![PLC Armidale's junior hockey team took out the Independent Girls' Schools Association title on Saturday. Picture supplied. PLC Armidale's junior hockey team took out the Independent Girls' Schools Association title on Saturday. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/T7RGn6Wqupu9DPpBgesVjF/02d56f92-81e0-4d14-a4f3-c9dfbd6279b9.jpeg/r0_376_4032_3028_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
PLC Armidale's junior hockey team have taken on Sydney's best for the second year in-a-row and scored yet another grand final win.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The junior girls played in the finals of the Independent Girls' Schools Association hockey tournament on Friday and Saturday at Olympic Park.
The school's senior hockey team also played in the semi-finals but bowed out there.
The juniors drew with Ascham in Friday's semi-final but, thanks to their higher ranking, they progressed to the decider on Saturday where they faced the undefeated Loretto Normanhurst side.
PLC was victorious.
They snagged two goals to Loretto's one to back up their 2022 triumph in the same tournament.
PLC's head of sport Lucy Donaldson said the side were resilient.
"The Sydney schools play every weekend. But for us to be in the competition, we have to jam it into two weekends," she said.
"It makes it harder because we are coming up against schools who are playing one game and we could be in our fourth game.
"The second game, we played the Friday night to turn up to the grand final on Saturday morning whereas Loretto were fresh. They hadn't had to play on the Friday night."
Adding to that, they had some fresh faces who came into the team this year.
There were even a few who hadn't picked up a hockey stick before.
"We had a couple of girls that were new to hockey in the team, and seeing the progression of their skills and improvement over the season, and they work really well together," Donaldson said.
"There's a lot of strength within the team but it is shared around.
"We didn't have a designated goalie so that was shared around but by the end of it one of our girls decided that was her thing. So to see her go from never being in a goalie kit to her standing there in the grand final, and doing some awesome saves was pretty awesome."
Armidale has produced outstanding hockey players throughout its history.
It makes for strong competitions all year round.
Donaldson believes this helped the girls in their inter-school success.
"That was the team we had in the local Hockey New england competition so they are playing together weekly," she said.
"And we are a strong hockey region. It is pretty special to have that."
Donaldson also said the aspect of "travelling away, staying together" makes the wins "even more memorable for them".