Sport

First Team Dinner Celebrates College Sportsmen And Sportswomen

The College’s First Team Dinner took place on Monday 8 April in the Sixth Form Centre.  It was an opportunity for Director of Sport, Neil McCollin, and the PE and Games staff, to thank pupils for their longstanding commitment to sport here at Princethorpe, to reflect on their many talents and to wish those moving on at the end of the year well.

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Six Top Ten Finishes At The ISA National Cross Country Championships

Princethorpe College’s pupils achieved a stunning six top ten finishes in the Independent Schools Associations’ National Cross Country Championships on Saturday 30 March.

15 pupils had qualified to represent the Midlands team running in the U18, U15 and U13 Boys and the U15 and U13 Girls races against regional teams from all over the country.

Always a hotly-contested competition, this year’s event took place at Rugby School and attracted 604 runners from independent schools.

Against a field of 66 runners, Year 10 pupil Molly Minshull delivered the best finish of the day running the U15 Girls 3km course superbly to finish in 11.48.98.  She claimed third place and a well-deserved bronze medal.  Following her over the line were Year 9, Evie Phillips who finished 9th and Year 10s, Eve Howard in 27th and Erin Darcy 34th.

Running in the U13 Girls 2.75km race Year 7, Kate Pomerleau and Year 8s Grace Darcy and Julia Loftus ran excellent well-paced races, Kate finished 8th in 10.28.13 with Grace just behind in 10th and Julia 17th from a field of 62 runners.

In the U18 Boys the Crowfoot brothers finished their 5km race in 6th and 7th place.  Tom ran the course in 18.06.10 Will crossed the line just 2.04 seconds later in 18.04.14.  Fred Self finished 23rd out of a total field of 50 runners.

The U13 Boys ran a 2.75m course, Year 8, Zac Johnson finished 22nd and Year 7s, Oscar Reynolds and Ollie Farquharson finished 49th and 52nd respectively.

PE Teacher, Will Bower, was delighted, “Another really good day for the Princethorpe team, full of consistent sure-footed running.  Six top ten places at the Nationals – what a great way to end the season.”

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Princethorpe College Well Represented In U13 ISFA Football Regional Festival

The 2019 Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) U13 Regional Football Festival took place at Shrewsbury School between Saturday 6 and Monday 8 April 2019.   Playing in the Midlands Regional Squad of 15 were five Year 8 boys, Joseph Bird, Alexander Hammond, Barnaby Hammond, Finn Osborn and Jamie Robinson.

Princethorpe’s boys were pitched against representative teams from across the UK regions including teams from Hertfordshire & Essex, London, North West, East, South Central, South East and the South West.  Shrewsbury School provided an excellent setting for the Festival with its outstanding facilities located on the banks of the River Severn. 

As a football festival, the tournament was all about playing the game, so no results were formally recorded and there were no final winners but standards were high.  Over the three days a total of 28 matches took place and 140 players took part.

All five Princethorpe boys played well, with the Midland’s coach, Stuart Turpin commenting, “The boys played some good football and worked really hard even when tiredness was setting in. Off the pitch they were excellent value and a real credit to your school.  In terms of games we beat the South West 2 - 1 and the East 3 – 0, we drew 0 - 0 with London and 1 - 1 with South Central and were defeated 2 - 1 by Herts and Essex, 4 - 3 by the South East and 3 - 0 in our final game against the North West.  Even in defeat, the Midlands team were hugely competitive and could easily have won those games.”

The boys now have to wait and see if they are selected for the A team to represent the ISFA nationally against the Welsh Schools in May or whether they make the squad of 50 players who will attend the training camps held during the summer holidays.

What a great experience for all the boys.

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Hockey Talent Rife At Princethorpe

Every year we are delighted to hear of pupils’ triumphs securing much-coveted places in the County Hockey squads.  Earning representative honours is no mean feat.  All those selected will have school and club commitments; they will have attended extra trials and training sessions before finally being chosen for the squad.

Those who win through participate in the England Hockey’s ‘Player Pathway’, a programme that provides Development Centres and Academy Centres as progressive staged steps to help all junior hockey players realise their potential.

Pictured in their Warwickshire shirts are just a few of this year’s successful contingent:

U14s Sophie Gray, Tilly Houghton, Grace Thomas, Evie Phillips, Lara Tripp-Smith and Molly Harper who recently represented Warwickshire against Northamptonshire. 

U13s Georgia Dowling, Alice Whittaker and Jess Evans who played Shropshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire in the U13 County tournament.

Head of Girls’ Games, Jen Law, comments, "Princethorpe College pupils have a passion for hockey, they show great enthusiasm and excellent technical skills which is regularly recognised by the County selection teams.  I am really pleased to have such a depth of talent to call on for the school’s fixture programme."

Congratulations to all who were selected this year.  We look forward to watching their hockey journeys in the years to come.

Year 7 boys: Matthew Carr

Year 7 girls: Georgia Dowling, Rosie Reeve and Jemima Teeton

Year 8 boys: James Robinson, Will Antrobus and Tom Hollis

Year 8 girls: Jess Evans, Sophie Gray, Tilly Houghton and Alice Whittaker

Year 9 boys: Ben Hardy, Will Kay, Jamie Smith and Madoc Williams

Year 9 girls:  Molly Harper, Evie Phillips, Jasmin Rose, Grace Thomas and Lara Tripp-Smith

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Welford-On-Avon Primary Win High 5 Netball Tournament For Second Year Running

Seven Warwickshire primary school teams took part in Princethorpe College’s High 5 Netball Tournament.  Defending champions Welford-on-Avon Primary School were joined by Ettington Church of England Primary School, Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, Milverton Primary School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and two teams from Claverdon Primary School.

The competition took place on Monday 1 April on the College’s outside netball courts in glorious late afternoon sunshine.  The teams had the chance to test their skills against their opponents in a round robin of matches playing to High 5 netball rules; a popular entry format of the traditional game that has players rotating positions and ensures the ball keeps moving.  With vocal support from the side-lines, the children threw themselves enthusiastically into the matches clearly enjoying the competitive nature of the tournament.

Claverdon started well with both teams winning their first round matches, Welford-on-Avon and St Mary’s quickly followed suit.  Umpired by Princethorpe’s Young Sports Leaders, you could see the children’s skills developing game by game as they took on board feedback and suggestions.  Each team played six 10-minute matches.

Welford-on-Avon played with flair and enthusiasm and finished the competition victorious for the second year running.

Presenting them with the trophy, PE Teacher and Primary Schools Sports Liaison, Hannah Carminati, said, “It was great to welcome so many teams to Princethorpe and to be able to offer these young players the chance to play in a netball tournament.  All the pupils were so enthusiastic; I saw great ball work, tremendous teamwork and plenty of energy on court today.” 

Well done to all of the teams on a super afternoon of sport and thanks also to Princethorpe’s Young Sports Leaders, Lily Dyble, Eve Farquharson, Molly Geehan, Sammy Inskip and Anna Wells for their help umpiring all the games.

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Sport Kit Initialling - Reminder

Any items of sports kit which have been sent into school for initialling will be ready for collection from the school shop on Monday 29 April 2019.

Nicola Brown
Foundation Shop Manager