Spring Term Fixtures Kick Off New Season of Sport.

U9 Netball v RGS The Grange (Miss Lake’s team).

Miss Lake’s team enjoyed the warmth of The Barn for their first match of the season. The girls adapted to playing in 5-a-side positions well and were keen to learn where they could go on the court. From the off, the girls worked hard to take the ball down the court towards their attacking D. Two goals were confidently scored in quick succession early on by Annie W, with Robyn C supporting her underneath the goal, ready for any rebounds. In defence, India B, Izzy W and Bella P showed some great progress in their marking, stretching their arms up to try to intercept passes. Charlotte P delivered some excellent centre passes too. As RGS grew into their game, our girls had to work harder, sticking with their players when defending. The girls should be proud of their accomplishments. The match was extremely beneficial and has highlighted areas of strength, but also given us areas to focus upon in our upcoming Games lessons. RGS chose Annie W as player of the match and she was also identified by the RGS member of staff as being a strong team player with accurate passes. Well done, girls!

U9 Netball v RGS The Grange (Mrs Butt’s team).

Despite the cold the U9 girls were very excited to welcome RGS The Grange to King’s Hawford for the first match of the Netball season.

After just one week of Games and Netball Club the girls in U9 began the matches with a very confident warm up and impressed Mrs Butt with their high energy levels from the first whistle. This week the U9 girls have had a brief introduction to the positions and rotations that we play as part of Bee Netball and have all enjoyed the extra challenge that this has brought to the game.

Ariana led her team as Captain with great determination and positivity. She marked tightly and intercepted a number of opposition balls as well as executing some lovely shots on target. Maisie-Jayne and Rosie worked incredibly hard throughout the match, covering every inch of the court making it increasingly difficult for their markers.

Daisy and Ruby received the ball confidently, snatching it into possession and moving it on quickly up the court to get it under the post. All girls shot at goal very confidently, evidently the practice at break time has paid off.

Zara rotated through each position on court with confidence showing her ability both in attack and defence and causing her marker problems with her constant movement. She was quick to position herself under the post and shot with accuracy and success.

Zara overall performance was very deserving of her Player of the Match award which was nominated by the opposition.

Jasmine, Florrie, Valerie and Adelyn were quick with their decision making on the court and were able to link up for several phases of excellent passing. The attackers were quick to position Themselves under the post and get numerous shots on target.

Charlotte F made numerous interceptions and never allowed her marker out of her sight. She scored a number of goals and showed an excellent understanding of the game fulfilling her role as Captain excellently.

Charlotte F was nominated as Player of the Match by the opposition, a very well-deserved nomination for a strong all-round performance.

Mrs Butt was very proud of the sportsmanship that every girl showed during the matches and the positive attitudes throughout. It was particularly nice to see every King’s Hawford girl buddied up with a girl from the opposition and the interactions off court over teas. We look forward to building on their success in training next week ready for fixtures again the week after.

U10 Netball v RGS The Grange – Mrs Beech’s report.

On an extremely chilly, but beautiful Wednesday afternoon, we travelled to R.G.S The Grange for the first netball match of the season. I was so impressed with the standard of play from our U10 A Team.

King’s Hawford took an early lead with some great intercepting from Marnie, Olivia and Thea who were fantastic in defence, totally fearless and made some great blocks throughout the match. It was clear that the girls had been watching the opposition closely as they quickly picked up how to use the space on the court to their advantage.

Millie B was fantastic in her court coverage and her use of space allowed for some great passes to Pippa and Marnie who were able to convert them into goals. Millie B also scored some incredible goals during the game.

During the middle rotations there was tremendous running from Olivia and Pippa with many passes into the D which were subsequently converted into goals. What a match! All the girls worked extremely hard across the six rotations with some fabulous goals scored and defended.

Thank you to family and friends who travelled to R.G.S to support the girls.

U10 team v RGS The Grange – Marnie P’s report

It was a cold day and as we went on it got only a little bit warmer. We were all kind of nervous but very excited to see our friends at the Grange. We started off strong and as we went through we worked better as a team,and started to look where are teammates were and did some great passes.

Pippa P got some great interceptions from the other players and worked really hard as a defender. Millie B did some great shooting, she always tries to get the ball and has so much energy. Olivia G did some great marking and sticking to her player very tight. Thea’s goal at around the start was really good under pressure and we started to look good as a team.

RGS started to pick up and score a few more goals (not as much as us though) and we won the match 9 to 4 but we had a great time at RGS who did amazing work too. We had a sausage roll after and we were talking to all of our friends in RGS.

U11 Netball v RGS The Grange

We had a fantastic start to our netball matches and I am excited for the season ahead.

We were delighted to host RGS The Grange on a very cold but beautifully clear afternoon on Wednesday. The U11 girls have made a very good start to the Netball season in training and relished the opportunity to get on the court for their first competitive fixture of the term.

The B team was Captained with great energy by Ava I who kept the girls focussed and working right to the last whistle despite a tough first game of the season. Ava W demonstrated fantastic work rate throughout linking nicely with Ava H and Bella W. Robyn, Chloe and Sienna showed quick thinking and an urgency to get under the post when they had the opportunity however it was mostly a game of defending for the girls. Lots to take forward into training next week as we prepare for the next week of fixtures.
Chloe P was nominated as Player of the Match by the opposition for her all-round performance both in attack and defence. A very well deserved award.

