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Riverside Lions took 7 junior teams to Bunbury over the June long weekend for the 20th Annual Bunbury Junior Hockey Carnival

The weekend tournament provides a wonderful opportunity for our juniors to play hockey and socialise with players from their own club and others.  The weekend saw mixed results in the scorelines, but without exception, some great hockey and a fantastic venue in which to practice skills, try new team plays and hone teamwork.

For some teams the return to grass fields presented a challenge, particularly in dealing with the bumpy terrain of Hay Park, however this surely can only improve the stick skills of our players when they return to our local grounds and turf.  The weekend also allowed our players the chance to watch other teams (including our own clubs) and pick up some valuable pointers.  I was particularly impressed with the wisdom shown by some of the boys in commenting that "the girls never question the umpires", and "actually listen to the coach".

The teams stayed at the Performing Arts Centre of Australind Senior High School along with a number of supervising parents from YMCC and Riverside Lions.  While it may have been a challenge to get excited kids to sleep, they were, on the whole, very well behaved - a credit to their parents.

A particular thank you goes out to all of the parents who drove buses, supervised the children, got them to and from games on time and coached and managed the teams.  Thank you also to the many parents who travelled to Bunbury to support their children.

If you have photos of other teams at this carnival that you would like to include in this article, we'd love to receive them.