockey against some of the best schools in the country. A noteworthy result was the quarter-final victory against 2017 champions, St Cuthbert's College, in a nail-biting sudden death shootout. The team was disappointed to go down in the semi-final but rallied to win the bronze medal at Federation Cup in another sudden-death shootout, this time against Villa Maria College. This being the best ever result for the Christchurch Girls’ High School 1st XI.

From the 2018 hockey leavers, we wish the future teams luck and will be following and supporting your performances, near and afar.