KSA Sports Spotlight: Action-Packed Week!

Saturday 18th January 

 U11 and U10 Warwick Prep Netball Tournament Mrs Clark and Miss Jordan 

On Saturday, we entered four teams from Hawford and KSA into the Warwick Prep School U11 and U10 netball tournament. Despite facing bitterly cold conditions, with icy hands making it increasingly challenging to catch the ball as the day went on, the girls displayed incredible resilience and determination throughout the competition. It was also lovely to see how quickly they gelled with their Hawford teammates. 

The U11 teams were raring to go especially after winning the U10 tournament last year. The team that won last year started well and won their first match. They also went on to win 3 of their 5 pool matches. Unfortunately, they came up against 2 tough teams, Bromsgrove and Heathmount where they lost by just one goal. This meant that they didn’t go through to the semi-finals. Miss Jordan worked out that if they’d drawn just one of the matches that they narrowly lost, then they would have done. Needless to say, the girls were devasted. However, as stoic as they always are, they picked themselves up and beat RGS The Grange in the 5/6th play offs 4-2, thereby coming 5th out of 12. The other team had a great morning winning two of their matches and showcasing some of the best netball they’ve played. Yifei was amazing at intercepting the ball and turned many over. They were through to 7/8th play offs, where they won and were 7th out of 12. Superb! 

The U10 teams started the tournament on a high, securing an impressive series of wins early on. In the final group matches, both teams faced tough opposition, losing to Bromsgrove and Warwick—two good teams who later competed against each other in the final. 

In their concluding match, our two U10 teams faced off in a thrilling contest, showcasing great teamwork and sportsmanship. Their efforts earned them an impressive 3rd and 4th place finish out of a total of eight schools. 

Congratulations to all the girls for their hard work and excellent performances, and a heartfelt thank you to the many parents who came to support the teams so enthusiastically in the cold conditions. Mrs Clark and Miss Jordan were very proud of all the girls. 

A great foundation event! 

Tuesday 21st January 

U9/8 Football v The Elms – Mr Hooman 

The team started extremely well, passing the ball around with confidence. Monty, Dylan, and Max were brilliantly organised in defence, making some fantastic tackles and maintaining their positions effectively. Haadi did an excellent job in goal, commanding his penalty area and coming out to close down the angle for the opposition striker. Archie M, Hugo F, and Charlie W showed great strength and composure on the ball, playing well against older opponents. In midfield, Harvey and Matthew excelled, traveling with the ball and beating opponents using skill and a change of speed and direction. Jack was outstanding, controlling the game and scoring two brilliant goals. It was a really close and competitive game that provides a solid foundation for the boys to continue improving. The Player of the Match was Jack C for his exceptional performance. 

Well done to the entire team! 

U9/8 Football v The Elms – Mr Atkinson 

This week we travelled over to the Malvern Hills for a hard-fought contest against the Elms. Starting up the slope, we struggled a bit and spent quite a bit of time in our own half. Bertie and Jeremiah battled well, tackling their good runners and stopping many of their attacks, limiting their chances on goal. When we did play down the slope, we managed to play a bit more in the opposition half and created some chances on goal. We did tend to bunch up a bit too much and need to work on spreading out and finding space in future weeks. Overall we worked hard and can be pleased with our efforts. Daniel, Gabe and George were busy and Akshay and Magson looked to pass the ball in to space. 

U9/8 Netball v The Elms – Mrs Clark 

On Tuesday, all our Year 3 and 4 girls participated in a round-robin tournament against The Elms. The format was 4-a-side Bee Netball, with our four mixed-ability teams competing against their two teams. The matches were held in the sports hall, which was a welcome relief given the chilly weather outside, ensuring the girls could play comfortably without the added challenge of the cold. 

This was only their second fixture of the term, and it was pleasing to see how much progress the players have already made. There were many standout performances throughout the afternoon. Elodie and Savannah demonstrated excellent teamwork, with Elodie also impressing us with her precise shooting. Amber worked tirelessly, showing great awareness of space and movement, while Hibah, one of our Year 3 players, had a fantastic afternoon, even managing to score a couple of goals. 

A huge well done to all the girls for their effort. We were incredibly proud of their performances and the improvement they’ve shown. 

Wednesday 22nd January 

U11/10 Football v The Elms and Moor Park – Mr Hooman 

The U11/10 Football team had a fantastic afternoon in their triangular against Moor Park and The Elms. The standard of football on display from both teams was brilliant. 

Harry D was commanding as ever in goal and made a number of great saves, getting low to keep the ball out of the net. Thea H had a fantastic game in defence and made some brilliant tackles. She really is impressing with her strength in the tackle and is never scared to get fully stuck in. 

Will B returned from injury this week, having had an injury to his right foot. During Monday’s session, he had a left foot only session which obviously worked as he scored the winner with a left foot finish past the Moor Park keeper. 

The Elms was a tough test and they defended well. Max controlled the middle of the park. Unfortunately, we conceded after a moment of individual brilliance from The Elms player. With minutes to go, Max went through with the goalkeeper, keeping his composure and slotting it past The Elms keeper. 

Two amazing performances that they should be proud of. 

MOTM v Moor Park – Thea H 

MOTM v The Elms – Max G 

 

U11/10 Football v The Elms – Mr Jenkinson 

Wednesday afternoon (22nd January) saw seven boys from Year 6 play for the U11 B team in a friendly, but competitive, match against a team from The Elms at the Cinderella Ground. 

