December 2019 Edition of Sports Bulletin

December 2019

WYCOMBE HIGH SCHOOL

SPORTS BULLETIN Autumn 2019

Lola had a very successful competition taking bronze on the beam and the bars and her overall Welcome to the Sports Bulletin, a half-termly score has secured a spot at the IAIGC World update of our students’ sporting achievements.

Championships in the USA in July. Lola says that Go to the Sports website for details of fixtures and the competition and her result has really boosted follow us on Twitter @WycHighsports her confidence and she is looking forward to the world championships. An amazing achievement and we wish her the best of luck for the World Individual Success Championships in 2020!

CrossFit

Congratulations to WHS PE teacher Miss Harris, who recently competed in The CrossFit Games Open — where athletes are tested in events over a five week period. This is also the first stage to qualifying for the World Championships in Wisconsin, USA. Miss Harris was competing against other athletes from all over the UK and the rest of the world, with over 100,000 entrants. Miss Harris finished an incredible 7th place in the UK. This result has earned her a place in the next stages of the competition, where the top athletes have been selected to compete in sanctioned events around the world.

Miss Harris will be competing in London in January and Norway in February. She will be battling it out with 40 other athletes, with the winner claiming their ticket to the CrossFit World Championship Games in August. Good luck Miss Harris!

Trampolining Zoe Godfrey was back in action again on Saturday 16 November, competing in an invitational event with her club in the individual and synchro advanced levels. It was a very successful day, resulting in a silver medal in the individual and a gold in the synchro. Zoe is now training hard for the grading competition and regional team qualifier events early next year. Well done and good luck for your upcoming events Zoe!

Gymnastics On Friday 6 December Lola Bonnick flew to Germany to represent Chiltern Gymnastics in the IAIGC gymnastics competition. There were many other nations being represented at the competition including Italy, Germany and Dubai.

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Netball

Biathlon

Congratulations to Charlotte Simpson who has made into the U15 Mavericks Long Squad 2019/2020. This is an outstanding achievement with Mavericks being one of the top Superleague netball teams in the country.

On Sunday 24 November the City of Nottingham played host to the National Biathlon Championships. Year 10 student Tia Lomas was competing in what was only her second ever attempt at the event. Her first came in qualifying for the National final by winning the Regional competition in October.

Charlotte has been participating in the Mavericks performance pathway for over a year and has officially made her debut amongst the best 14-15 year olds in the nation. They have tournaments during the 2020 summer holidays where the short squad will be selected to play for the title of the best U15 squad in the country. We wish her the best of luck!

First up was the swim, after which Tia found herself 8th out of 55 competitors that managed to reach the final. The run started fairly steadily with Tia keeping herself in the pack and in contention with the front runners. A strong finish saw Tia finish in 5th place, giving her a 5th place finish in the country overall!

This is a great achievement for Tia especially as she is so new to the event. She plans to enter more events over the coming months and is targeting a medal at the National Finals in 2020!

Tia you are an inspiration to us all!

Cricket Kenshi Manek has been selected and invited to be part of Berkshire County Cricket’s winter training squad commencing in January 2020. She started playing cricket just two years ago and now plays confidently as a pace bowler.

DofE Gold Lucy Wheeler

Almost 200 girls attended the autumn development courses of which a squad of 18 were selected to make up the U16 winter training squad.

Well done Keshni!

Congratulations to ex-student Lucy Wheeler who had a fantastic day at St James Palace receiving her Gold DofE Award! It is a truly special place to go and we are incredibly proud of all Lucy has done to achieve her award! We wish Lusy all the very best and look forward to more DofE Gold award winners at the palace in the Summer!

Team Success

Football U12 School Games at JHGS:

The year 7 football team had their first tournament of the season, the School Games qualifying tournament. They played 5 games, winning 3 and drawing 2, without conceding a goal in the whole tournament! They finished in second place and have qualified for the next round of the School Games competition.

English Schools FA Cup: The year 7 football team are taking part in the English Schools FA Cup and have started well with a 9-4 win in the first round.

U13 Wycombe Wanderers Girls Cup: This is a

local area schools cup where the winner of the tournament will represent Wycombe Wanderers in the Area Final against other schools representing professional clubs such as Ipswich Town, Peterborough United, Luton Town and many more.

