Strong mix of youth and experience headlines Lower Great Southern Hockey Association at country championships

The Lower Great Southern Hockey Association will be out for redemption in their bid to win the CBH Group Women’s Country Championships in Perth this weekend. The division-one squad fell narrowly short of title glory in last year’s grand final against Bunbury with this year’s 14-strong squad featuring returning senior mainstays Beck and Sarah Gallimore along with a host of young talent. Corline Le Grange, Georgie Powis, Georgina Lillford and Chloe Bunny all come into the side as new inclusions from last year while returning youngsters Tess Wood and Lauren Spinks will also feature. LGSHA coach Darren Parkes will take charge of the division-one team and said he was looking forward to a new set of challenges. “We’ve got a couple of fresh faces and some returning from their time out from the game which is good to see,” he said. “Bunbury will always be a challenge, they’ve got a strong competition and can pull a lot of players from different areas so they’ll definitely be a keen one to keep an eye on. “You never really know who is coming back and who you’ll be up against, it’s a bit of the unknown as always. “It probably hasn’t been the greatest lead up due to poor weather but we’ve managed to get a few games in which is more than last year. “The message is just to learn from our mistakes last year. “We’ll take what we learnt out of those and what we learnt last time out and try to move forward. “Some of the experienced players will play those key roles and sort of let the kids do the running and work on scoring a few more goals this time around.” The other teams in the division-one competition are Geraldton, Upper Great Southern and Bunbury. The division-one team play their first game against Geraldton on Friday at 12.35pm, followed by a clash with Upper Great Southern at 6.05pm. On Saturday the LGSHA will play Bunbury at 10.45am. Two semifinals will be played between the first-placed team and the fourth-placed team as well as the second-placed and third-placed squad. The winners of those games will advance to the grand final played at 1.40pm on Sunday, while a third-place playoff will be contested by the losers of the semifinals earlier in the day at 9.05am. The tournament, played across the three days, will feature five divisions, plus two masters grades. LGSHA are also sending a team in the division three (pool B) competition as well as the masters division two category. You can watch all the action from field one, live and exclusive every day, at Streamer.com.au. Lower Great Southern Hockey Association division one women’s team Annie Judd, Beck Gallimore, Casey Gabriel, Charlotte Powis, Chloe Bunny, Corline Le Grange, Georgie Powis, Georgina Lilford, Jaimee Shannon, Lauren Spinks, Michelle Ericsson, Sarah Gallimore, Tallullah Gouldthorp, Tessa Wood.