The A team was captained by Hattie D who led by example for the entire match. She intercepted every ball, marked her player tightly and had some good accurate shots at goal, an all-round excellent effort.

As a team the girls played fast attacking Netball, linking fluidly with their passes and maintaining a pace of play that The Grange struggled to match. Robyn, Jetta and Holly worked hard to get under the post at every opportunity finding the net on numerous occasions.

With the rotations of Bee Netball every single girl plays in every position on the court, both in attack and defence. With every rotation each King’s Hawford player scored to gain points for their team, a total of 21 goals altogether! The break time shooting practice is definitely paying off.

Harriet, Annabel, Sienna and Chloe all worked tirelessly to mark their players and limit the attack of the opposition, they intercepted the ball and quickly initiated their own strong attack, linking up in the middle of the court.

Holly Jones was the standout player of the match as nominated by the opposition. She intercepted every ball that came her way and maintained her energy right to the last whistle. Her work rate was outstanding, setting the bar high for the rest of the season. Well done Holly.

U8 Football v RGS The Grange

The under 8 side showed huge resilience in a battling performance against their RGS The Grange counterparts on Tuesday.  The boys showed a good deal of individual talent and determination, in a game that they were twice 2 goals behind in to ultimately get a share of the spoils.

The defence was solid and the midfield worked hard to win the ball and put the side on the front foot.  Tom H lead the attack well, often having to hold up play whilst his teammates pushed forward into the box.  A special mention must go to goalkeeper Cassian W who made a number of brave saves and commanded his box well.

U9 Boys Football vs RGS The Grange

The U9 boys kicked off the football term with great levels of effort and enthusiasm in a challenging home match with RGS The Grange on Tuesday afternoon. The boys worked extremely hard throughout the match and demonstrated super levels of determination and stamina. It was great to see them continuing to work on developing their positional awareness and discipline as well as their decision making when passing the ball. A big congratulations go to both Austin and Charles for opening their scoring accounts for the season with excellent finishes as well as Freddie for a strong performance in goal.

U10 Football v RGS The Grange

Mr Marsland took a team of U10 Boys to RGS for their first fixture of the season. The boys played an excellent first half by passing and running into space which resulted in a 2-1 lead at half time. The second half consisted of the team having to defend for virtually the whole half against a very dominant RGS team. The final 5 minutes ended up with 12 corners to RGS with Thomas C making several vital saves to help seal the win. Goal scorers were Oliver G and Charles H. Overall a very good performance on such a cold day.

U10 Football v RGS The Grange

Mt Stigant’s U10 side has seen a number of new faces join their ranks for the start of this football season and have worked hard in training to gel as a side. Their match against a talented RGS The Grange side offered them the opportunity to put this into practice on a chilly winter’s day.  All the boys gave maximum effort with James B and Nayel M-S particularly industrious in midfield. It was also good to see Freddie B and Charles N reading the game well in defence.  Both goalkeepers also deserve a good deal of credit with Finn M-P making a string of brave saves and interceptions, whilst new signing Ben B made a magnificent triple save from close range.  It will be exciting to see how these boys perform over the season with more time to work on their positioning and communication.

U11 Boys Matty Thacker Football Tournament

On Wednesday afternoon a group of year 6 boys travelled to Winterfold School to compete in the annual Matty Thacker football tournament. This is always the opener of the football term and has a special significance to it, having been named after a year 6 boy who tragically lost his life in a car accident in 2008. The Hawford team started well and were unbeaten after the first three group games, having secured 0-0 draws against Kings St Albans and Blue Coat and an impressive 3-0 victory over Moor Park that included well crafted goals for James B, George O and Rory G, ably assisted by Ismail B. Up next was a tricky match against the hosts Winterfold and despite excellent performances from Will N and George M in midfield, including the latter striking a freekick against the underside of the crossbar, and a solid display in defence from Chris HS and Harry C, we slipped to our only defeat of the afternoon with a 2-0 scoreline. The boys bounced back brilliantly in the final group game, achieving a 1-0 victory over The Elms thanks to a well taken late goal from George M. The super performances in the group stage secured a third place finish which meant that we qualified for the semi finals of the cup competition where we faced off against a strong and physical Westhouse team. The Hawford boys battled superbly and played some excellent passing football, creating several chances before a fantastic second half strike from Will N sealed an impressive 1-0 victory. The afternoon finished with an all-Kings final between Hawford and St Albans. This was a repeat of the opening group game and again led to a close match in which Hawford created the bulk of the scoring opportunities but were indebted to Teddy C in goal for a fantastic save late on in the match which took the game to penalties. Teddy’s heroics between the sticks continued in the penalty shootout as he didn’t concede a goal, pulling off two excellent saves. This enabled George M to slot away the winning penalty for Hawford. The boys enjoyed a highly impressive afternoon of football in which they made outstanding progress throughout each game. A special mention should go to Teddy who was our player of the tournament conceding just two goals and keeping six clean sheets from seven matches.