Orange has taken out the under 13s boys division two NSW indoor hockey championship title after a dominant finals display.
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The side stepped up in front of a home crowd with both the under 13s boys and girls tournaments being held at the Orange PCYC for the second year running.
On their way to the final they finished unbeaten atop the ladder before defeating North West Sydney 6-0 in the quarter-final, Sydney East 6-0 in the semi-final and overcoming Coffs Coast 4-2 in the decider on Monday, November 13.
Coach Matt Showels praised his side's ability to work as a team over the three day carnival.
"It was a fantastic weekend of hockey, the boys played so well as a team," he said.
"Our strikers Jack, Toby, Frazer, Boots and Lewy were brilliant in attack and our defence played so strong as a unit, putting our opposition under pressure from the first game and not letting up.
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"Our defence of Miles, Spence and Aiden were super strong throughout the tournament combining so well with Bray our goalkeeper.
"To only have six goals scored against us is an incredible result for our guys. Our team was lead brilliantly by captain Miles."
Showels said they could take the confidence from their unbeaten run into the first division in 2024 after their promotion.
"Overall, to go through the tournament undefeated is something the boys are to be very proud of," he said.
"Looking forward to the step up to division one next year. Bring on 2024."
Girls push eventual champions all the way
Orange entered three teams in the under 13s girls grades with the first division side facing off against the state's elite players.
Despite not winning a game, coach Ally Cook said she was proud of the team's growth especially in a close 3-2 loss to eventual champions Newcastle.
"We were in division one so there was some pretty tough competition," she said.
"Unfortunately we didn't come away with a win but we had a few close games where we only lost by one. One of those games was against Newcastle who ended up topping our pool, they were definitely the best team on our side of the draw.
"Most of the big associations train and play together regularly whereas Orange we get a bunch of girls together from different teams and we have to adapt quickly.
"It's also been nice to play at home, it's a nice break from having to travel."
The girls division two and three teams also both finished fourth in their pools while the boys division three side finished sixth.
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