15 September 2023
Mrs Caroline Treacy, Director of Sport
It has been wonderful start to term for sport. Our Seniors kick-started the season with team-building trips to Nottingham for the hockey squad and to Condover Hall, Shrewsbury for our netballers (main photo). Lower Sixth Formers Onome and Poppy share more news on this below.
Last weekend we enjoyed some wonderful, if rather hot, hockey friendlies against Colfe’s. On Tuesday, the U13A hockey team won its opening Cup game against St Benedict’s, with Oli scoring a hat trick in her first game for Woldingham to secure the team’s progression to the next round. The 1st VII took on Surbiton High in its opening Cup match and players settled well into their new team, helped by the trip to Condover, where they got to know each other better both on and off the court. There were some excellent performances individually and also as units, which makes the season ahead for this talented group of netballers look very exciting. On Wednesday, Woldingham’s 1st XI hockey team took part in an invitational tournament, St George’s Sixes, as team captain Rosie describes:
Rosie J, Upper Sixth
The team got off to great start, winning 1-0 against Cranleigh, with Lily O, Year 11, scoring a lovely goal. This win motivated us for our next matches against Bede’s, St George’s Weybridge and Wellington but, unfortunately, we just fell short of winning. The team didn’t let these losses get the better of us, however, and we came back fighting against the eventual group runners up, City of London Freeman’s, to draw 1-1. We ended the tournament with a great match against Reed’s, losing only narrowly, with goalkeeper Anna M, Lower Sixth, making some incredible saves to keep the game close. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and can’t wait for the rest of the season.
Senior netball trip to Condover Hall - Poppy W, Lower Sixth
Twenty netball players travelled to Condover for our residential senior netball trip: 17 Year 11s and three of us from the Lower Sixth. On arrival, we played laser tag, which was new to a lot of us. Despite not having played together before, all 20 of us quickly became very good teammates - ultimately the key purpose of the trip. Our teamwork on and off the court was tested by the other outdoor activities organised for us: rock climbing, high ropes, and a zip line. All the activities encouraged us to work together and to use the best communication possible to guide each other and, most importantly, to give each other a lift when it got tough. This was particularly important when we had to do four 40-minute training sessions in the blazing heat, which were led by top NSL players and England’s Ella Bowen. They were all extremely useful, covering a range of techniques from pressuring defenders to looking into spaces for the pass.
It was a really nice experience and will help us start the season well, ready for our senior netball and hockey tour to Singapore and Malaysia in October. Mrs Wratten and Mrs Treacy deserve praise for sharing a dorm hall with 20 loud girls!
Senior hockey tour to Nottingham – Onome, Lower Sixth
The senior hockey squad took to the pitch for a fun-filled weekend in Nottingham at the start of September, taking on several other schools. We knew it would be tough but that wouldn’t stop us giving it our all on the pitch.
On Saturday 2 September, we faced Norwich, Nottingham and Yarm. As expected, it took a bit of time for the team to get back into the swing of things, but everyone gave 100%. Although there were no victories on Saturday, the team really supported one another and played extremely well.
Year 11s Lily, Ellie and Phoebe made their senior team debuts, fitting into the squad really quickly and getting a good feel for hockey at a higher level.
After a full day of playing hockey in the heat, we headed back to the hotel, where we talked about aims for the season and ways to improve the squad over dinner.
On Sunday, we played Bradford, Shrewsbury and St Teresa's, coming out with an excellent 4-1 win against Shrewsbury. By the end of the tournament, everyone was rather hot and tired and ready to head home.
We arrived back at school around 8pm for one last talk about the weekend and to hear who had been awarded players of the matches. It was an amazing weekend, where skills were developed and new friendships formed. We are now ready to start the season.
