Northern Sydney & Beaches won a third straight Kim Small Shield in Tamworth on Monday, but didn’t just stop at the one trophy.
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The Sydneysiders also won B Division, to do the double.
North West Sydney meanwhile claimed a second York Cup in three years, edging out Central Coast Blue.
The final game determined the winners in both A Division competitions, with the Northern Sydney girls just pipping Grafton Red.
Dubbo were runners-up in B Division, while Coffs Coast (2) took the honours in the York Cup B Division from newcomers Gloucester.
The 15th carnival drew a record 46 teams, and carnival patrons Michael York and Kim Small were again impressed by what they witnessed over the three days.
“From what I’ve seen there is such promising junior talent coming through,” she remarked at the presentation.
She elaborated that in the final girl’s game between Grafton Red and Sydney East some of the stick work and skills the girls showed were “beyond their years”.
The 1988 Olympian hadn’t been for a couple of years and was really pleased to see how much the tournament, the focus of which is heavily on development, not just for the players but also coaches and umpires, has grown.
She said the main thing she hopes they take away from the weekend is enjoyment.
“And I think if they learnt one thing over the weekend that will be positive for their hockey,” Small said.
There was a special moment for York with the Tamworth Purple side, of which niece Kendra Fitzpatrick was a part of, winning the Barbara York award.
Introduced last year in honour of York’s mum Barbara, the award acknowledges the team that, as tournament convenor Graeme McKenzie described it ‘best exhibits the characteristics expected of teams playing at the carnival’.
Fiztpatrick also won the Tamworth Purple’s award for the carnival, a ball signed by York, Small and Australian U21s rep Sam Liles. Philippa Matheus received the ball for the Tamworth Blue girls, Gabbie Groth the Yellow, Isabella Bolsom the Red and Portia Jeffrey the Green, while Ollie Burrows earned the Green boys’ award, Thomas Clark the White and Jack Marshall the Frogs’.