The U11 and U13 girls hockey teams at St Michael's Prep school have recently become champions. After a highly successful season, we went to find out just how one school can be so successful.
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00:00 Winning a championship isn't an easy task, but for the schoolgirls here at St Michael's,
00:05 they seem to come in threes.
00:07 First, back in October, the school's under-13s became Kent champions when they beat Cranbrook
00:12 School 5-1.
00:14 Weeks later, and the under-11s squad took on the task of retaining their IAPS National
00:20 Girls Hockey Championship over in Somerset, which they duly won.
00:24 But that's not all, as just three days later, that same under-11s squad kept the winning
00:29 streak going with a trip to Canterbury, where they fought off Seven Oaks Prep 2-0 to become
00:35 county champions.
00:37 Helping them reach their win, captain Elizabeth scored more than 10 goals across both competitions,
00:42 whilst the defensive brilliance of Alex in goal saw them keep their opponents at bay.
00:48 "It was unbelievable how we'd gone from our first cool match to win the finals.
00:56 We also played a team that was, like, it's ground built and it's not even, probably takes
01:03 like 15 minutes to get there.
01:05 So we travelled all that way and played a team that's not very far away."
01:10 As for the county champion winners, the under-13s squad, their win meant their last competition
01:15 as a full group.
01:16 "We move schools next year, so we won't be in the same team, but we probably still will
01:21 play hockey."
01:22 "I think it's really nice that our last, like, proper match together and our last tournament
01:25 together is a win, so I think that's a really good thing to remember as well."
01:29 "Hockey, I think, is a really up-and-coming sport.
01:32 I think it's getting more and more exposure.
01:34 Obviously, with the success of our international teams as well, it's just becoming a high-profile
01:38 sport.
01:39 So, you know, I think there's a lot of growth for hockey and a lot of kids haven't done
01:43 it before and they're kind of like, 'Oh, hang on a minute, this is quite fun.'"
01:48 But how can one school reach such success?
01:50 Headmaster Nick Pearce believes it all comes back to the passion of the children themselves.
01:55 "Children come running into school and not want to go home at the end of the day here
01:58 at St Michael's.
01:59 We know that they love coming to school and a big part of life at school for us is sports,
02:03 you know, sports, music, drama, all of those things, the rounded education that they get
02:07 here.
02:08 So for the girls to come in and just give 100 per cent in their sports, you know, every
02:11 morning, they come in, I mean, look at it, it's raining, they don't care, they just want
02:14 to be out playing and enjoying it."
02:16 So from county champions to the top of the national pile, the three-pronged success of
02:22 St Michael's Hockey Department is sure to live in the top shelf of memories for years
02:27 to come.
02:28 Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Ottford.
02:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]