European Indoor Club Championship, France – England end up with bronze – Hockey Update
The European Indoor Club Championship was a three-day tournament held in Abbeville, France during the beginning of March 2011.
England managed to record three wins, one tie and a loss, getting them off the chase for the gold medal and also ruling them out for the next season’s Championship.
Chloe Rogers from England’s club Leicester Ladies ended up as the top scorer with a total of 11 goals in five games. She said, “It was a good weekend and it was nice to win a team medal and also pick up an individual award for top goal scorer which doesn’t
happen very often so it was pleasing to have a good tournament and managed to put the ball in the net a few times.”
The 11 total goals brilliantly shot by her in the five matches include the first four scored in the first match of Leicester defeating Belgian club ARA Le Gantoise 8-3.
Another two were shot against the ultimate winners of the Championship, Australia’s club SV Arminen on getting defeated with a 2-3 score. The second hat-trick was claimed on a win over the host team Abbeville 3-2.
The next goal was won in their third successive conquest over Czech’s side TJ Slavia Hradec Kralove 4-2 followed by another one scored in the match that was declared a draw with Dundee, the silver-medal winners.
They finished third just because of shortage of two goals compared to Dundee who qualified to progress towards the final against Australia.
Rogers managed to put in a tremendous performance scoring 11 goals during the European Indoor Club Championship. The irony is that her team, England could only manage to get the bronze after such a fine performance from Rogers.
It was not a surprise to see the Australian team taking the top honours, as once again they have proven their dominance in all aspects of hockey through their competitive training and player selection programs. It is interesting that more teams would be
following Australia’s example, as they manage to take the top spot in the majority of hockey tournaments on regional, national and international levels.
The Indoor Championship poses a unique opportunity for players as the weather and various pitch conditions are not a factor while playing. This can create issues for players that are not used to playing indoors and are mainly outdoor based competitors.
It will be interesting to see how England manages to develop their team further and move up the standings during the next tournament on the hockey calendar. The team will be looking to put in an improved performance as players like Rogers have the obvious
talent and competitive spirit to compete at any level.
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