Australian Under 15 hockey champion sets sites on under 18 state championships

Gerringong’s Mackenzie Ford, who played a crucial role in the NSW girls tournament victory at the Australian Under 15 Championships will join the Illawarra girls team in Newcastle this weekend.

Sam Wright-Smith, Scott Crisafi and Dylan Simmons will head to Bathurst next weekend after their bronze-medal winning performance for the boys side.

The NSW girls team entered Friday’s final as underdogs, however they looked headed towards the upset victory when they led 1-0 late in the match.

It was not to be a simple path to victory, though, with a 70^th minute goal to Victoria sending the match to a penalty shootout. NSW won the shootout 4-3.

Ford said it was a tense finish to the match, but she was ecstatic to get the win alongside a number of girls from the team that fell to Victoria in the under 13s final two years ago.  

“It was very exciting to win the final, but also very nerve-racking,” Ford said. “It was stressful, but we were also able to stay calm and take our time and maintain control during the shoot out.”

The NSW boys team claimed a 3-1 victory over Victoria in the bronze medal match with the team controlling the game from the start.

Amie Simmons, Dylan’s mother, said the boys were extremely pleased to take home the bronze medal. 

“The Illawarra boys did really well all week,” Simmons said. “They were very unlucky not to finish top of their pool. They were the best defensive side all tournament, only five goals got past them. 

“They were stoked to come third. These boys have played together for a couple of years now, they welcomed Scott who debuted for NSW State and he scored on debut which was fantastic.”

Ford will finish off a busy month when she represents Illawarra at the Under 15s State Championships on the final weekend of May in Grafton.