After a thorough team warm up, the boys were keen to get off to a good start and demonstrated great teamwork in passing the ball up the pitch to striker Freddie. Although The Elms had a few chances to score in the first half, they were prevented from scoring by Leo, who made several great saves in goal, as well as some dogged defence from George and Luca. Archie, Uriah and Henry all worked hard to play their part for the team in working back to retrieve possession. However, The Elms finally managed to break the deadlock and get the ball in the back of the St. Alban’s net to make the score 0-1 at half time. The boys knew that they needed to score at least two goals if they were going to win the match. So, after a few changes to positions, the team went on the attack. With the game finely poised, the team tried hard to work the ball into The Elms’ penalty area. Although Archie, Leo, Henry and Freddie all had chances, they couldn’t quite get the ball in the back of the net, which resulted in The Elms scoring a couple of quick goals on the counter attack. 

New goalkeeper Uriah made a great save, before he showed quick thinking to roll the ball out wide to Archie, who in turn passed to Leo, who sent the ball into space for Freddie to run onto. This resulted in the best bit of play of the afternoon, as Freddie took his chance and scored to round off a really impressive team move! 

This was a great game to watch, referee and play in as it was played in great spirit by both teams. A special mention must go to Player of the Match Henry for his effort and determination. Well done as well to Archie, Freddie, George, Leo, Luca and Uriah, who all played well and demonstrated superb perseverance and sportsmanship to represent St. Alban’s so well. Thank you very much to both sets of supporters, who came along to watch and help make it such an enjoyable match! 

 

U11/10 Football v The Elms and Moor Park – Mr Rowley 

On Wednesday, the U10/11 squad took on Moor Park and The Elms in their first fixture of the season. With an excitable afternoon ahead, the boys kicked off first against Moor Park. The style of football played was fast paced and had the football zipping across the turf. The first goal of the game came from Brody S who got himself in a great position to receive the cross from Pip T after some well worked passing up the pitch which involved the majority of the team. The second goal came from Zack L who dribbled his way up the pitch beating defenders left, right and centre to put the ball in the back of net. A special mention to Henry I who kept a clean sheet with some spectacular saves and received many compliments from supporting parents and the Moor Park Staff.  During the post-match debrief, the boys showed brilliant football understanding and identified that they were crowding the ball and they agreed to work on this in the next game against The Elms. They started slower than in first game but more methodically, focusing on the placement of each pass. The boys played some nice passes to work their way up the pitch. No goals were scored in this game by either team. Our defence worked their socks off to clear the ball and protect the goal especially Josh B-R and Jake K who communicated excellently and put in clean tackles and played the ball up the pitch. A successful afternoon of football and a lot for the boys to be very proud of. 

KSA v Moor Park. MOTM: Zack L 

KSA v The Elms. MOTM: Josh B-R 

U11B  Netball v The Elms – Mrs Clark 
On Wednesday, our U11B team took to the court for their first-ever 7-a-side school netball match, and they adapted brilliantly to the new rules and areas of play. The team started confidently, showing strong defensive skills from the outset. By the end of the first quarter, we held a narrow 1-0 lead. 

The Elms came out fighting in the second quarter and managed to equalize early on, keeping the match tightly contested. However, our girls showed great determination, steadily improving their passing and working hard to maintain possession.  

The final score of 7-3 was a well-earned victory. Flo and Tilly were outstanding in defence, intercepting numerous passes into the circle, while Phoebe’s excellent shooting was instrumental in securing the win. 

Well done to all the girls for their fantastic team effort and a great start to their 7 a-side experience! 

U11A Netball v The Elms – Miss Jordan 

On Wednesday, the girls had a wonderful afternoon up at The Elms. Having played their Year 6s last week, we were asked if we would like to play their Year 7s in a 7 a side game. The girls jumped at the chance. We started well with Zara GA and Skye GS, supported by Izzy WA, creating chances in our attacking end. By the end of the 1st quarter, we were narrowly leading 4-3. It was all to play for. In the second quarter, it was clear that both teams were going to fight for the win. The ball at times going end to end with scores on each side. We had a superb defence of Yifei GK and Georgia GD. Their interceptions and tracking of the ball were excellent which meant we had a turnover in this quarter. At half time we were leading 8-6. Our defence continued in their track and managed to turnover another 4 centre passes. Aided by the mid court team of Madie C, Sophia WD and Izzy WA each time the shooters scoring from these. At the end of the 3rd quarter, we were 14-10 up. For the final quarter we decided on a rotation of players (like we do in 5 a side) so those girls that hadn’t played in the centre third had the opportunity of a run around. It is interesting when we do this to see how the girls handle different positions. All of them gave it their all and fought to the very end. Final score KSA 16, The Elms 14. Well done to Zara who was awarded player of the match. 

U11/10 Netball v Bromsgrove – Mrs Hand 

King’s St Alban’s delivered dominant performances in their High 5 netball matches against Bromsgrove on Wednesday. In High 5 netball, the players rotate positions after each quarter so they have the opportunity to develop their skills in 3 or 4 different positions. In the first match, King’s St Alban’s triumphed 12-0, showing excellent teamwork and attacking skills. They controlled the game from the start, with accurate shooting and tight defending preventing Bromsgrove from scoring. In the second match, the KSA team again played superbly, winning 10-0. Their solid defending and quick ball movement in attack created plenty of opportunities for scoring. Both teams played with skill and determination, earning well-deserved victories. Well done to Millie and Hannah who were the  Opposition Players of the Match. Emilia scored the goal of the day with a spectacular shot from the edge of the goal circle.