Action-packed news from the Prep School sports department
Throughout this half of term, the U8-U13s participated in a huge number of school fixtures, including hockey, netball and football for the girls and hockey and rugby sevens for the boys. An action-packed five weeks or so! Outside of our school fixture list, we have also got stuck into swimming galas, inter-patrol competitions, various tournaments and many IAPS events, including swimming, rugby, hockey and netball tournaments.
Girls' Sports
The U8s and U9s displayed remarkable improvement in hockey, showing promise for the seasons to come. The U10B hockey team enjoyed an impressive winning streak, showcasing their talent and determination on the field.
In netball, the U11s displayed passion and enjoyment, with several players showing potential promise for future inclusion in the first team. Across all age groups, from 1st to 4th teams, the girls demonstrated excellent gameplay and sportsmanship.
The U12A netball team's journey to the IAPS national finals saw them narrowly miss out on the semi-finals but they performed admirably, showcasing the best of their skills. However, it was the 1st team's outstanding performance that stole the spotlight, as they qualified for the IAPS national finals at Charterhouse School. On 19 March, they fought hard, eventually clinching victory in the plate competition, bringing home gold medals and spreading smiles all around. The Plate Competition began with a knockout match against Godstowe before our U13 girls netball team faced Belmont Mill Hill in the plate semi-final. This was a convincing win which earned Westbourne House its place in the final. The final was a nail-biting match against Farleigh. At the end of the 16-minute match it was a tie which meant the game went into extra time (two mins each way). The girls were tired but worked incredibly hard and won the match 17-14 making them plate winners of the U13 IAPS national finals! I am really proud and so happy for the girls. It was a wonderful end to a phenomenal season.
The football season was characterised by joy and camaraderie, with teams from U8 to U13 enjoying festivals, fixtures, and inter-patrol events. As the season transitions to cricket, there's anticipation for sunny days ahead and continued success on the field.
Boys' Sports
It has been really busy for the boys with many pupils juggling both rugby and hockey matches since half term. Trying to prepare for two sports has its challenges but the boys all worked extremely hard to make sure we could give our best at all matches.
Hockey
It's early in the hockey journey for our U8s and U9s, but we have seen such a pleasing amount of improvement in both year groups, with a huge number of boys showing really nice stick work and applying lots of the things that we have worked on this term. The U9s took part in a hockey festival at Highfield where we performed really well on the day against some strong schools, showing that this group has lots of potential going forwards.
The U10 and U11 year groups had mixed success in their matches but again have shown such a huge amount of promise for the future. It’s really nice to see all the teams really trying to play in the right way, laying good foundations for the senior years. The U11s performed well in their IAPS event but the event landed a bit too early in the season for us. We got better as the day went on and finished third in the plate competition.
The senior sides have all worked really hard this year. We’ve had some well contested matches with perhaps our block against PGS being the closest across the board. The U13 IAPS event was an up and down day for us with some slightly below par performances in the morning but some excellent ones in the afternoon! We played some really good hockey in the knockout stages and were very unlucky to finish as plate competition runners-up.
There were a couple of stand out results that showed how far we’ve come in a short space of time this term. Both the U10s and U11s were able to reverse losses against Highfield in our second block fixture which is really pleasing. The 1st VII lost to Windlesham in their IAPS group stage but then drew in our fixture, very unlucky to not to win by perhaps a comfortable margin. The highlight of the season though would be the 1st VIIs result against Seaford College. The Seaford team are very good and won the IAPS regional event that we entered. We had to play them the following day. We were simply excellent that day. We were 4-0 up at half time and really showed the quality with which we can play.
As is so often the case, all the teams have started to play some really good hockey, just as the season comes to a close. Next year we will look to increase our preparation so we can hit the ground running.
Rugby Sevens
The sevens season is short and sweet but full of fun and often huge improvement. The U12s made their sevens debut at the Snell Cup at Brighton College, narrowly losing in the final. The U13s played in a few events with the highlight being winning the Shield at the Windlesham House sevens tournament. It was also great fun to host our own sevens festival in the final week of term.
Inter-Patrol Squash
The Inter-Patrol Squash was fiercely contested this year with 32 players taking part from Years 6, 7 and 8. That’s the most we’ve ever had! The whole event was decided with match numbers 47 and 48, the final two matches. After two nights of squash, third and fourth places were tied, as were second and first places. Therefore we needed to do a points countback to decide the winners. Congratulations to the Owls who narrowly won from the Otters.
Swimming
At the time of writing we anxiously await the results of the IAPS swimming event. Thirty-two children were entered and there were a number of excellent performances in both the individual races and relays. It’s always a long wait for the kids and staff as qualification is not based on where you finish in your race, but your times compared to the rest of the swimmers around the country. Good luck to everyone that swam!
The inter-patrol swimming galas were again amazing events (see photos). A huge thank you must go to Mrs Pullen for all her hard work as this year was particularly hard with the number of withdrawals and absences. The Junior event in particular was virtually rewritten on the morning of the competition. There was lots of good swimming, plenty of endeavour and masses of noise, all of which helped to create an amazing atmosphere. Congratulations goes to the Tigers who won the senior event and to the Owls who won the junior event.
Sports Colours
A number of colours were awarded this term so congratulations to the following:
| Rugby | Netball | Swimming | Hockey |
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