Girls' Sports - Latest News

Shrewsbury hosted their first rounders fixture this term against Old Swinford Hospital at Shrewsbury on Wednesday. Shrewsbury demonstrated their skill both in the batting and fielding aspect of the game, with Katy Mason-Jones scoring the most rounders (3). Shrewsbury played immaculately with quick, concise passing of the ball when fielding, as well as excellent placement of shots into space whilst batting. It was a well deserved win of 10.5 - 1.

Miss A. Hartshorne

JIRR, Nottingham WJ162X

The past 3 weeks have seen Bridget Lapage (EDH LVI) join forces with local Pengwern Junior Issy Tenison-Collins (due to join MSH next term) to form a West Midlands crew for the National Regional team event.

With Holme Pierrepont presenting its typical water the crew were understandably anxious. However any anxiety was more than met with excitement and a determination to produce a solid row. Conditions were tricky, but with the focus on strong finishes and quick catches it meant the crew were able to take advantage of the conditions, and that they did, easily.

After a slow start, the crew, stroked by Tenison-Collins, steered by Lapage, steadily rowed through from 6th place to a point where they were challenging an experienced Grange School for 2nd place in their heat. On this occasion it was not quite to be the case, but the Pengwern/RSSBC composite secured in a stylish fashion a place in the A final with a time of 6:07. With scores on the doors there were just 4 seconds separating 4 crews for the bronze medal position, making for a tantalising and exciting final.

Unfortunately afternon racing was cancelled leaving two rather despondent individuals only contemplating their 'potential' for the final.

A fantastic race day experience marred only by the weather. Thanks must go to Margaret Sayer and Pengwern for all their help with the occasion.

CHLW

With just a two week period to learn from the Womens' Head, the crew made their way back to the Tideway to pitch themselves against the best schoolgirl crews in the country.

The race went to plan. The familiarity of the course still fresh in their minds, the crew ably adapted their race plan in order to establish their rythmn early. By its very nature the event was going to be tough. After all, they have been rowing for no more than 6 months, with only two VIII's races under their belts. The Category? - The Championship Girls 8+, the Girls' equivalent of the 1st VIII event.

The results speak for themselves: 12th/16, beating St Peter's School, St Mary's, Cheltenham Ladies' College and Emanuel, all established rowing schools. Their finish time of 21:13 was over 3 minutes quicker than a fortnight ago.

The most significant result suggests there is yet more to come from this talented group of girls. In just two weeks the RSSBC Girls Crew closed in on the top two schools, Lady Eleanor Holles and Headington by 34s and 1:28s respectively. The crew of Amy Steventon, Amy Stockdale, Libby Wood, Bridget Lapage, Katie Williams, Rainbow Satchatippavarn, Eliza Hodgson, Georgia Bustin and Liv Levy should be proud of this achievement.

This marks a significant end to the Head season in which the squad have worked tremendously hard and made huge progress. They now turn their attention to summer regatta racing after a well earned Easter Break.

CHLW

As both the teams of King's Chester were missing a number of key players, we decided to mix up both of our teams in the interest of fairness.

Our 1st team consisted solely of L6th girls, enabling us to have a glance of what next year might look like. It was a very windy afternoon and both teams started out with some rather average shooting. It was a tight and close match in the first three quarters but our superior fitness told in the final quarter with the girls overcoming exhaustion to pull away with an impressive 16-8 win.
Miss. G. Woo

Shrewsbury 2nd VII put in a fantastic performance in very windy conditions against King’s Chester. Alice Paul scored the majority of the 45 goals with a consistent and accurate performance. Libby Naylor and Becky Haynes moved the ball around court very well, taking advantage of their superior pace and exploiting the space this created. Overall, a clean, concise and effective performance from all the girls ensured a dominant 45-9 victory.
Miss O. Thorogood

The RSSBC Girls' Crew arrived in London on Friday afternoon in order to take their first paddle on the famous Boat Race course. A short paddle beyond Hammersmith Bridge allowed to them to get a feel for the tidal stretch of water, and the sheer scale. Undeterred, they challenged local club Pengwern to a few short pieces which saw the Novice school crew hold their own against a senior crew.  Job Done!

Race day meant an early start, but amid the chaos of other crews arriving and rigging, the Shrewsbury crew were able to sit and contemplate the next few hours.

The race went as well as we could possibly have hoped. Having overtaken two crews within the first 4 minutes of the race, the crew were sitting strong. They found their more familiar race pace slightly later than intended, but it was this that then allowed them then to challenge the next fleet of crews. A tussle with 4 other boats highlighted the tenacity of cox Amy Steventon, as they emerged 2nd. This placed the crew in a strong position to then push for the finish line.

