Chard hosted a successful junior tournament on the poignant day of remembrance Sunday. Taunton vale were the visitors bringing a strong girls team as well as a decent boys team to test our juniors.
Chard Juniors numbered 13 with a 9:4 split in favour of the girls. Our numbers included 3 under 12’s, desperate to play some competitve hockey.
Having agreed things with Vale, we went with a 10 min each way girls game first. Vale had let us know that their Girls were strong and so it proved. Chard were a bit sluggish to start with and got caught for a couple of quick goals by vale, despite the hard work of keeper Jake. Although it was a defensive operation, there were glimmers of attacking opportunities so it was not all one way traffic. We had attacking short corners as well as defensive short corners to contend with, which was great practice for everyone, unfortunately we couldn’t convert. It was a skillful Vale team and given that a lot of their team will play about 4 times a week, it is a hard lesson when we come up against good players. We have to learn to not dive in to tackle, we have to make sure we clear out the sides when we tackle in the D. And when we do have the ball we have to cherish it and not give it away.

After the girls game we all gathered in the centre to commemorate Remembrance Sunday, we were treated to Laurence Binyon’s poem, “for the fallen” read by Captain Louisa Frayne, followed by a 2 minute silence, which did coincide with the town hall clock.
We followed up with the Vale boys versus a mixed chard team. This was another defeat but we did score a goal this time and we did have further opportunities so it was not all one way traffic. I was really pleased that the girls were happy to sub in and compete with the boys.
After the boys game we introduced the youngsters to a full pitch for 20 minutes. It was a bit frenetic at times and we were on the back foot for a lot of it. The step up from half pitch matches to full pitch matches is a fairly big leap. At times it can be like bees round a honey pot, but at the end of the day it is all a learning curve. For us all!

Thanks to all the parents who make sure the children can take part and support the club.

A massive thank you to or club members without whom these events would not be possible. Tom, Spud, James, Paul and Lyndsay (and Wilf who looked keen to get stuck in as soon as he can!)

Well done everyone!