A group of four female South Surrey hockey players are part of a U15 squad headed to provincials in Richmond.
The players, who play with the Grandview Heights Hockey Academy as well as the U15 Surrey Falcons A1 squad, are playing for the female championship at Richmond's Minoru Arena from March 20-23, with their first game starting at 3:30 p.m. Thursday (March 20).
"They've had a good season — the girls (came) together early," head coach Ryan Weber said, noting about half the team are "first years" and half, more experienced second-year players. "The coaching staff came into this season with some goals to set for the team ... we wanted to be competitive, we wanted to be top four or five in our group, and qualifying for playoffs was something we wanted."
Qualifying for provincials was "kind of that long, lofty goal," he noted.
"Then, as the girls worked really hard and picked up the systems we've been teaching them and working together as a group, provincials became more of a clear goal for us," Weber shared.
"I'm really proud of where the girls have come from. We've got a good leadership group of 2010s (who have) kind of led the way, and a really strong grouping of 2011s, or first years, who've complemented that group really well and learned with a really aggressive learning curve."
