GRANGE School teams are inspiring each other to improve thanks to their success on the pitch, according to their coach.

Helen Lawson, head of hockey, told the Guardian that standards are continuing to rise and the Hartford school is establishing a reputation among their peers.

“We’re being recognised now,” she said.

“And that’s in large part because of our students’ determination to develop their skills.

“They spur each other on as well; when one team does well in a competition, it makes the others want to do the same.”

The school’s under 19s girls’ team provide an example after finally getting their hands on the Cheshire title this year.

It is the first time that Grange have won the tournament in that age-group category.

After negotiating testing head-to-heads with Lymm High School and King’s Macclesfield, they edged King’s Chester by the odd goal in the final.

Two teenagers that have already attracted the attention of England Hockey coaches – Beth Alexander and Ericka Morris-Adams – played leading roles.

The former, part of a national under 16s team that played against their Dutch counterparts at Easter, scored the winner.

Meanwhile her younger teammate shadowed Izzie Howell, selected to represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Australia last month, and eliminated her considerable attacking threat.

Grange’s under 14s, under 13s and under 12s girls have each won their respective mid Cheshire competitions this term, while the under 13s boys narrowly missed out on a place at the national schools’ finals.

In the past two years, an under 13s girls’ team from the Grange has classified inside the top eight in the country.

Lawson said that access to improved facilities – the school has artificial pitches for the teams to train on – has helped to transform fortunes on the hockey field.

She added: “It makes a big difference, as you can imagine.

“Most of our players are also featuring regularly for a local club, sometimes against adults, and that exposes them to a more physically demanding form of the game.

“Our challenge is then to mould them into a team here, and that takes time; most of the under 19s girls that won the county competition came together five years ago.”