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. 

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.

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!

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.