Academy girls prepare for trip to Olympic hockey finals

THE waiting is almost over for a group of Ballymena schoolgirls as they prepare to head off on a dream trip to the Olympic Games.

Eighteen months of planning has gone into the trip for a group of 45 pupils from Ballymena Academy, who will depart for London on Wednesday night.

Academy First XI hockey coach Helene Armstrong explains: “I went into the Ballymena branch of Thomas Cook, who are one of the sponsors of the Olympics, last March, when the tickets first came out.

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“The staff were very helpful and, with the full support of the school, I signed up to get tickets for the hockey finals.

“We got the tickets immediately for the hockey and we were told we would get tickets for another event, which turns out to be the women’s football final at Wembley.

“One of our First XI hockey players, Rebecca Galbraith, is also a Northern Ireland under-17 football international, so she’s doubly excited about the trip!

The panel of 45 comes from under-13, under-14, under-15 and First XI players, who will be accompanied by Helene and fellow coaches Diane McNeill, Mary Glass and Cathy Coulter.

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“They’re all really excited because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Olympics on their doorstep.

“We had a lot of fund-raising including a hockey dinner in March which was attended by one of our former pupils, Dame Mary Peters, and which was a brilliant night,” added Helen, who also thanked sponsors Thomas Cook, G-Force at Wallaces, Logan’s Coaches and John Coulter Fireplaces.