Lithgow’s Emily Thompson has brought home gold for NSW at the under 15s indoor hockey championships held in Goulburn on January 16 to January 20, where NSW remained undefeated.
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The Lithgow Panther managed to make the top ten goal scorers of the tournament, hitting the back of the net a total of five times over five days of hockey.
Although the midfielder and striker is no stranger to national competitions (most recently she represented NSW at December’s Pacific School Games) she said returning to play indoor with NSW was exciting.
Last year she played with South Australia in the under 15s indoor nationals, improving her range.
“Playing for NSW is always a privilege. I really enjoyed playing with the under 15s NSW indoor hockey team," she said.
“The weather was very hot in Goulburn reaching a high of 39.”
NSW came away undefeated over the seven matches of the championships.
Emily locked away five goals over the tournament, two in a solid 4-0 victory over Western Australia in the early rounds.
In NSW’s semi-final against the ACT Emily opened scoring, converting a penalty corner into her team’s first goal of the match. Her teammate Lara Watts backed it up with two more. ACT only made the scoreboard in the final minutes of the game, securing a 3-1 win for the blues.
NSW’s grand final against Queensland followed a similar pattern with the opposition scoring its first and only goal in the middle of the second-half, leading to another comfortable win by NSW 3-1.
“Throughout the tournament I played striker,” Emily said.
“Playing Queensland in the final was always going to be a tough one but we came away with a good win.”
Before heading to Goulburn for the tournament Emily said she had been training hard by herself over summer. Lithgow currently does not have an indoor competition.
“Indoor hockey is very fast and played low so it’s essential to be very fit,” she said.
Lithgow’s Amelia Leard was also named among the top-scorers of the open women’s tournament at the indoor nationals.