TAMWORTH mightn’t have figured among the silverware but the York Cup and Kim Small Shield was another success on and off the field.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The host association fielded its biggest number of teams ever, with five contesting the Kim Small Shield and four the York Cup.
They formed a kaleidoscope of colours, playing under the guises of Tamworth white, green, orange, blue, red, yellow and purple.
The odd one out was the Frogs. They played in the York Cup A Division, where they were competitive, notching three 0-all draws and two 1-nil losses for the weekend.
Tamworth White was the best of the other Tamworth sides in B Division.
They had some tough results but gained a lot out of the weekend.
“The main thing is all the boys developed a huge amount over the weekend,” Tamworth junior boys’ hockey convener Justin Constable said.
“The improvement has been fantastic.”
That’s what the weekend is about, with the emphasis of the carnival on development.
Constable said it was pleasing to see the number of kids who wanted to be involved.
“We’ve done really well this year. We’ve gone from four club sides to seven,” he said.
“That’s transitioned into the York Cup.”
It’s not just about the players either. There is also a strong focus on coach and umpire development.
“We’ve got a lot of kids who are just starting umpiring,” Constable said.
“This has taken them to the next level.”
The weekend also serves as an opportunity to develop their young coaches.
Connor Campbell, Alex Taggart, Sean Aslin, Luke Maher and Luke Albertson were all involved in coaching the various sides.
It was the same with the girls, with Lori Edgar, Abby Griffiths, Millah Green, Billie Mitchell, Hanah Little, Sophie Littlejohns and Brionny Littlejohns helping out with the five sides.
Little had the Tamworth Green side.
Playing in A Division, they finished fourth but weren’t far off the mark.
“We had a couple of draws and only lost one game, and by only 1-nil,” Little said.
“I was very happy with the performance.”
“I couldn’t be prouder as a coach. They went above and beyond on the field and off it.”
“Our passing was spectacular. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the box.”
At the back, Meg Watson and Bridget Tydd got them out of a few close encounters.
She gave her ball to Watson.
“She represented what this carnival is about,” she said.
“Her development over the weekend was unbelievable.”
Each of the sides nominated a player to receive a ball.
Maddie Jones won it for the Yellow, Chloe O’Brien the Purple, Amber Saddlier the Red, Ella Marshall the Blue, Sam Griffiths the Frogs, Joey Kelly the White boys, Jack Marshall the Green boys and Jye Tanna the Orange boys.
New England also had three sides compete, with the Sky team winning the first Barbara York Team award.
Thomas Dundon won the ball for them, Emma Gray the Royals and Molly Deiderick the Roar.
Tamworth’s Chris Taggart was meanwhile named the boys’ umpire of the tournament and New England’s Zoe Davidson the girl, while Ryan Constable was the development umpire for the boys.
