Bury St Edmunds Ladies' hockey captain feels whole club is in good stead after promotions

Bury St Edmunds Ladies’ captain Juliet Konrath is quietly confident ahead of her side’s East League Division One North opener this weekend, and feels the club is in a good place as a whole.

The Ladies’ first team were promoted after finishing runners-up in Division Two North East last season, and Konrath is feeling positive ahead of their season opener against Norwich Dragons at Culford tomorrow (12.45pm).

“Everything at the moment is very positive, we have gained a lot of players so we are feeling good,” she said.

“Norwich will be a tough game but we know it is winnable if we play well, so everybody is working really hard in training.

“All of the girls are giving their everything to make sure we are as good as we can be.”

Despite now competing in a higher league, Konrath remains confident of her side’s abilities and has high hopes for the season ahead.

“We haven’t been at this level for a few years, so it will obviously be tough,” she said.

“But we definitely think we can retain our position in this league and hopefully go on to secure a mid-table finish and establish ourselves within this division.

“It is a few years since we have been in this division so we need to take things slowly and not rush into aiming too high, but we want to become an established side within this league and at this level,” she added.

Konrath’s side’s promotion means Bury now have teams in each of the top four tiers of the women’s Eastern League.

However, she feels that the club has progressed as a whole after promotions for both the men’s and women’s first teams.

“Our Ladies seconds were also promoted, and so were the men’s firsts, so the whole club is in a really good place at the moment,” she said.

“We now have a team playing in all four divisions, which is good because it means players can progress through and we can have a succession of players.”