sportstalk
sportstalk
Sportstalk Staff and students share their experiences and views on another exciting year of sport at Bablake
boys’ Athletics Mr Rob Burdett There have been several notable performances throughout the age groups, with the intermediate boys comfortably winning the district championship and qualifying for the Midlands A final in the English Schools Cup. Congratulations go to Jordan Dowthwaite-Clarke, James Faulkner, Robert Faulkner, Chimdi Ogbuneke, Chris Tuttle and Joel White who were selected to represent Coventry at the West Midlands Championships. This success has been boosted by the increased number of boys attending athletics club and many boys joining external clubs. The future of boys’ athletics at Bablake is looking stronger than it has for some time. girls’ Athletics Mrs Suzanne Webley It has been on the track where the Bablake girls have been most successful. They have trained hard throughout the term and this dedication to their own events as well as towards the team has paid off. In the English Schools Track and Field Cup, the junior team qualified for the Midlands B final where they finished the day 2nd overall, after many girls achieved personal bests in their events. The Intermediate team also competed in the cup and qualified for the Midlands A final, finishing 3rd overall. The girls performed at their maximum during this competition with many personal bests being achieved. In the Coventry Schools Championships, Bablake won the Intermediate, Junior and Year 7 competitions and finished second in the Year 8 competitions. Inevitably there were many girls who were crowned individual Coventry champions: Beth Mordey (hurdles), Alexa Goodyer (shot) and Anna French (long jump) at Intermediate level; Amy Lilly (hurdles), Keisha Simms (100m and long jump), Aimee Piercy (shot and discus) and Narissa Pankhania (high jump) all at Junior level. Year 8 champions were Daisy Williams (200m and long jump), Lydia Turner (800m) and Georgia Gunson (discus), whilst Year 7 champions were Lucy Farrington (hurdles), Eleanor Bonas (600m), Katerina Jackson (1000m) and Olivia Sweeney (shot). 18 girls (including Lauren Carr, Holly Molloy, Mollie Sargent, Beth Shaw, Lucy Smith, Becky Timms, Emily White and Sophie Zgraja) were selected to represent Coventry at the West Midlands Championships. Hannah Mordey, Lydia Turner and Daisy Williams each gained 3rd place in their events.
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Congratulations should go especially to Lucy Smith who qualified for the English Schools National Finals after throwing a personal best in the shot. She was placed 4th in the country after throwing another personal best at the finals and exceeded that again when she was 4th at an International event representing England. Chess Mr Andrew Chowne Once again, we were fortunate to have international John Naylor coach our teams at the start of the season. Putting the players in sharp middle game positions, where the initiative was all important, was again exciting and you certainly could see the improvement in all the players. John watched all the A team matches and was able to memorise the games and replay them showing the players where they went wrong – an amazing feat! We finished 4th in Division 1 of the Coventry Schools League with the leading players being: 5.5 – Daniel Rowlands, 4.5 – George Esworthy and 3 – Ben Maudsley. Daniel’s performance was excellent given that he was playing Board 1 against internationals. In Division 2 the leading players were: 8 – Vikesh Puri, 7 – Michael Parvis, 6.5 – Albert Jie, and 6 – Christine Goldfinch. Daniel Rowlands was Bablake champion for the 2nd time beating George Esworthy in the final while our final fixture was hosting the Coventry Schools Lightning Competition. 37 players from all the schools in the area took part and there were 6 exciting rounds; Matthew Rowlands and Ben Maudsley finished joint 3rd with 4 wins. Thanks go to Mr Robin Smith and Mr Inderpal Kalsi for all their help with the teams. Cross Country Miss Stacey Wilson and Mr Jeremy Hobday Tom Betts came 6th in the U14 CIty Championship race, whilst Lewis Marshall, Richard Price and James Faulkner came 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively to win the U16 Coventry senior boys championships. Richard Price managed a highly respectable second in the U16 individual Coventry League Championship, while Jamie Cozens was 1st in both the U19 Coventry League Championship and the City of Coventry Championship race.
