BY LEE MAGINNIS
THEY have already starred in the blockbuster, which culminated last season with Portadown Ladies Hockey Club gaining promotion to the EY All Ireland league top tier and victory in the Irish U18 Euro Tier 2 in Glasgow.
Now childhood friends Rebekah Lennon and Katie Herron are already working on the sequel with their selection for the Irish U21 training panel.
Two key players in the Portadown squad, Katie up front and Rebekah in defence, they have been friends since nursery school at Seagoe.
At their last year in Seagoe Primary school, they were two of only three girls who won the P7 cups at both school and club level in the same year.
Then it was on to Killicomaine Junior High School. Success continued to follow the pair as they won the U14 hockey championship.
Katie also had a foray into the world of football, playing at centre back at Linfield. But it is hockey that has been the winner.
Selected for Ulster at U16 and U18 levels, Rebekah and Katie were interprovincial champions. They were also selected for the Irish U16 and then U18 squads.
That brings us up to last season when the two players found themselves in the unusual position of playing against each other at the Schools Cup final, Rebekah captaining the winning Portadown College team, with Katie playing for Royal School Armagh.
Now, with the new hockey season underway, Katie and Rebekah are busy with their club, playing in the top flight, and also school matches have resumed.
Somehow they have also managed to fit in trips to Dublin and now comes the incredible news that both have been selected for the Irish U21 training panel, Katie at 18 and Rebekah at 17 years of age! This will include a match against the senior Irish squad.
Such a remarkable achievement for Rebekah and Katie, who still are based and ply their trade in Portadown, a stone’s throw from where their friendship began.
Rebekah in Ireland action
Katie in Portadown blue and, below, the way they were, winning trophies in their school days
