Wales: Let the Games Begin  x3
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| Welsh Hockey Union |
June 16, 2005
Welsh Hockey
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The Wales Ladies kick off their International Hockey programme this week, ahead of a tough summer with matches against England and Spain U-21’s supporting Senior matches against Ireland, Scotland, France and Ukraine.
The squad has been preparing for some time, but kick off the competitive phase with a three match tour to France, this weekend.
The matches will be played in Le Touquet and the schedule is as follows:
Game 1 - Friday 17 June 8.30pm
Game 2 - Saturday 18 June 2.00pm
Game 3 - Sunday 19 June 11.00am
Captain, Georgie Sharples will lead a young, but talented group, with a large contingent of players from the successful U-21 European Trophy winning team from 2004.
Four players will play for Wales at the senior level for the first time this weekend. Defender Emma Griffiths will celebrate her 19th birthday by playing her first game and will be joined by defender Elen Mumford (21), striker Sarah Sloane (19) and defender Natalie Blyth (17) who will also pull on the three feathers for the first time.
David Griffiths, Welsh Hockey Union’s National Performance Coach, is confident that the squad will give a good impression in these matches “Following the run of unbeaten matches in last years Celtic Cup, we have a new influx of younger players who will be looking to continue the improvement seen over the past few years. These matches will be an ideal opportunity for them to stake a claim for places in the European Nations tournament”.
The selected squad for France is
Sarah Ashworth Poynton
Natalie Blyth Swansea
Elen Mumford Clifton
Beth Fisher Swansea
Nia Fowler Swansea
Emma Griffiths Uni. of Birmingham
Carys Hopkins Clifton
Pippa Jones Doncaster
Ria Male (GK) Swansea
Dawn Mitchell Exmouth
Ella Rafferty Swansea
Maggs Rees (GK) Olton & WW
Georgina Sharples (C) Leicester
Delyth Sharples Hightown
Sarah Sloane Swansea
Sarah Thomas Rotterdam
Abi Welsford Clifton
Staff
Manager Andy Ible
Head Coach David Griffiths
Asst Coach Mark Hopkins
GK Coach Paddy Bingham
Physio Leighton Jones
Sports Psyc Matt Thombs
Masseuse Lucy Beim
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