Two full days of hockey for our East Lothian clubs, over 200 players take to Meadowmill mid June.
The weekend of Saturday 17th June and Sunday 18th June saw the annual East Lothian hockey festival at Meadowmill. This is the first time the event has run over two days -testimony to just how much hockey is being played in East Lothian and for the first time we had our U8 age group and U14s. It is a culmination of all the festivals and fixtures that the junior clubs participate in throughout the year. Also for the third year running, and back with much excitement we held our Senior 7s event.
The Saturday morning saw seven U8 teams and seven U10 teams come together to play a morning of hockey on the astro pitch. The sun shone and parents and families cheered the kids as they played back to back games. Meadowmill Tigers took the U8 trophy, with Gullane in second place and Haddington in third place. Next up were our East Lothian 10s. There was much excitement and a fabulous standard of hockey from these young players. Meadowmill and Haddington were joint first, with Gullane in 3rd place. Both Meadowmill and Haddington were unbeaten - well done to both teams.
After the junior tournament in the morning and following on from the success of the mixed senior tournament last year at the East Lothian Community Sport Hub Games, nine teams came together in the afternoon to compete against each other. The teams came from North Berwick, Gullane, Ross High and Dunbar, with ages ranging from 14 years old to 50, a mixture of regular league players and adults who haven’t played for quite a few years. Lots of exciting hockey and a fantastic friendly atmosphere. Fidra Dandelions and Gullane joint winners of the 2017 East Lothian Seniors.
Sunday morning the clubs were back with different age groups. In a fiercely contested U12 tournament Dunbar came out on top after winning all of their games. Joint second place were Gullane and Meadowmill and Haddington in third palce. Medals galore! It was a fantastic day with the sun shining and huge support from the crowds.
To end the fun packed day and what is turning into a customary event at the tournament, Susie Walker (temporary Hockey Development Coordinator) was very proud to welcome six new players into the East Lothian performance programme, PAiS (Performance Athletes in School) for the next academic year. Each athlete was presented with a hockey stick or bag. Congratulations to Louise Maguire, Alistair Duncan, Rory Steedman, Adam Collins, Murray Banks and Mabel Sangster. Well done.
Look forward to seeing everyone back next year.
