It might've been a heart-breaking ending for Indoor Hockey Orange in the under 15s state titles, but the positives are endless.
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Goulburn ultimately came away winners in the 15s girls, but Orange's rise to division one was something to be proud of.
The top tier included teams from various metro areas such as Sydney South, Northern Sydney & Beaches, Metro South West, North West Sydney and Newcastle. Other teams filtered out through division two and three.
Ultimately, playing for a country town was the way to go and Orange Hockey president Scott Hanrahan was delighted with the achievement.
"This team has been together for about three or four years now and we're starting to see the benefit of that and the work that's gone in from other coaches, players and people like that who have helped us on the way," he said.
"Division one, it's pretty incredible."
Along with the satisfaction of finishing with a finals appearance, Orange were able to do it on its home court at PCYC.
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The under 15s tournament had over 50 teams converge on the colour city and will welcome more players again from November 25 for the under 13s state championship.
Hanrahan was proud of how well his association presented its town.
"From Orange Hockey Association we're really proud to have every come out to Orange and see what Orange is about," he said.
"It's good to have a tournament on our own pitch and showcase what we've got and I think the girls and everyone in the association represented us well.
"Everyone from the volunteers in the canteen, people setting up, cleaning up and packing up, the people you don't see, we had heaps of those, and couldn't have done it without them."
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