The Lion | Spring 2005
girls’sport SENIOR NETBALL The senior netball squads have had an extremely successful first half of the season both in friendly, league and tournament matches. The first team squad have progressed through two rounds of the National Schools Competition to gain a place in the West Midlands Finals. Back in October they were winners of the Under 19 Coventry Schools Tournament, just beating King Henry VIII on goal average. Goal average has been crucial this season as in the subsequent Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire round of the competition they were placed second – again on the narrowest of margins (0.006 of a goal). However the team were top scorers, with 79 goals over the 5 matches and they hope that they can reproduce their success in January at the West Midlands Tournament.
Bablake now go through to represent the Midlands at the National Finals in February. It has been a number of years since Bablake has reached a Hockey National Final. (Since Miss East was playing for school!) We are very proud of this outstanding achievement and wish the girls all the best. SQUAD Jodie Neale (GK), Sam Brindley, Ira Kleine, Adelle Middleton, Roxy Ziaie, Lucy Horn, Holly Payne (C), Lauren Boon, Charlotte Weaver, Lauren Carpenter, Lijana Kaziow, Lara Jackson, Laura Owen, Rachel Powell, Abigail Rewhorn (GK), Rebecca Sewell.
U18 HOCKEY Last term the U18 hockey team reached the Midlands finals for the second year running. They came runners up in the Warwickshire tournament having won their section, scoring 13 goals and conceding only 1, taken a 2-0 win in the semi-final against Twycross House. The final saw them narrowly losing to Kings High 1-0. The girls trained hard for the Midlands round as they knew the competition was going to be tough. They finished third in their section, narrowly missing out on the semifinals, but they competed well and certainly gave the winning team, Repton, a run for their money as Bablake scored first, the only team in the section to score past them. A new member of the sixth form, Sophie Plackett-Smith, can claim fame to the goal along with two more during the course of the day. U14 & U16 NETBALL. Once again Bablake U14 and U16 netball teams have had an extremely successful first half of the season. Both teams have competed in the first two rounds of the Daily Telegraph National Schools Competition and have emerged as both Coventry and Warwickshire champions. They now play in the West Midlands with the aim of reaching the National Finals. These squads are talented and committed players who have worked tremendously hard to carry on the Bablake tradition of excellence in netball. Particular praise should go to the U16 squad who, despite the many demands on their time in their GCSE year, have managed to juggle academic work, netball and recreation with great maturity.
U16 netball
BABLAKE WIN UNDER 14 MIDLANDS HOCKEY FINAL After winning the U14 Warwickshire Hockey tournament with relative ease, Bablake had high expectations of doing well in the Midlands round. The girls made a nervous start to the tournament against Wolverhampton Grammar, conceded a goal but fought back hard and Lijana Kaziow scored to take a 1-1 draw. The second game was against the tournament favourites, Repton. Bablake were disappointed to concede a goal in the last few minutes. The pressure increased, knowing that they had to win the next 2 games to reach the semi-finals. The third section match was against Oakham School and was the defining match of the day. With the score at 0-0, Lucy Horn nonchalantly stopped a ball on the defending line and then cleared to the halfway line. Holly Payne then demonstrated some fine individual skills to produce the only goal of the game. This victory boosted their confidence and the girls followed it with a convincing 3-1 win over Dame Alice Harpur. Lauren Carpenter scored two of the goals.
U16 hockey
In the semi-final, Bablake faced Oundle school. Their increased confidence levels saw another improvement in performance yet they could not find the final touch on the ball to provide the goal. In the dying seconds of the match, Bablake won a penalty corner and a slick one-two at the top of the circle between Holly Payne and Lucy Horn saw Holly slotting home the goal and Bablake advancing to the final. The final was between Bablake and Repton School. From playing the team earlier in the day, Bablake knew exactly where their opponents’ strength lay. Charlotte Weaver had an outstanding game in denying their play maker from time and space on the ball. Bablake dominated the game and were unlucky not to score from open play on a number of occasions. As the game wore on, it became apparent that the match was to be decided by penalty strokes. Lauren Boon took the first stroke and scored and Jodie Neale denied the 1st Repton stroke taker. Lucy Horn made no mistake with the second stroke and Repton then scored their second stroke to take the score to 2-1 in Bablake’s favour. Captain Holly Payne then scored the third stroke and Jodie Neale made another outstanding save. The pressure then fell on Rebecca Sewell as she knew that if she scored Bablake would have won the championship. With great relief she slotted home the ball and Bablake were the Midlands Champions!
U14 netball
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