The Junior Girls have also shown great potential: Katerina Jackson came 1st in both the individual League and City Championship, Eleanor Bonas finished second in the individual League and 4th in the City Championship, while Anna Price was 5th in the City Championship. Football Mr Jeffrey Grantham and Mr Mark Woodward Signs of a football revival came with a win before Christmas – possibly a Bablake 1st – as we welcomed an influx of talented L6th players. Since we do not play in a league, the ability of our opposition will always vary but over the season we won more games than we lost, with the highlight a 9-1 win at North Leamington. Reliable, brave and talented goalkeeper Rob Tressler offered stability and he had plenty of opportunities to show his expertise since our defence was our Achilles Heel. There was a potency and skill up front via Sam Clements who was strong in the air, lethal on the floor and always very eager in his urgency to retrieve the ball from opponents. His tenacity as vice captain was noticeable. Artistry in the midfield came through the skilful boots of Avin Jandoo and James Langton (player of the season), while there was exciting wing play from Charlie Owen. We also were privileged to have the attacking edge of Lizzie Stubbington who, because of our age group, had fewer opportunities to play than we would have liked but never let us or herself down. David Humphries was a gracious captain and the success he nurtured will surely lead to further success next season. It will be hard to match the commitment and zeal of this year’s squad. Gymnastics Mrs Cath Mills Regular attendees at our Gymnastics club were given the opportunity to represent Bablake at the recent Coventry Schools competition. A team of four girls was selected and the work began! Gymnasts were required to perform a pairs floor sequence and individual vaulting with varying degrees of technical difficulty and individual interpretation. Sophie Zgraja and Alesha Robinson formed one pair with Jashan Sangha and Helena Farren forming the other. The girls worked very hard and deserve praise for their commitment, attention to detail and team spirit.
Competition day arrived and four slightly nervous but excited girls arrived at the venue. Competition was fierce and standards were very high but everyone rose to the occasion. Nerves were soon replaced with smiles as first the vaulting and then the floor sequences were tackled. The girls produced quality performances in both disciplines. The team finished overall 4th in the vaulting, 2nd in the floor work and Sophie and Alesha had their floor sequence placed in 3rd position out of 14 pairs. Well done to all the girls; we eagerly await next year’s competition! Rounders Mrs Sue Smith and Mrs Suzanne Webley A very busy term did not stop our girls showing enthusiasm and commitment throughout. In the Coventry Schools, the U13 A, U14 and U15 teams all finished runners up and the U12 team was knocked out in the semi final. This was a disappointing end for the U12s who were unbeaten up until this point, but overall each team displayed moments of outstanding play both with bat and in the field. Over 30 girls regularly attended our U12 practice, which was very encouraging but also made competition for team places very high. Seven matches were fitted around the inclement British weather and all were victories. It was just a few fielding errors and half a rounder that stemmed progress in the Coventry Schools. The U12Bs enjoyed two fixtures and were encouraged by a win in the last game. Tennis Mrs Chris Scott and Mr Rob Burdett Once again, it was a challenging season as many of our opponents have very strong teams as many of their girls play regularly. Despite this, the girls put in several excellent performances, none more so than Jonine Bains and Katie Wainhouse who reached the final of the centenary King Edward VI High School invitational tournament, a great achievement. The U12 and U13 teams continued to improve with the U12s recording an impressive victory over Princethorpe and the U13s a particularly pleasing win against KHVIII. In the Coventry Schools, our U14s (Helen Rowland and Sophie Zgraja) and U15As (Jess Betts and Beth Starkey) were runners up , while the U15B team (Annabel Knight and Alexa Goodyer) won its section. The boys who have represented the school at tennis this year showed tremendous enthusiasm, which can only bode well for the future. www.bablake.com @bablakeschool
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