It has been three weeks of continued successes for the King’s Bruton Indoor Hockey teams, with three teams qualifying for the Regional Finals. Both the U16 and U18 Girls' teams have become the Somerset County Champions in the same year which is the first time the School has achieved this feat. Equally, the U16 Boys' Team played very well to come runners-up and so qualify for the Regionals to compete for a place at the National Finals.

The Regional Finals were a very competitive affair for the girls, with the U16 Boys' Tournament yet to be played at the time of writing. The U16 Girls' Team competed very well in their Regional Tournament as they won their pool, defeating Exeter School 1-0, Prior Park 5-0 and Cheltenham Ladies College 2-1 to set up a semi-final with Blundell’s. With qualification for the National Finals on the line, this match proved to be a step too far for this young side. However, the squad can be very proud of their efforts and should take huge confidence from the fact that most of the squad are still U16 next season.

Having won their county tournament, defeating Millfield 2-0 in the final, the U18 Girls (pictured) were confident as they looked to become the first ever Girls’ U18 indoor team to qualify for a National Final. They won their pool fairly comfortably, beating Exeter School 3-0, Taunton School 2-1, KES Bath 4-0 and Cheltenham College 6-2 to set up a semi-final versus Millfield in what was a repeat of the county final. In the semi-final, Millfield raced into a 3-0 lead and thought they had the match won. However, the King’s girls demonstrated their great self-belief as they brought the score back to 3-3 before winning on penalty strokes in dramatic fashion to qualify for the final and secure Nationals qualification. The final versus Dean Close was a closely fought match which yet again went down to penalty strokes, with King’s coming out victorious to secure the U18 Girls’ Regional Indoor title. This means that they can look forward to the National Finals at Bromsgrove on the 13^th/14^th January 2018.

I am really proud of the efforts of all our indoor squads this season and am delighted with the progress they have made. It is wonderful to see that they have been rewarded for their efforts. 

Henry Eriksson - Director of Hockey