GALLERY: 40+ photos from Queensland Hockey Championships in Gympie

They had to brave seemingly endless question marks due to Covid-19 and inclement weather, but the Gympie & District Hockey Association rallied to host a cracking Under 13 Girls State Championships carnival on Power Rd over the last four days.

Gympie hosted the 2021 Under 13 Girls State hockey championships over the last four days, with Brisbane teams taking out two of the three division titles. Aryel Bisseling (left) of Brisbane 1 flies down the right hand side. Pictures: Josh Preston

They had to brave seemingly endless question marks due to Covid-19 and inclement weather, but the Gympie & District Hockey Association rallied to host a cracking Under 13 Girls State Championships carnival on Power Rd over the last four days.

Relying on a strong contingent of volunteers working tirelessly behind the scenes, the Gold City hosted 29 teams, 400+ players and supporters for Hockey Queensland’s Under 13 Girls State Championships from Sunday (July 4) to Wednesday (July 7), when Brisbane teams collected two out of the three tournament trophies.

GALLERY: 40+ photos from State Hockey Championships in Gympie

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It was an all-capital city grand final in Division 1, which saw Brisbane 1 triumph 3-1 over Brisbane 2 on the strength of two goals from Lily Punch, both of which came in the final quarter.

Chloe D’Hage added to Brisbane 1’s scoresheet, while Charlotte Butler was able to find the back of the net for the losing side.

But it was the valiant effort in goal from Brisbane 2 goalkeeper Samantha Dyson that earned her the coveted Player of the Match award.

In Division 2 it was Brisbane 3 with a 2-1 grand final win over Townsville, while Warwick beat Redlands 2-1 to take the Division 3 crown.

GDHA president Brian Parker said it was largely the strength of volunteers that helped get the carnival over the line, after a Queensland Covid-19 crisis plunged it into significant doubt just days away from the action.

“There was uncertainty about how many teams would be able to attend if we did go ahead, and then it came down to the Brisbane area that remained in lockdown,” Parker said.

“We had just over 400 kids from all 29 teams who competed, and we had a lot of parents on the Sunday who were able to travel to Gympie.

“Everyone was happy, there were a lot of positive comments from parents.

“We had a couple of working bees beforehand where volunteers really come out of the woodwork to help out.

“We were able to get all the facilities looking good, running the canteen, setting up the tents and then pulling them down again at the end of the day, it was amazing.

“It was a tremendous job to have all the volunteers there to help.”

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Parker said the GDHA was also thankful to the Gympie Regional Council for its support of the carnival, and pointed out the benefits to the region of having over 400 players and supporters spending money in the area.

Further north in Townsville, the Gympie Under 13 Boys squad did the region proud in taking out the Division 2 championship with a 5-1 win over Warwick.

Captain, leading scorer and player of the tournament Cody Fitzpatrick was outstanding in the decider, netting four of the Gold City’s five goals.

“They had a great win, they scored an enormous amount of goals, I think it was about 42 in four games with only one goal against them,” Parker said.

“They came away winning Division 2, which was outstanding.”

Click the link above to view all the best photos from the final day of action in Gympie on Wednesday (July 7).

Originally published as GALLERY: 40+ photos from Queensland Hockey Championships in Gympie