Year 12 pupils Amelie, Sasha and Alice from Year 13, have won the under 18 Copper Box Hockey finals with their club Knole Park.
The competition, held at Copperbox Indoor Arena, is widely regarded as Indoor Hockey UK’s most prestigious event. Although just a one day event, it is seen as a highlight in the indoor hockey calendar and an event that many clubs look forward to competing in due to the high standard of play and the experience of playing in such a great venue.
The pressure was on as HC Knole Park had already won golds in other age groups and fortunately they didn’t disappoint. In the group stages, the team played with skill and precision against Surbiton and Epsom in round one and then Canterbury and Cheltenham in round 2.
With 3 out of 4 wins, the team were placed in a new group for the medal matches. In the first match, a win against Sevenoaks (4-0) in a very lively and fast match, meant the girls were guaranteed to win silver or gold. The final match against Surbiton was end to end drama as both teams knew the gold medal was on the line. A last minute goal for Surbiton made it 2-2 meaning the girls had to wait to see the result of the Sevenoaks v Surbiton match before knowing their position. A 3-3 draw meant Knole Park were crowned champions!
“Amelie was on fire in front of the goal scoring 13 times. Sasha’s relentless energy in midfield created lots of goal scoring opportunities setting up many of Amelie’s goals and Alice’s strong, brave defending denied many team’s opportunities to score goals. I am very proud of them all and wish them much success in their upcoming National Schools finals for Bromley High School in Nottingham in February”.Duncan Parnis, Lead Coach at HC Knole Park