Sporting Highlights Of The Week

Swimming Gala

Last Thursday afternoon a squad of swimmers from years 5 and 6 participated in the first swimming gala of the academic year.

It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to compete in the newly refurbished pool at King’s Worcester and was great to have so many parents spectating and cheering along. The  King’s Hawford team of boys and girls swam with superb levels of speed, resilience and commitment, showcasing their developing swimming techniques from their hard work in PE lessons, swimming club and early morning swimming sessions. Pitting their strokes against swimmers from Kings St Albans, RGS The Grange and Winterfold, the King’s Hawford swimmers excelled across the full variety of events. From the twenty-four races throughout the afternoon, our swimmers finished in either first or second position in no fewer than seventeen of the races; recording victories in ten of these. The year 6 relay teams performed especially well winning all four relay events. It was superb to see all sixteen children involved fully embracing the experience of competing and every one of them contributed towards the teams impressive points total that resulted in an overall victory for the school.

U8 Hockey V The Downs

The U8 girls faced a dominating team from The Downs Malvern.

From the starting whistle, the girls defensive players of Lily, Bonita-May and Indie were hard at work putting pressure on the strong attacking pair from the opposition. After conceding several goals, the girls resilience was evident and their focus improved. After the first quarter, a rotation of positions allowed for the King’s Hawford girls to push forward. Aoife’s determination and resilience helped drive the team, with Lily and Bonita-May supporting. In the second half of the match, Georgina’s pace allowed her to make some great tackles, limiting the opposing attack and Bonnie showed understanding of the defensive position by sending the ball out wide to clear it from the D, as well as watching the game play from the rear, shouting instructions to her teammates. The Downs Malvern awarded player of the match to Aoife.

U9 Hockey v The Downs

The U9 Girls travelled to Malvern The Downs on Wednesday.

They were caught off guard in the first quarter and it was evident that The Downs fielded a strong competitive side. Despite going a few goals down the King’s Hawford girls continued to work hard gaining in strength and confidence with each quarter.

Aurelia A was solid in the midfield chasing down every ball and creating some good attacking chances on goal. Georgia P held her position in attack looking for space and worked right to the final whistle. Ffion and Fearne worked really well together on the right of the pitch with Ffion taking early hit outs with increasing ball pace and Fearne holding an excellent position as an outlet on the right wing. Ellie M made some good tackles and started to close down The Downs attackers and Evelyn got increasingly involved in the game as time went on. The girls showed tremendous resilience in what was a tough game and will have learnt a lot from this experience.

Aurelia A was deservedly named player of the match by the opposition for her hard work and skill.

 U9 Tag Rugby Festival at King’s Hawford

Tuesday afternoon saw King’s Hawford take centre stage as we welcomed fourteen teams from seven different schools for our Rugby festival.

The top field was a hive of activity with over 130 children playing across four pitches; all trying their best to develop their game awareness, skill acquisition and team work. The King’s Hawford boys were matched up alongside opponents from RGS The Grange, Kings St Albans and Blue Coat and were extremely impressive all afternoon. We were especially pleased with the defensive organisation and committed tackling on show.

The tone was set, in this regard, by, ‘player of the afternoon’, Bruce W who was technically sound and physically strong and aggressive in the tackle. In possession, the boys also demonstrated good decision making and elusive running to score several tries. The speed of Joshy R and Thomas H proved a constant threat to the opponents’ try line whilst Rupert T and Isaac H continued to make excellent decisions and passing when in possession.

U11 Rugby vs Winterfold

On Wednesday afternoon the U11 Rugby teams welcomed our peers from Winterfold for two excellent matches in the sunshine out on the top field.

Mr Hodgkins’s team enjoyed a fantastic performance in a game in which both teams scored several impressive tries. It was great to see the King’s Hawford boys trying hard to apply their performance target of passing the ball away from contact and into space and this enabled ample of try scoring opportunities, duly taken by Noah L, George PW, Alex A, Nayel MS, George C and, the birthday boy, Ben B. Out of possession, Freddie B continued to be excellent in securing the ball at the breakdown and Joshua KE and Charles N demonstrated super hands, decision making and passing.

The tough tackling of Nayel, George and Ben helped to keep the Winterfold team away from the King’s Hawford line and we witnessed several outstanding, last-ditch, try-saving tackles from the man of the match and captain for the day, Alex A.

Mr Cook’s team 

King’s Hawford Under 11As produced their best performance of the term in the fixture against Winterfold on Wednesday. Considering they were without three regular A team members, the quality of the rugby they played in attack and defence was exceptional. The finishing skills of Charles C were once again to the fore as he ran in 5 tries, but he was indebted to Henry K, Oliver G, and Thomas C, who all showed an impressive ability to pass the ball to him whilst under pressure. Harry G was in barnstorming form in the middle of the pitch; he ran with impressive physicality and tackled with bravery and determination. George P-W made his A team debut and was impressive in defence, and Arthur A and Finn M-P continued their impressive progress this term. This was perfect preparation for their IAPS festival next week, as they can now look forward to that with confidence, knowing that they have genuine strength in depth

U8 Rugby At RGS Springfield

On a bright, unseasonal Tuesday afternoon, our Under 8 fledgling rugby players showed exactly how far they have come this term.

It was great to see them register two magnificent displays in a triangular fixture against our Foundation compatriots at St. Alban’s and then our hosts RGS Springfield. In the first fixture, it was clear that the King’s style of attacking rugby has permeated down to even our youngest players in an end to end celebration of free following rugby. Frank O showed his speed and agility once again, ably supported by Billy K, William C and Alexander SC.  So many tries were ran in by both sides that none of the crowd, coaches, boys or referee were able to tell who came out on top.

The second game against Springfield saw both defences play a greater part in the outcome of the game, with both sides taking six tags on more than one occasion, resulting in possession being turned over to the opposition.  King’s Hawford’s attacking play bore fruit with Casper H, Chester  L and Rupert C all making strong runs and linking play well.  This was a great afternoon very much enjoyed by a large crowd who lapped up the uninhibited rugby on offer.

U10 Rugby Against Winterfold/The Grange

On Wednesday, our Under 10 sides played some of their best rugby of the season.  

Mr Stigant Senior’s side battled hard in an excellent game against a strong RGS The Grange side, in an even and exciting game. The team’s support play was particularly strong with Harry J, Jack J Austin R and Charles H linking particularly well in attack to manufacture a number of fine scores. In the second match, against hosts Winterfold, the boys demonstrated the benefits of some hard training sessions with tackle bags and pads. The press defence worked well with William G and Johannes K putting in some great tackles, whilst Louis Y repeatedly hit rucks hard, winning a lot of ball for his side. The boys dominated the first half and defended stoutly as the the opposition hit back in the second.

Mr Stigant Junior’s side played some enterprising rugby in both games. Jasper P and Arthur G lead the defensive effort with Alex B dominating the contact zone, winning a lot of ball for his side.  In attack, Freddie W went end to end, running in two tries from his own goal line and Arthur G regularly threaded his way through the opposition to put his team onto the front foot or cross the try line himself. These were two excellent displays that showcased the boys attacking and defensive abilities.