The crew exceeded all expectations finishing 220th overall, and climbing 62 places. Within the Novice Academic category they finished 18th/39, and placed 33rd/64 across the overall Novice group.

Having raced at both Reading and the Women’s Head, the girls now turn their attention to improving on last year’s penultimate position when they compete against the country’s School Crews at the Schools’ Head on Tuesday 20th March.

CHLW

The girls had a fantastic day out at Reading, in what was their first race this term, and the first in the 8.

Reading University Head is a final testing venue ahead of the London Heads over the coming weeks, and so it attracts a national level of competition. This was to be a tough event for the crew, but one in which their focus was to 'race their own race'. However their preparation in the week leading up to the race was faultless.

Not in anyway slighted by the 5:30am start, the girls executed the perfect race establishing their race rythmn early on and responding well to the excellent coxing from Amy Steventon. The crew rowed in a 'vacuum' with little contact with other crews, allowing them to concentrate on their boat without distraction. They completed the course in a time of 18:20.14 and finished 4th/8, seeing off two university crews in the process.

The crew now turn their attention to the Womens' Head, London next Saturday where they will have the opportunity to further develop their race skills against no fewer than 50 other crews.

The Crew: Amy Steventon, Amy Stockdale, Libby Wood, Bridget Lapage, Katie Williams, Rainbow Satchatippavarn, Eliza Hodgson, Georgia Bustin, Liv Levy.

CHLW

The 1st VII started steadily from the 1st quarter and it became a very well matched game in ability and both sides were playing well. After the 1st quarter Shrewsbury took the lead and continued this steady improvement throughout the game. Shrewsbury demonstrated good passing, shooting and defending and moved around the court well. Adams Grammar played well however Shrewsbury’s shooting was immaculate culminating in a 20-15 win.

The 2nd VII got off to an unsteady start not playing to their full potential, yet finished the 1st quarter even (5-5). However the team pulled together and demonstrated their strength in all aspects of the game to build upon their score significantly in each quarter to win 29-13.

Miss A. Hartshorne

Shrewsbury travelled to the Malvern St James netball tournament on Saturday 4th February. Previous years the tournament has always been competitive, but very enjoyable. With encouraging results from netball fixtures so far this term and the continuation of Tuesday evening league, we were looking forward to the challenge, and for the first time we had 2 teams in the tournament. The tournament was divided into 2 pools; Division A and Division B, each game lasting 8 minutes in length, with 2 minute change over. The winners of Division A played the runners up of Division B and then the winners of Division B played the Runners up of Division A which lead to the final.   

Photo -  Katy Mason-Jones, Elen Murphy, Eli Palje Rhys-Davies, Lucy Emms, Alice Paul, Hannah Pritchard, Rebecca Haynes.

In the A division, Shrewsbury 1st VII came up against a very high standard, quick moving Christ College netball team and had fought back to a 4-4 score until Christ College pulled away to win 7-4. However, we came back with strength against Edgbaston High School and played to our full potential demonstrating clean, clear passing and excellent movement around court to win 7-5. The confidence of the team grew when it came to playing Malvern St James 2 and the excellent playing continued with beautiful movement of the ball from centre third into the goal third, and very tight marking by defence provided Shrewsbury with an 11-0 win. Our final game in Division A was against a strong Kings School; there were slight mistakes on both sides, however an evenly matched game to finish 5-5. 

Shrewsbury 1st VII came Runners up in Division A and had to meet Malvern St James 1 (Winners of Division B). Shrewsbury started off unsteadily, making unnecessary mistakes and forcing the ball which resulted in Shrewsbury trailing by 0-3. However Shrewsbury regained their confidence and played outstandingly well, passing the ball elegantly around the court, with beautiful finishing from the attackers to win 6-3. 

Shrewsbury 1st VII then met Christ College School who are renowned as a netball school in the final. Shrewsbury played amazingly, they picked up their game and their movement around the court was effortless. There was sharp passing down the wings to our fast moving attacking players who scored time and time again, which was further aided by our defence that blocked and zoned extremely well. The game was very intense and ended in a 5-5 score which resulted in 5 minutes extra time being played. Christ College in extra time brought their game up and went on to score 3 consecutive goals, however Shrewsbury fought back breaking their centre twice to come back, with the game finishing 7-8 to Christ College.

An amazing game played by both teams, with Shrewsbury School walking away with Runners-Up.

