SUNDAY lived up to its name as the rays beamed through on the bright prospects of Wiltshire junior hockey at the Devizes Leisure Centre.
Devizes Hockey club played host to this season's second Wiltshire mini hockey tournament, and after a wet Saturday, organisers expected the weather to affect play, but the sun shone through strongly.
The event was deemed a success by organisers as parents turned out in force to watch their children compete. With coaches, players and parents, more than 250 people attended the event.
Organiser and Devizes senior player Andrew Eustace thought that the whole day was fantastic. He said: "We were lucky with the weather, it was well attended and everyone involved enjoyed the day's play.
"It was pleasing at the end when parents came up to congratulate me for a job well done. This tournament has been difficult to organise but as gone off without a hitch."
Eustace thinks that this tournament shows how far youth hockey in Wiltshire has progressed. He said: "This is the second of this season's monthly events and shows how much grass roots hockey is growing."
The competition was held at Devizes Leisure centre where 15 teams from five clubs took part in four age groups, the U11A, U11B, U13 boys and U13 girls. Each team had just seven members, teams do not have full sides until U16 level.
Each age group had four teams competing and was played on a round robin basis. The U11 groups had mixed teams where the U13 had a separate competition for the boys and the girls.
The U11A title which is for experienced club players was taken by Chippenham. They beat their nearest rivals Devizes by two points.
The Devizes U11A coach Steven Wells was impressed with his players. He said: "The whole team had a great day. We were unlucky to lose but my team have shown great potential. Most of my players are only nine and were beating kids that were older than them. They have done themselves proud today."
Chippenham also took the honours in the U11 B division in a close contest. This B division was set up to give less experience players a chance to compete in a tournament.
Chippenham were on level points with West Wilts as they drew against each other and both had convincing wins over Devizes and Swindon. Chippenham had a superior goal difference and took the title.
Marlborough stole the show in the U13 groups by taking both titles.
In the boys group, Marlborough were involved in the closest contest of the day with the lads from Swindon.
The teams drew with each other and won their other games to end up level on points. They even scored the same amount of goals, which meant that the champions would be decided on goals scored against. Swindon conceded three throughout the day where Marlborough only let in two to win the competition.
The girls group was a more straightforward affair. The team from Marlborough notched up victories over Devizes and West Wilts to take the division.
Roll of honour
Under 11 A:
Winners: Chippenham
Runners up: Devizes
Under 11 B:
Winners: Chippenham
Runners up :West Wilts
Under 13 Boys:
Winners: Marlborough
Runners up: Swindon
Under 13 Girls:
Winners: Marlborough
Runners up: Devizes
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