ORKNEY OCTOPUSH

Competitions



















Here is the lowdown on our latest competitions

click here to play video of Katy in Slovenia November 2005

Orkney Ladies come 3rd out of 8 in the 2005 UK Club Semi-Finals - making it to the Top division of the Finals

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Orkney Ladies have never achieved such a high place in this competition.  The team has been made up of mostly the same group of players for a number of years and the team have had to take 17-0 Thrashings from the SW Ladies in the past.  It seems however, that those days are gone, and Orkney Ladies is a force to be reconed with.  Their first two games they won comfortably - London Ladies and Scotland Ladies.  They then played Reading and played really well (but lost) The GB Elite players from Reading congratulated them on their improvement.  Throughout the day there were many positive comments from Refs and Opposition alike.  They ended up 3rd place - only a SW team and Reading ahead.  The next stage is June 25 - the Finals - where Orkney would be in the Top Division.

Orkney team do well at 2005 Scottish Nationals

Great Britain U19 Squad contains 10 Orkney Players

Pictures of the Great Britain Under 19 Open and Women's teams can be found on www.kenbakerphotography.com .  These are from the World Championships in New Zealand (March/April 2004)

Orkney Under 15s at Nationals in Manchester, April 2003

Under 15s @ Nationals in Manchester 03
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A young Orkney team reached the North East of England in April, to play in an Under 15s Tournament.  This young group were eager and enthusiastic, but had never played together as a team before.  However, after a tiring first half against tougher side Rochdale, Orkney started to get to grips with their opponents, and showed impressive team play.  The narrow pool was an advantage to the fast Rochdale players, as their goals were mostly breakthroughs.  A final score of 6-1 against Rochdale, and easy wins against the other teams secured Second Place for the young Orkney team.  They wished they had met Rochdale later on in the tournament, but with Second Place, and one Orkney girl winning a medal for Best Junior Girl, the team went home happy. 

Orkney Ladies return to Crystal Palace for final of BOA Club Championships - April 2003

Orcadian Pic of Girls at Crystal Palace
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Disappointed with their play in March, the Orkney Ladies Team headed down to London again in April to play in the Ladies National Club Championship Final.  With more members of their staple team than last time, the girls were in higher spirits.  Apart from the Octopush, they lapped up the Media attention from a cameraman from Channel Fours Trans-world Sport.  The girls aimed to score at least one goal in every match, and although they came sixth, they accomplished their challenge.  Last year Orkney Ladies were completely beaten by South West Ladies, and this year were beaten by exactly the same amount.  With many of the South West Ladies training regularly on the Great Britain Squad equal improvement from both teams during the year is an impressive achievement.  Doubtlessly, the Orkney Girls had improved dramatically over the course of the day defeating an Orkney Boys team at Monday nights session, which would have definitely beaten them the week before.

Under 16s in Manchester  - end of March 2003

Orcadian article
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Here's teams 2 & 3
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Orkney Ladies and Orkney men - B.O.A Club Championships - Crystal Palace - March 2003

Ladies @ BOA Club Champs March 03
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Men @ BOA club champs, London 03
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In early March, a large bus-load of Orcadians headed away on the long trip to Londons Crystal Palace.  Teams from all over the country turned up for the Mens Tournament in the morning and the Ladies in the afternoon.  Most of the players from other teams were adults, but half the Orkney side were KGS Octopush Club players. It was a hard day, with the ladies only starting to play at around 3pm, and the men almost falling off the bus into the pool.  The Ladies didnt manage to win a game, but their best moment was clinching a hard earned draw with London Ladies!  The mens games however, were more of a success story.  After a 4-2 win against Watford, they had finished in third place in their group and had a place in the play-offs.  This was something they hadnt expected!  After a hard afternoon of play-offs the Orkney men then managed to gain a place in the Second Round!  However, this was a place they had to give up, since they would have to travel back to Orkney the next morning.  The boys were far from down hearted they were now above number 20 in the UK rankings and probably too exhausted to play another day anyway.

 

Orkney Vikings in Under 18 Nationals, Manchester - Feb 03

Afra Skene, Under 18 Nationals, Manchester, Feb 03
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Under 18s in Manchester, Feb 2003
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Orkney Vikings, Manchester, U18 Feb 2003
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In late February a young Orkney team competed against the best of their age-group in the UK Under 18 Nationals in Manchester.  They were actually playing in a pool along-side the one used in the Commonwealth Games!  However, in their first game against Devon Rejects the travelling took its toll, and they lost 1:0.  As often happens with Orkney players, the team thought they could have beaten the Rejects if their match had been near the end of the tournament.  Undoubtedly, the best game of the tournament was their last - against a hybrid team called Northern Youth who had lost by the same amount as Orkney had to Devon RejectsAfter a goalless first half, Orkney came up trumps and won 2:0.  It was worth it for their British Octopush Association Silver medals!

Orkney Girls in Ladies Home International (Glasgow Dec 2002)

Scotland beat England Under 18 Ladies, Dec 02
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Pic in Orcadian - sorry for the quality!
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Scotland triumph over England, under  home waters!

 

In Early December, seven KGS girls, two Stromness Academy girls and one Ex-KGS girl travelled to Glasgow to compete in the Ladies Home International Tournament.  Despite half the team ending up lost at Ibrox Football Stadium when the rest were commencing play, it was a truly amazing day.  The stakes were high for their game against England Under 18 girls because last year they drew.  This year they drew again and had to play a play-off.  After a very tiring tournament, the team were in low spirits.  However, even after a subbing foul forcing 2 players out the waterScotland triumphed over England. 

Two Orkney Teams take part in "Highland Challenge Tournament" in Inverness.  September 2002

Orkney Team - Kev & Matt girls
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Orkney Team 2
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At the end of September 2002, many of us took part in the Highland Challenge senior tournament in Inverness - a bit closer to home than most.  This was a friendly tournament designed to give practice to us northern Octopush players who do not get down to the regular tournaments as often as we would like.  The young teams did well against older, more experienced teams like Edinburgh.

Orkney Under 16s regain their top spot in the UK - Batley - June 02

Yey!
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