HOCKEY: Waide and Mitchell finish season with a flourish

Waide was part of the Junior Ulster squad, while Mitchell linked up with the Ulster Under-17s.

Mitchell’s Ulster Under-17 involvement has been promoted through her school, Carrick Grammar, and the talented youngster has most certainly made the most of her opportunity.

“Chloe’s had an excellent season with our club,” said Carrick Ladies’ president Peter Stevenson. “It certainly came as no surprise to us that Carrick Grammar had put her forward for representative honours. She has tremendous potential and this type of experience representing Ulster will be invaluable in her continuing development. When she moves beyond schoolgirl hockey, Carrick Ladies will most certainly do everything it can to assist Chloe in furthering her Ulster career wherever possible.”

Waide, while still only 26, is already a seasoned campaigner for Ulster and this year’s Interprovincial Tournament was her fourth year representing her Province.

“Christine’s outstanding hockey skills have, of course, been well known to the Ulster selectors for a number of years now,” added Peter. “We’ve virtually come to expect her interprovincial call-up every year. But Christine herself certainly doesn’t ever take selection for granted and she has worked tremendously hard all year to maintain and improve her fitness and to continually develop her hockey skills.

“This year, indeed, was even more notable than usual for Carrick Ladies as, in addition to Christine, we had no fewer than three other of our first team squad make it through to the final selection process for the Ulster Juniors: Lois Passmore, Julie Oliver, and Kerry McIlroy. This was an excellent achievement for a Senior Two club.”

Ulster’s Junior Women’s squad, with Christine Waide playing in every match, enjoyed a hugely successful weekend at the Interprovincial Tournament ending up as Irish champions and in the process completing a comprehensive white-wash by defeating all four of their opponents, Munster, Leinster, Connacht, and South-East.

The triumphant Ulster team scored an impressive 15 goals in their four matches, while conceding none. And to the delight of Carrick Ladies, Waide’s name appeared on the scoresheet against both Connacht and Munster.

“It’s a wonderful position for Carrick Ladies to be in to have two Ulster representative players in our ranks,” concluded Peter, “with both Chloe and Christine having performed superbly for our first-team during what has been a highly successful season for us. Between them they’ve scored a remarkable 37 goals for the first-team, and they’ve developed an almost telepathic understanding on the pitch. With Chloe still only 16 and Christine just getting better and better every year, there’s lots more to come from both of them and there certainly can’t be a more effective striking partnership in the entire Senior League when both players are on form.”