TEN players from the Collie Underwater Hockey Club have recently returned from the National underwater hockey championships.
The national competition was held in Bunbury from January 4-8 and saw WA take home the overall winning shield.
Elite women’s team captain Hayley Digney said the team’s training and dedication paid off with the team going through the whole competition undefeated.
“The grand final proved to be a nail biter when, with only one and a half minutes to go, they were tied with NSW two all,” she said.
“The final goal was scored with ten seconds to go with WA winning gold 3-2.”
Mrs Digney said whilst it might sound like we had it easy winning every game, it's hard work.
“The mental fatigue of getting ready for each game, dealing with nerves and adrenalin plus the physical demand of playing at one hundred per cent is draining,” she said.
Having been selected for the world competition Masters team which will travel to South Africa at the end of March, Mrs Digney said she is looking forward to taking some time out.
“I'm looking forward to a few days rest before getting back into training for worlds," she said.
Elite men’s team member Scott Digney said the men's grand final was another nail biter.
“Tasmania and WA were tied 2 all at full time,” he said.
“This lead to extra time where Tasmania dug deep to score the winning goal.”
“The country masters played an excellent tournament ending up with a silver
medal.”
“The only team to defeat them was WA's own Metro Masters team; Chad Mitchell played a fantastic game and was awarded the Most Valuable Player award.”
Coach Kade Digney said he was impressed with the skills on show in the competition.
"I was most impressed with Chads intensity and efforts on the puck,” he said.
“It’s great to see all his hard work rewarded with an excellent tournament and winning the award, he certainly deserves it."
Maggie Biffin was in the under 19 Women’s team who went through the competition undefeated.
“My team was undefeated and didn’t have a goal scored against us the whole comp- this is
something that rarely happens in competitions like this,”
Other players from Collie who took part in the competition were; Under 15's development Fergus Scoffern, Under 19's development Shaun Hart, Country masters
Chad Mitchell (captain), Kade Digney (coach), Michael Hart who played for Queensland, Rebecca Woodman who played for New South Wales, and Annabelle Biffin who played for Queensland elite women's team.
It was Fergus’s first National competition, and although the team placed fourth he said he is determined to try out for next year’s competition.
“It was a great experience and I came away stronger, more experienced, and determined to try out for the U15 A side next year,” he said.
Country masters team captain Chad Mitchell said he was impressed with the level of players in the competition.
“These competitions make you have a good appreciation of the quality of players coming out of the South West,” he said.
