U15 Hockey Trust Rally in Croydon

Our first match of the day was Shrewsbury High, after our captain, Sophie Moore led us through our warm-ups and stretches we were ready to go. It was a challenging match with both teams having some incredible players; both teams fought extremely hard for that goal, but unfortunately, just before half time the Shrewsbury captain scored a goal for their team. Slightly disheartened, but not feeling defeated, we went back on after half time with more determination. Evie Butterfield playing Centre back had some wonderful drives up the right-hand side of the pitch, she would then pass it on to Amy Hutcheson who played some wonderful and tactful hockey in the D. Our defence was also being pushed with Grace Ford and Phoebe Wirick clearing the ball out of our defensive D with some hard sweeps. It was nearly the end of the match and we had a lot of play in our attacking D with Clemmie Gallen and Lola Record battling against the opposition’s goalie, Lola hit a massive aerial shot that just narrowly missed the goal and hit the post. Unfortunately, we just lost that game 0-1, but we came away having learnt a lot about possession and other important aspects of the game; and we know that during that game we played some good hockey.

Our next match was against Northampton High, this was the playoff to see whether we would be playing for 5th or 6th place or 7th or 8th place, this again was a tight game. Throughout this game, both sides were extremely eager for the ball. During the first half Royal High had a breakthrough, with Lola Record slapping it to Charlie Emptage who was on the line, who then dribbled it up to the top of our attacking D and passed it across the goal to Amy Hutcheson who had an impressive shot on goal, however, the opposing team’s goalie just deflected it, but Evie Butterfield was right there for the rebound and she chipped it into the top right-hand corner of the goal! The game recommenced both sides even more committed to the game. However, just before the whistle blew, Northampton shot a goal. We went for the team talk at half time at 1-1. Both teams knew that this would be a difficult game to win. The second half was played and some great hockey was seen. Then the whistle blew for the end, but it was still 1-1. So this meant; Shuffles. Shuffles are when three players are selected from each team and they go one on one with the goalie to try and shoot a goal with a maximum of 8s. We selected Evie Butterfield, Clemmie Gallen and Holly Stephens for our shuffles. Northampton went first scoring a wonderful goal, then Evie Butterfield went for us also scoring an impressive goal. Holly Stephens scored a wonderful goal on her reverse stick. However, by the end, once everyone had gone, we were still even, and so we had to play the shuffles again. By this time both teams were in huddles on the sideline squealing with apprehension. This time Royal High went first, Evie Butterfield went, driving the goalie out to the left and shooting from the right. Northampton then shot. It went back and forth until it was Holly Stephens go again, we knew that to win, she had to shoot, she dribbled in and Indian dribbled it around the goalie and straight into the goal. We all held our breath, the umpire blew his whistle and pointed at our team. The team burst into eruptions of excitement, but we were all very glad that those stressful shuffles were over. Amy Lewin was an incredible goalie, saving many goals and helping us win that game.

Lastly we played Notting Hill and Ealing, once again not an easy match, with Ellie Wylie preventing some goals and also playing up front and getting the ball into our attacking D. Alice Boutin played in our attacking D very well and with many skills applied and help from other players such as Clemmie Gallen we scored a goal. As the play progressed the Astro got more slippy and Charlie Emptage and Sophie Moore had a few trips as they ran onto the ball, but ultimately they were worth it. Just after half time, Notting Hill shot a goal, but that didn’t phase us. In the last two minutes of the game, we had a breakthrough with Amelie Summers driving it up the left of the pitch, dodging many players and then passing it on to Alice Boutin who slapped it to Clemmie Gallen at top D, who drag flicked it into the goal. We won 2-1 and we came 5th overall! It was an incredible day, so thank you to everyone who made it possible such as Miss Pryer, Miss Stewart, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Atkinson.

by Charlie Emptage

Senior Netball Squad Success

Following the success of our Senior Netball squad, below is a write up about the tournament.

Thursday 7th November our Senor Netball squad competed in the County Netball Tournament. All of the strongest schools from Bath and Bristol competed in a tournament for a place at the Regional Tournament in January where they would represent Avon.

After a focussed warm up the girls started with a match against a well organised Redmaids team. We really showed our focus by taking an early lead, our patience and control continued and we secured a confidence-boosting victory winning 18-4. The day was bright but the court surface was damp and slippery. This lead to some cautious play in their second match against Wellsway which finished in a nail-biting draw. RHS then faced 3 strong opponents; BGS, KES and Clifton High. We approached each game with focus and determination and secured 3 dominant wins BGS 12-10, KES 11-10 and Clifton 14-6. Finishing top in our group, we had to face the runners up of the other group, Kingswood. The winner of this match would earn the much sought after place at the Regional tournament in January. It was a crunch game. Kingswood came out of the blocks firing. RHS went down in the first 2 minutes and while we then matched Kingswood goal for goal - they did not pull back. We went into half time 3 down. After some strategic discussion, the girls went back on determined. It was a tense second half but some key turnovers from Mia Regan and Poppy Newman opened up further opportunities and the shooting combination of Phoebe Aisher and Susannah White did not disappoint. The game finished 13-12 to RHS. Royal High's Senior Netball squad were the deserving winners and will represent Avon at the Regional Tournament at the end of January. Very proud of their focus and determination. Well done girls.

BANES District Cross Country Trials

Congratulations to the following girls who took part in the BANES District Cross Country Trials on Monday 11th November.

