AS perennial women’s Premier League Hockey grand finalist Bathurst City prepares to open its 2017 campaign this Saturday, it is with the knowledge that three experienced players have returned to bolster the ranks.
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Defender Andrea Seymour plus strikers Jess Hotham and Kelsey Willott have joined the Lisa Quinn coached outfit. All three have representative experience.
“I feel like we’ve gained this year. I feel like we are a stronger squad this year than what we were when we started last year,” coach Lisa Quinn said.
“We started to train in January, then we backed it off a little bit because we didn’t want to peak too early. We put the pump down again about eight weeks ago, we put the foot to the pedal again.”
But just as City has gained playing talent, so too has its rival for this Saturday.
Orange team Confederates has also added experience and began its campaign last week with a 2-1 win over Souths. Quinn was impressed by what she saw in a pre-season trial between the pair as well.
“They’ve definitely improved with the players that they’ve gained, there’s no doubt in my mind that they will be the dark horse this year,” she said.
“They’ve trained really hard in the off-season, they are fit, young, willing to work hard and willing to fight hard.
“They will be hard to beat this season. But we’ve got the players to match them and we’ve also got experience up our sleeve.”
Saturday’s match starts at 3.30pm in Parkes.