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Cheshire U16 7s Rugby Tournament Ben Robertson, Religious Studies Department The first and only 7s tournament for our U16s showed coach Mr. Tann and assistant coach Mr. Robertson exactly what they knew all year. A talented and strong team with plenty of pace just needed some confidence to reach their true potential. Clearly no one had told the weather it was the 7s season; it was freezing. Fortunately the rain stayed away and the dry conditions suited our style of play. We were certainly not favourites in our group and being not altogether sure how good we really were, we made a cautious start against St. Edward’s College. This soon turned into a comprehensive victory when the pace and direct running of James Stott, Crad Roberts and Sam Carter-Blythe committed enough defenders to allow walk-in tries for Tom Semple, Josh Heap, Joe Murphy and Jordan Omokeowa. Crad and Sam stretched defenders before recycling the ball and giving it to our more direct runners, who found acres of space in front of them. This system seemed to work and we saw off challenges from St. Anselm’s, Wilmslow, St. Ambrose and Caldy. CHS finished top of their group, having played more matches than any other qualifying team. The depth in our squad proved invaluable and James Birchall, Miles McCrave and Sammee
Chaudhry all made a good impression; being allowed to rotate players certainly gave us an edge in fitness over other teams. Dan Walker provided some calm and experience when he came on, slowing games down and seeing the victory out. Without really seeing too much of a challenge in the group stage, CHS were feeling confident. We had seen off strong teams and were now relishing the opportunity to play on the wide Sandbach 1st XV pitch which could surely only play to our strengths. The semi-final proved one game too many, however, and we lost to a strong King’s Macclesfield side in a hard-fought and close game. A few mistakes early in the game saw us go two tries behind in the first half. CHS fought back in the second and brought the game level. Unfortunately the tired legs began to show and a kick through led to a foot race which King’s Macclesfield won, scoring the winning try. A most successful season with an enjoyable end that saw the boys play the style of rugby they’d come to epitomise over the last year. They played with discipline, integrity, intensity and aggression. Well done lads! We can’t wait to follow your season next year!
A Coach’s Viewpoint of Boys’ Hockey Michael Jones, Head of Year 10 “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with all the boys’ hockey teams at CHS since I joined the school in 2010. Our current five year development plan has the overall aim of wanting every boy at CHS to aspire to play first team hockey. It is a deliberately bold and ambitious target but we want to reach out to as many potential players as possible. When I first started, the majority of our players only played hockey for the school, but with all our fixtures taking place during the week there is a fantastic opportunity for students to play multiple sports during their time here. We have specifically targeted new players lower down the school and our player base at U12, U13 and U14 level has more than doubled within the space of two years. A great deal of credit for this must go to our full time hockey Head Coach, Fay Nash, who has worked with us for two years now. As captain of the Bowdon Women’s First Team, who play in the National Premier League, she provides a unique insight into the nature of the modern game at the highest level. Her enthusiasm, knowledge and passion for the sport are unrivalled and I’m always able to learn something new each week whilst working alongside her. There are two concepts on which we specifically try to focus with the players; teaching them to do the basics well and enabling them to take responsibility for their own training and development. Last summer in the build up to the Olympic Games, several of the
hockey coaches at CHS spent a day at Bisham Abbey watching the GB Men and Women Squads (Bronze Medalists) train, followed by a Question and Answer session with the coaches. One thing that stood out for me was how the women in particular took total responsibility for what they did in training. All the coaches did was to ask questions of the players as opposed to barking instructions at them, which encouraged the players to think more carefully about the decisions they made in match situations and why. This is something I have tried to develop myself as ultimately it is the players who make decisions on the pitch and therefore they must train in the same way. Something that can be easily overlooked in all sports is mastery of the basics. Players at all levels are often more concerned with just playing matches during training sessions (something I am guilty of myself) but this neglects the hard, repetitive and often boring drills required to master the basic skills and techniques of the sport. In January of this year I was fortunate enough to visit the Everton training ground and Youth Academy where there was a common theme running through the club from the six-year olds up to the first team squad. Basics, basics, basics, practised repeatedly every day. I believe firmly that supposed ‘natural talent’ is a pure myth and that success in any field can be achieved only through hard work and dedication, traits that can be seen in any successful sportsman or woman. If we can instil that belief into players here I know we will have made a difference.