They might not have won a match at the Hockey NSW Under 18 Girls State Championships over the weekend, but the Tamworth Frogs' fighting spirit earned praise from coach Helen Willis.
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After starting with a "particularly tough" 8-0 loss to eventual champions Goulburn on Friday, the Frogs also suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of North West Sydney later in the day.
But, on Saturday, the girls improved their performance and impressed Willis, who said "they never gave up fighting".
"It was a bit of a learning curve for the girls," Willis said.
"Particularly considering I think we only had three top-age girls, and the majority of the team was still eligible for the Under 15s, I thought the improvement over the weekend was pretty good.
"Especially on the second day, we had a 2-2 draw with the eventual silver medalists [Newcastle]."
That draw was followed by another narrow game against Parkes, which ended in a 4-3 defeat for Tamworth.
On Sunday, the last day of the competition, the Frogs played a relegation game against Northern Sydney and Beaches, which they lost 3-1.
This defeat means the Under 18s 1 team will play in Division Two at the next Under 18s State Championships.
"It's a bit sad," Willis said of the loss.
"But on the whole, we'll have a really young team that will take the experience from this year into next year, or at least the next couple of years."
The Tamworth 2 team, which played in Division Four, only fared slightly better with one win and five losses.
Despite their results, Willis believes her team will take invaluable lessons from their time at the championship.
Playing against top-tier sides like Goulburn and Newcastle will, she hopes, open the their eyes to what it takes to reach that level of the sport.
"Regionally, we don't have that exposure that some of the other areas have to stronger competitions like in Sydney or Newcastle," Willis said.
"So all of these experiences are really valuable for the girls that were there, and hopefully they take something away about what it takes to compete at that level."
One of the most resounding positives to emerge from the campaign, however, was the value of the team's preparation.
Trial games against the Under 15s Boys' team, Willis said, were "a really good thing for the girls".
"I think that held us in good stead."
"Training against the boys and playing against them was a really good build-up. We just need to try and work out a way that we can do that, maybe we can see whether there's a summer squad we can put together with girls that are interested."
The two Hockey New England teams had successful outings on the weekend, and finished runners-up in Division Two and Division Four.
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