Ipswich club’s junior talent enjoys first title success of season

A-Grade players helping future stars enjoy their hockey and the winning feeling. Read about the formula that is working.

The undefeated Wests D Grade hockey side that won the latest mid-season final.

DELIGHTED with her young team's latest mid-season final success, A Grade player Georgia Stenzel is also benefiting.

The Wests D-Grade girls co-coach was proud of her under-13 side which remained unbeaten after their 2-1 win over Easts at the Ipswich Hockey Complex.

Striker Monique Doyle scored both goals to help her team secure the mid-season title.

"They are a really happy bunch,'' Stenzel said, in her second year coaching.

"I try to keep it as fun as possible for them and that seems to work well.''

The Wests' girls, aged 11-13, have come up through the club's junior ranks.

That includes a few older girls that Stenzel coached last year to the grand final where they finished runners-up.

"So they have worked harder to get the mid-season this year,'' Stenzel said. "They are going really well.''

Stenzel's co-coach is A-Grade teammate Sarah Donnelley, a partnership that is also assisting the aspiring teacher's hockey development.

"It's really good,'' Stenzel said.

"It helps me understand what I do on the field as well as paying attention to watching from the outside perspective as well as playing.

"It's helping my game a lot.''

She plans to study teaching next year at university.

The Wests A-Grade women continued their recent progress over the weekend, beating Swifts 3-0.

"We're just getting our touch back in, working together because it's a bit of a new team in A-Grade,'' Stenzel said. "We're going good.''

Stenzel, 19, is one of the loyal and talented players who has been with Wests since she was five.

She regularly plays in a striker role.

With former state teammates Amy Kickbusch (nee Korner) and Amy Nicholls (nee Chalk) returning in recent weeks, Stenzel welcomed the steadying influences.

"They have both come back now and it has just really helped us,'' Stenzel said.

"That's what we were missing at the start of the season.

"It's good to get those older, experienced players back in.''

EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Sharpshooter lifts team

The return of senior player Amy Nicholls is helping Wests’ talented teenagers.

In the other A-Grade women's match, Hancock Brothers retained top spot with a 3-0 win over Thistles.

Profke brothers Riley and Zac scored seven of their team's 10 goals in Norths' latest shutout of Easts.

The Hancocks men held out Wests 4-1.

REBUILDING FOCUS: Magpies men keen to rise

In the other mid-season final played over the weekend, Easts beat Thistles 3-1 in the E-Grade girls competition.

STATE OF PLAY

Ipswich Hockey Association Inc

Men's and boys results May 28-30

A Grade: Norths 10 (Riley Profke 4; Zac Profke 3; Dean Jeffreys; Cale O'Borne, Kyle Jackson) d Easts 0; Hancock Brothers 4 (Nathan Smith 2, Ryan Smith, James McAlpine) d Wests 1 (Trent Davison).

Reserve Grade: Wests 5 (C Jaenke 3, M Wiseman, M Thomas) d Hancock Brothers 3 (R Jackwitz 2, J Burns); Norths 1 (L Brown) d Easts 0.

R2 Grade: Wests 5 (L Alchin 2; D Goodwin 2; S Meredith) d Norths 3 (T Ross 2; B McCarroll); Easts Gold 3 (R Pickering, A Hanson, L Savage) d Bellbowrie 0; Hancock Brothers 6 (J Burns 4, S Jackwitz, P Dawson) d Easts Black 2 (P Malcolm, Z Chetham).

A2 Grade: Easts 3 (J Flemming; J Barnes; T Cook) d Swifts 2 (C Meloury 2); Northern Strikers 1 (A Woods) drew Hancock Brothers 1 (D Howells).

J1 Grade: Norths 2 (F Johnson; A Cleary) d Bellbowrie 1 (J Kelly); Hancock Brothers 8 (S Jackwitz 3, M Victor, W McCormick, O Reed, M Hogan, C Fox-White) d Wests 0.

J2 Grade: Easts Black 1 (C Lang) drew Norths 1 (K Parlett); Easts Gold 4 (S Ackerman 3; T Campbell) d Wests 0.

Women's and girls results May 28-30

A Grade: Wests 3 (Amy Kickbusch 2, Amy Nicholls) d Swifts 0; Hancock Brothers 3 (Laya Eleison, Genieve Ferguson, Kaylee Armstrong) d Thistles 0.

Reserve Grade: Bellbowrie 0 drew Swifts 0; Wests 4 (A Vantaggiato, J Nicholls, L McKimmon, R Hughes) d Thistles 1 (A Silcock); Norths 4 (E Bartlam 3, S Parlett) d Hancock Brothers 2 (J Rew, H Grieve).

R2 Grade: Bellbowrie Green 1 (C Casey) drew Easts 1 (B Barrett); Norths 5 (R Abbott 2, L O'Connor 2, B Ellison) d Swifts 1 (A Pascoe); Veterans 7 (S Ashton 5, S Francis, S Collins) d Bellbowrie Gold 1 (C Murren).

A2 Grade: Veterans 3 (T Sallaway 2, K Pudwell) d Bellbowrie 2 (M Lizarazu; H Randall); Wests 4 (A Follett 2, P Timperley, M Doyle) d Swifts 1 (S Brown); Thistles 7 (K Dutney 2, L Harris 2, C Liddell 2, L Steele) d Hancock Brothers 0.

C Grade: Swifts 6 (G Dombrowski, S Baldwin, K Petersen, A Wells, A Pascoe, A Harris) d Thistles/Hancocks 0; Northern Strikers 2 (E Noga) d Easts 0.

D Grade: Mid-Season final - Wests 2 (M Doyle 2) d Easts 1 (G Batten); Hancock Brothers 3 (D Mole; H Langdon Laurie; M Brown) d Swifts 1 (T Scaroni).

E Grade: Mid-Season final - Easts 3 (J Hansen, E Denton, C Cappelano) d Thistles 1 (A Joylie); Norths 7 (R Jones 7) d Wests 0; Swifts 3 (G Meloury 2, L Halls) d Hancock Brothers 0.

Originally published as Ipswich club’s junior talent enjoys first title success of season