  • Eliza Gardner
  • Emily Jones
  • Sophie Moore
  • Ellie Webster
  • Elianah Obim-Ofor
  • Sophie Jones
  • Clemmie Gallen
  • Tilly Kennard
  • Lottie Silverton
  • Charlie Emptage
  • Isla Mills
  • Adriana Crespo
  • Holly Stevens
  • Remy Darby
  • Evie Butterfield
  • Xenia Sadurni
  • Hettie Silverton
  • Ruby Butterfield
  • Cesca Butterworth
  • Natalie Garcia
  • Ellen Ingrey Counter
  • Kitty Allen
  • Olivia Phillips
  • Evie Wright
  • Evie Woods
  • Seren Davies
  • Ella Brooks
  • Issy Moore
  • Teresa Varela de Prado

U12 GDST Netball Rally

A crisp, sunny, autumnal November day in Croydon was the setting for the annual GDST U12 Netball Tournament. Our Year 7 squad were excited for the day of Netball ahead and the event didn’t disappoint. 10 games of netball played in total and the girls grew in confidence and their performance improved as the day progressed.

We made a positive start beating Sutton 3-0 in the opening match even if a little nervous to start. A very close game v Newcastle followed and despite keeping our heads and playing well under pressure we narrowly lost that game 4-3. We picked ourselves up in game 3 v Blackheath showing some lovely through court play, especially in attack, allowing us to win that game 3-1. Bromley were up next and we don’t like to talk about that game. We lost the game 7-3 but all would agree we didn’t play our best. The girls gave themselves a good talking to and began to string some impressive phases of play together and scoring some great goals under pressure to beat Nottingham 2-1 and South Hampstead 4-2. Despite losing our final few games to some excellent teams, I couldn’t be more proud of how the girls played and conducted themselves throughout the day. They were keen to learn and improve and they did with every game they played and I hope they took a great deal from the experience of playing in a GDST netball rally.

The Squad

  • Beatrix Andreen
  • Cesca Butterworth
  • Remy Darby
  • Tilly Kennard
  • Millie Knurdsen
  • Jemima Lunn
  • Isla Mills
  • Jessica Potter
  • Imogen Shaw
  • Hettie Silverton

Trust swimming

5 Girls competed at the Trust Senior Swimming competition held at Croydon High School last Thursday.

The girls were selected in their times as we had to meet the Standard Times set by the Trust organisers.

After a slightly chaotic warm-up in rather choppy waters, we were ready for the first individual event 4x 50m Individual Medley swam by Emily Jones who secured our first point of the day. For every individual swimmer who achieved the Standard time, they were awarded 1 point for the team score.

Ophelia Hyde then swam 50m Backstroke, again, scoring a well-deserved point, Sophie Jones then won her heat and was the second-fastest swim in the 50m Breaststroke and secures her place in the final.

Ellen Ingrey Counter held her own in the 50m Fly and Mila Coxon just missed out on the Standard time in the 50m Freestyle.

Emily, Sophie, Ellen and Mila then won their heat and secured a great Standard in the Medley Relay. Ophelia swopped in for Ellen and with a great leg 1 and 2 from Emily and Sophie we again won our heat and to our surprise nailed another Standard time.

Sophie then swam a brilliant final 50m Breaststroke and was pipped out of top place by just a hand touch.

The girls surpassed expectations and came away having gained 10 team points and now know what we have to do ready for next year as 2 girls were a year young and 3 of them have another two years in this age group!

English Schools Cross Country Cup

Regional finals

In the first year that RHS entered the ESSA XC Cup competition both our Junior Girls and Inter Girls qualified at Downside to compete in South West Regional finals held at King’s Taunton on Saturday.

With torrential rain all morning, it made conditions rather muddy and challenging. Thankfully at 12pm when the JG’s were ready at the start the rain stopped, blue sky was noticeable and the sun actually shone.

The girls followed their clear instructions and went out fast from the start. With some of the best distance runners in the South of England competing we were privileged to appreciate some superb performances. Ruby Butterfield was our first runner home gaining a well deserved top 10 place. Emily Jones came in next followed by her sister Sophie and our 4th runner to count in the overall team score was Evie Wright. Olivia Phillips and Evie woods ran courageous runs and finished with big beaming smiles.

The Inter team made up of Lottie Silverton, Evie Butterfield, Clemmie Gallen, Adriana Crespo, Natalia Garcia Tomes, and Ella Brooks.

Lottie was the first RHS runner home gaining another top 10 place, closely followed by Evie and Clemmie. Adriana demonstrated real grit and determination as the 4th runner to score having fallen twice she kept running and gained imports at points for the team.

Out of 12 teams, the Junior Girls came 8th overall and the Inter Girls 9th

All good experience and all the runners will be competing again on Monday 11th in the District Trials.

U14/U15 Hockey vs St Mary's Calne

The U14/U15 team enjoyed a great fixture vs St Mary’s Calne on Thursday 7 November. The team settled well and took the lead early on, with St Mary’s equalised, but with Holly Lancaster in goal and the defensive team all working well to recycle the ball whenever St Mary’s made a further foray into our defensive end, scoring opportunities for the opposition were limited. The midfield and attacking players worked hard to maintain pressure on the St Mary’s goal, with the score then extending to finish 3-1 win to RHS. Coco Hiatt nominated Defensive Player of the Game and Izzy Moore Attacking Player of the game. Goals were scored by Lottie Ravenhill, Elly Boardman and Izzy Moore.

The Team:

Holly Lancaster, Jessica Knechtli, Izzy Moore, Lottie Ravenhill, Elly Boardman, Eloisa Lunn, Coco Hiatt, Charlotte Hutcheson, Aefre Mak, Sara Hussein, Alena Bull, Georgie Richardson, Jemima Honeyborne.