Ulster Hockey launched our inaugural Beach Hockey Championships on Saturday afternoon with 15 teams in attendance at Portstewart Strand.
The U16 competition was held in partnership with Hockey Ireland, World Beach Hockey and the National Trust and featured both a boys’ and girls’ sections.
Beach Hockey is a five-a-side format and is an alternative version of the game based on clever movement and creative play, which supports both the global development of hockey and enhances the skills and enjoyment of players.
Saturday’s competition was the first of its kind in Ulster and was structured in a round-robin format, consisting of ten-minute matches.
In the girls’ section, it was Instonians Ladies who came out on top, winning all eight of their games and pipping Coleraine to the title by three points.
The decisive game in the section came in the second round of fixtures when the Belfast side beat their nearest challengers 3-1, inflicting their only defeat of the day.
Meanwhile, the boys’ section saw Lisnagarvey crowned inaugural champions, with 22 points from their ten games, with Mossley Glade-iators coming in second place, just two points behind the eventual winners.
Like Instonians, Lisnagarvey finished the group stages unbeaten, winning six and drawing four of their games on route to lifting the trophy in Portstewart.
Also competing in the two sections were Instonians, Seahorses, Lisngarvey 2, Mossley Mavericks in the boys’ and Ballymoney, Ballymena, Randalstown, Cookstown, Larne, Ballyclare and Dungannon in the girls’.