Avery Kane of the junior Hornets races Kassidy Day (in blue) of the KLO Cougars during last weekend’s field hockey tournament hosted by Southern Okanagan Secondary School. In background is Hornet Riah Podmorow. Photo by Lyonel Doherty
The SOSS field hockey fall festival was held last weekend under mostly sunny skies, much to the delight of the 14 visiting teams, some of whom have been coming to Oliver for years because of the Southern Okanagan’s reputation for glorious weather.
The School District 53 maintenance crew had the fields in great condition: short, flat and safe for play.
Visiting teams from the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Kootenays and Okanagan played 11-a-side in the senior division or eight-a-side on a smaller field in the junior division.
SOSS’s senior girls defeated teams from Penticton, West Kelowna and Trail, and tied Chilliwack.
The senior girls must work very hard on their skills and team play if they want to make winning difficult for the private schools again this year, but the improvements we have seen so far this season are encouraging.
Next up for the seniors is the competitive UBC tournament on slick water-based artificial turf, a field-hockey-specific playing surface.
For the SOSS Grade 8s, this was their first time playing real games. It takes quite a bit of courage to try something new when you’re 13, and this group has plenty of “guts.”
The girls lost three out of five games, but finished with their very first win, 2-0 against Tragalgar Middle School from Nelson.
The SOSS senior field hockey team consists of: Sierra Callander, Sienna Bontorin, Rayleen Chyzzy, Sally Lee, Morgan La Rosee, Teija Anderson, Alicia Schutz, Hannah Byron, Kenzie Harrington, Selina Mason, Kali Baptiste, Tatum Brogan, Neha Chahal, Katelyn Wiens, Madelyn Bjornson, Ithaca Gill, Megan Murray, Anya Nazaroff, Loveleen Gill, and Noorat Gill.
The SOSS Grade 8 field hockey team: Jennifer Zepeda, Hailea Lysak, Sydney Meyer, Makayla Marcy, Grace Neily, Jamie Audet, Kiera Gaudet, Lauren Bjornson, Azriel Starcic, Ryan McGinnis, Autumn Pelly, Avery Kane, Madison Boen-Shekula and Riah Podmorow.
By Lesley Noftle, coach
