The Flagpole

Congratulations to the U13 Girls’ Netball team who were runners-up in the Warwickshire County Netball Tournament that took place on Wednesday 13 March.  The girls delighted their coach, PE teacher, Hannah Carminati with their performance.  She commented, “The progress the girls have made over the season has just been brilliant, they have worked incredibly hard and have become a fantastic team.”

Seven teams took part in the County tournament, which was held at King’s High School.  In the group stage, the girls played superbly, demonstrating great forward and backward movement and staying tight on their defence.  They secured two good wins, 10-4 against Higham Lane and 7-5 against Bilton Grange.

In the semi-final they played King’s High, who were a strong physical team, but patience and focus paid dividends as they kept tactical control and slowed the game right down.  At full time, the score stood at 9-9 but excellent game play in extra time delivered a brilliant 13-11 win.

The final was another challenging match against Stratford Grammar, another tough team and the girls struggled to make headway eventually losing 1-18.

Miss Carminati continued, “The girls were all amazing and have worked incredibly hard, developing into a super team. They have learnt that patience is underestimated on court and that if they slow the game down and focus on their play they can outwit their opponents. They are now more physical on the court and get closer to their opponents.  At the tournament we saw fantastic two-handed interceptions that turned the ball over, allowing them to score more goals.  They show super potential.”

A big shout out to the U14 Girls Hockey team who have had another super season of hockey.  Building on their success from last year, the girls have played 12 matches across the year against teams that have included Ratcliffe College, King's High School for Girls’, Rugby School and Bablake, winning all 12, scoring an amazing 71 goals along the way and only conceding one.

Playing for the team during the year were: Lucia Bell, Issy Bunting, Libby Chapman, Eve Farquharson, Millie Giffin, Molly Harper, Zara Hendy, Helania Holt, Mia Johnson, Mia Lambeth, Jess Mackenzie,  Noella Mbanga, Lottie Paybody, Evie Phillips, Rosie Pritchard-Jeffs, Jasmin Rose, Grace Thomas, Lara Tripp-Smith, Holly Waterfield, Molly Wincott-Thomas and Zoe Wallis.

Head of Girls' Games, Jen Law, commented, “The girls have had an excellent season, played some superb, slick hockey up front and been incredible in defence.  They are a talented and committed group who train hard and deserve their success.”

Foundation hockey players were out in force at the recent County Championships.

Princethorpe College’s Year 7 pupils, Matthew Carr and Rory Eccleson, together with Crackley Hall’s Junior 6, Joe McCullough, and Crescent School’s Year 6, Fin Calder, were all part of Rugby and East Warwickshire’s successful U12 boys hockey team that won the Warwickshire Hockey County Championships on Sunday 3 March.

The U12 Boys team won all their knockout matches, only conceding one goal.  They then went on to beat Atherstone Adders in the semi-finals 5-0 before finally beating Stratford 1-0 in a closely matched final. Their win takes them through to the Midlands Championships later in the year.

The U12 Girls team also enjoyed a successful day. Their team included Year 7 pupils Jemima Teeton, Georgia Dowling and Rosie Reeve alongside Crescent School’s Year 6 Cara Ridd.

In the first round, the girls played four matches and with three wins and a draw they finished top of the pool.  They went on to win their semi-final comfortably 2-0 but then lost out in the final 2-0 against Sutton Coalfield.  However, their second place finish qualifies them for the next round so they will also be competing at the Midlands Championships.

It clearly was a super afternoon of sport. Congratulations all we were delighted to hear of your success.

On Friday 8 April 2011, 16 teams of golfers challenged for the title of Princethorpe Open winners. . . 

This was how the last article started back in 2011. In 2019, the Princethorpe Open returns at Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club on Monday 15 April 2019. Hosted by Old Princethorpian Johnny Reay 2003 - 2008 the day will be a fantastic experience for young and old, parent and pupil, Old Princethorpians, teachers and friends of Princethorpe all vying to compete for the title!  The format of the day is:

·        11.00am start with bacon roll and coffee on arrival;

·        12.00 noon first 4 ball tees off;

·        Steak Pie and Chips, followed by dessert of the day after your round of golf;

·        3/4 stableford competition.

£30 per head or £120 per team for a shot at the title plus, nearest the pin competition, longest drive, raffle prizes and a chance to win a signed Martin Johnson, World Cup winning Captain, England rugby jersey. 

If you are interested in entering a team please contact me at neilmccollin@princethorpe.co.uk

Neil McCollin
Foundation Director of Sport

We are continuing with the process of organising the return visit of our Dutch hosts from October 2018. We are looking forward to reciprocating the fantastic experience which our pupils received during our four night experience with the players from Hopbel Hockey club. The return dates are from the evening of Saturday 27 April through to the morning of Wednesday 1 May.

The 31 girls are a variety of ages, between 12 and 15 and this may be of interest if your child would like to attend the Holland visit in October 2019.  In order to host, we are looking for families who can offer a bed to a pair (or more) of Dutch visitors and willing to entertain and involve them in your family life for the 4 nights. We will organise an itinerary of fixtures, activities during the school day and a BBQ for our guests with their host families on the final evening. We will let you know who the other host families are so that you can organise other events together if you wish. Transport to school will be through the normal way which your children comes to school (we will supply the bus tickets for the Dutch visitors) but they will need to be picked up after fixtures each day from College.

Due to requisite safeguarding checks, all adults within the household must hold a DBS certificate sent for by the Princethorpe Foundation, even if they currently have a DBS certificate from another employer or had a DBS for the exchange last year. If they have subscribed to the DBS Update Service, please do let us know. To allow time for the DBS certificates to be received before the tour, please can you book an appointment with our Recruitment Coordinators as soon as possible on 01926 634269 or alternatively email recruitment@princethorpe.co.uk.  It should only take 15 minutes per person to apply for the DBS certificates.  

Many thanks for your continued support of Princethorpe sport and we hope that you can continue this by hosting some Dutch guests in April. 

Neil McCollin
Foundation Director of Sport