In the B Division, Shrewsbury 2nd VII also came up against Christ College 2nd as their first match. Once again a high tempo game, with quick movement around court and sharp passing skills, Shrewsbury were drawing level 4-4; however Christ College came back with strength and ended the game 4-7. Shrewsbury 2nd VII came back full of confidence against Hanley Castle and demonstrated their ability and experience with some excellent defending but also good movement of the ball from the centre third into the goal third, Shrewsbury dominated the game to win 8-2. This continued into the final game within division B against Malvern St James 1, Shrewsbury played well kept tight when marking and finished off most shots on goal they had. Shrewsbury demonstrated their skilful play and it was a very evenly matched game but Shrewsbury ensured that the finish was theirs, winning 5-4.

Shrewsbury 2nd VII came runners up in division B, which meant playing Christ College 1st team. Shrewsbury were stretched against such a fast team, however played extremely well and fought for each and every pass and shot, unfortunately Christ College were too fast and played effortlessly to win 2-9.

Shrewsbury then came up against Malvern St James 2 to decide who would take 3rd and 4th place. Shrewsbury started very well and demonstrated their ability on court, however the result of playing two consecutive matches  took its toll and Shrewsbury became tired. Malvern St James 2nd took their lead and just kept the lead to win 9-5 and take 3rd place. Shrewsbury 2nd VII then took 4th position out of 9 very high standard teams.          

Overall it was a great morning of netball and to see Shrewsbury 1st VII came away with runners up and Shrewsbury 2nd VII to come 4th against very high standard netball teams was excellent.

Congratulations Girls.

Miss Hartshorne and Miss Woo

The 1st VII started soundly from the first quarter, but not playing to their full potential. Shrewsbury were dead level with Kings Chester until the third quarter where the girls in blue took the lead 14-13 in this very tight contest. The game was evenly matched with concise passing skills and communication evident from both sides, however in the fourth quarter Shrewsbury raised their levels and eventually pulled away winning 24-14, with some unstoppable shooting and passing skills on show. Player of the match was awarded to Lucy Emms (GS).

The 2nd VII played extremely well from the first whistle against their Kings opponents, demonstrating their strength in all elements of the game. This was illustrated in the score line at the first quarter, with Shrewsbury going in with an 8-2 lead. The girls built upon this to finish with a resounding 28-8 win. Shrewsbury 2nd VII have demonstrated confidence across all elements of netball from concise passing, accurate shooting, tight marking and fluency of ball up and down the court. The player of the match was awarded to both Holly Free (WD) and Izzy Barber (WA).

Miss A. Hartshorne

Moreton Hall
On Wednesday the 1st VII started well against Moreton and demonstrated clean, sharp passing that flowed down the court form the centre players to the shooters. The defence were very tight and zoned off excellently when Moreton were on the attack. The Shrewsbury girls kept a good lead throughout all four quarters to finish with a 24-9 win. Woman of the match was awarded to Lucy Emms (GS).

Our 2nd team started strong and kept a steady lead right from the 1st quarter to the last. It was a very competitive match however Shrewsbury demonstrated their superior skill and ability as the match proceeded to win 25-6. An excellent win for Shrewsbury and woman of the match was given to Libby Naylor (WA).

Concord College
The 2nd VII played extremely well and demonstrated their maturity and level of skill against a Concord College side that at times were quite aggressive. Shrewsbury started strong in the 1st quarter and continued on into the 4th quarter despite some unfair decisions from the umpires. In spite of this, the Shrewsbury girls kept their heads, demonstrating immaculate passing to the shooter which was beautiful to watch. Shrewsbury really pulled together as a team and communicated well, to finish the match with a win of 26-14. The woman of the match was awarded to Till Whittingham (GD) who directed the team from the back. 

ARH

Eight LVI girls travelled to Eton College to take part in their first fives competition. Playing against vastly more experienced school, university and club players, our girls did well. All pairs played a total of at least 6 sets, and all the girls played better and better as the day went by.

Alice Paul & Elen Murphy
Becky Home & Libby Naylor
Hannah Pritchard & Rosie Parr
Holly Free & Cressida Adams

Our girls entered the gruelling Knole Run at Sevenoaks for the first time ever on Saturday, and we were delighted with the team's overall sixth place out of 19 teams.  Our star performer was Amy Stockdale, who came in 19th out of a total of 155 runners.  More news and timings on our Knole Run 2012 news page.

In Netball, our girls 1st and 2nd VIIs defeated Bedstone College 55-8 and 34-2 respectively.  More details to follow.

On Sunday, eight of our LVI girls also travelled to Eton to take part in the Ladies Fives (EFA) Championships - their first Fives tournament.  They didn't win - they couldn't possibly have been expected to - but they all gained great experience from the occasion, and they played better and better as the day went by.

In the meantime, please see our 2011 news page.