On Sunday, Aug. 13, 10 girls from the Boothbay Region Elementary School field hockey team played in and won the first-ever Stixs Out Tournament hosted by Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. Other teams competing were two Troy Howard teams, Skowhegan, Brewer and Hampden.

“Parents drove their kids to Belfast so we had a big fan group which was awesome,” said coach Charlinda Carlson, who was assisted by Jess Doucette. “We had two new girls, Maebh Hennessy and Emma Doucette, also Astrid Pochee who has never played field hockey before. All three of them jumped in and played without much hesitation.”

The girls played seven 25-minute games in extreme heat and humidity with only two breaks. The weather forecast was rain and thunderstorms so most of us brought rain gear and extra clothes, not sunscreen, cold water and cool snacks.

The girls went into the playoff round undefeated. They won the first playoff game moving them into the championship. At this point the girls were exhausted as they were playing against much bigger schools with much bigger teams. Some teams had 5-6 subs.

“The girls dug in and played so well in the championship game I couldn't believe it,” said Carlson. “They ended up winning the entire tournament! This is going to be a team to watch.”