A super successful week on the sports pitches

King’s Swimming Gala

Last Friday, 45 excited Year Four to Year Six children travelled to Droitwich Spa Leisure Centre for their first swimming gala of the year. Normally, the children have the opportunity to attend several galas during the first two terms but, due to the ongoing maintenance work of the Senior School Pool, it just hasn’t been viable, until now!

It was lovely to see a completely full spectator area, with everyone cheering on the three competing schools: King’s Hawford, King’s St. Alban’s and RGS The Grange.

The children were a real credit to the School, listened well and cheered on their teammates. All of the children swam extremely well and should be proud of their achievements. Special mentions must go to Daisy, Arthur G, Thea, Pippa, Arthur A, Harry, Hattie, Holly, Teddy, and George O, who all finished first in their individual events, with the U10 Boys’ Medley Relay team of Charles, Arthur A, Harry and James also taking the win in an extremely close race. The U11 Girls’ Relay Team made up of Hattie, Holly, Harriet and Pippa (Y5) also won both the Freestyle and Medley events. The huge success meant that both teams finished top of their respective “pools”! The future is certainly bright for our swimmers at King’s Hawford!

Malvern The Downs Hockey Tournament – Mrs Butt reports:

The U11 girls travelled to Malvern College for a Hockey Tournament hosted by The Downs, Malvern. They played some fantastic hockey in the group stage, scoring eight goals overall and finishing first in their Group. They then met Moor Park in the semi-final and, with a particularly strong attack, King’s Hawford were able to put several impressive goals on the score-sheet to secure their place in the final. Here they met a strong and well-drilled Hereford Cathedral team; we had already come up against them in the group stage, a match which resulted in a draw, but the final proved to be a more challenging affair and, despite the girls’ hard-fought effort, they came out runners-up, finishing the tournament in second place.

Malvern The Downs Hockey Tournament – Harriet B reports:

In the tournament at Malvern College we played very well, using the width of the pitch and making hard, fast passes into space just as we had practiced in training. Darcy was solid in goal throughout the tournament, saving some spectacular shots, especially when she dived to save one to the bottom right.

Hattie and Marnie showed resilience and never gave up; they both scored some amazing goals. Jetta made some great tackles and never stopped working in defence, marking her player the whole time. Holly didn’t stop working for one second and gave it her all to stop every single ball coming her way. Millie was great, sending some excellent balls down the wing and into the area, and Pippa P used the width of the pitch really well to create space in attack. Pip K played brilliantly and was very brave when she took a knock and was injured. I was so impressed and proud of all the girls for making it to the semi-finals, which we won with excellent play. We gave the final our all, with every last bit of energy, but sadly we lost to a strong Hereford Cathedral team.

U10 & U11 Hockey v The Elms

A very determined King’s Hawford team turned up at The Elms on a bitterly cold Wednesday afternoon and from the first push-back the game was hard work, facing physical opposition. That said, the girls were eager to play and took to the pitch determined and focussed, keen to show the skills learnt over the half term. They represented King’s Hawford impeccably and should be incredibly proud of themselves, with both their individual and team performances.

Constantly pushing forward, the girls dribbled effectively and made strong passes out onto the wings. Tackles were quick and the girls dominated many of them. At times we lacked shape and positional awareness, but were fortunate that we could regain possession when lost and passed quickly before the defence closed in. Central players were a key factor in our dominance and the partnership of Chloe P, Sienna G with Thea covering both wings was formidable.

As the match progressed The Elms continued to push forward, testing our defence of Mary, Lyra and Jess K, but the girls are now really understanding how to attack and defend in a game. In the second two quarters there was flowing, passing play, with the ball repeatedly entering the D, where our attacking players had many attempts on goal. Annabel played well in defence, clearing many attempts on goal from short corners. We maintained a strong possession till the final whistle, making quick decisions and game play.

Mrs Beech was delighted with Chloe P’s recognition as Player of the Match, as she worked tirelessly and was the assist to Sienna’s well-struck goals. Harriet B’s goal from a beautiful reverse-stick shot was the goal of the tournament, and her overall performance earns her “Coach’s Player of the Tournament”.

U8 Hockey v Malvern The Downs

This might have been our chilliest adventure yet as we boarded the minibus to The Downs in Malvern, but sunshine and beautiful winter weather made for happy hockey players.

Mrs Beech was pitch side with a mix of Year Three and Four players, who took part in a four-a-side game. A team of Maisie (Y4) Adelyn (Y4) Sophia (Y3) and Georgia (Y3) worked tirelessly and did not let their heads go down against a tough opposition, showing outstanding resilience and sportsmanship. Maisie and Adelyn worked well in partnership, attacking the ball with every opportunity, supported well by Sophia and Georgia in defence. Georgia also showed some lovely centre-field play and Sophia naturally gravitated out onto the wing. We managed to score some lovely goals and our positional play improved tremendously throughout the game. Maisie was chosen as Player of the Match, which was thoroughly deserved.

Over on Miss Lake’s pitch, an evenly-fought match took place as Robyn impressed with her defensive skills and positional awareness, stopping plenty of attacks, and Evelyn, Sylvie and Ellie M all grew into their roles with increasing confidence, demonstrating skills learnt within games lessons. The Player of the Match went to Daisy, who used her spatial awareness to drive the ball into the D, scoring three goals for the team!