The girls have qualified for The Area Finals on Tuesday 7 January, good luck!

U15 League: The year 10 football team has once

again, for a second year in a row, won the league, unbeaten in all seven of their games! Excellent work girls!

Cross Country WHS Inter Girls are National Finalists!

Both the junior and inter teams qualified for the regional finals on Saturday 9 November and ran brilliantly in zero degree temperatures! The Inter team comprising Lyra Browning, Keshni Manek, Annie Oakes, Tia Lomas, Amber Galley and Rufaro Chickwanda, successfully qualified for the ESSA National Cross Country Finals on Saturday 7 December in Derbyshire; the most prestigious event in the cross country calendar! They ran hard and fast and managed to secure 24th place with Keshni coming in 30th position individually out of 145 runners. Congratulations Team WHS!

Netball Team Results

We are just about half way through the netball season, Wycombe High School have had over 30 fixtures with a current winning percentage of 68%.

It is definitely all to play for after Christmas (with 60 more fixtures planned!) and our current standing in the leagues are as follows:

U12

The U12A team are currently 7th in the A league and the U12B and C team are 2nd and 3rd in the B league.

U13

The U13A, B and C team are currently 4th, 5th and 8th in the A league.

U14

The U14A and B are currently 2nd and 3rd in the A league.

U15

The U15A and B team are currently 4th and 5th in A league.

U16

The U16A team are currently 2nd in the A league.

U19

The U19 team are currently 1st in the A league.

Nationals (1st Round)

Wycombe High School entered three teams (U14, U16 and U19) into the Nationals Schools Netball county round on Saturday 9 November. It was a chilly and wet day full of high paced, high level netball. Well done to all girls selected who arranged their plans around competing, and thank you to all of our supporters, families and friends.

Our very strong U19 team, coached by volunteer mum Sarah Grey, performed very well and have secured a top spot, progressing to the regional round of the competition in January. We would also like to congratulate the U14 team who have also secured a place in the regional round, who are expertly coached by Jan Harper. The U16 team unfortunately did not progress through but did play some spectacular netball throughout the day. We are immensely proud of the dedication and commitment to netball from these girls.

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Indoor Hockey U18 Indoor Hockey Preliminary Stage

On Friday 8 November, the Wycombe High U18 Indoor Hockey team travelled to Beaconsfield High for their preliminary round of matches. The top two teams on the day would qualify for the next stage to be held the following week. Other teams on the day consisted of Beaconsfield High, Great Marlow, Headington and Wycombe High were first up against the formidable Magdalen College.

Wellington and knew that to get any result against a After a nervous warm up, Wycombe high began their team full of international players would be a challenge. first game cautiously against Magdalen. Taking the lead It was to their amazement that after battling so hard for and holding out until half time, led to a positive and the first 12 minutes the score was still 0-0 at half time. vibrant half time team talk. Magdalen hit back in the Then the unthinkable happened, Wycombe High took second half and went on to take the lead. A resilient the lead through captain fantastic, Jemima. The place Wycombe High team, led by captain Jemima adopted a erupted and the other two schools looked shocked. never back down attitude and equalised in the last Unfortunately things didn’t stay this way, and with the minutes of the game; finishing 2-2. pressure building, a couple of minor errors saw Wellington score 3 quick goals to take the match 3-1.

A small gap in play whilst the other teams had their matches meant that Wycombe were able to gather their The team felt deflated after the match. It wasn’t until the thoughts and make some minor adjustments for their Beaconsfield High coach came over to congratulate next fixtures. They got off to a flier against Great them on their effort that their psychology changed. They Marlow and were 3 – 0 up in no time. Plenty of chances realised that if they could push Wellington, the came their way and despite missing a penalty stroke, supposed favourites, all the way, then surely they and then conceding late on, Wycombe High held on for should be able to compete against the other two teams. a 3-1 win and knew a win in the next game would Compete they did. The high tempo and three-quarter guarantee them qualification. press they had adopted from their match against Headington, coached by a National League star had Wellington, proved challenging for Worth to break looked dangerous in their previous games but hadn’t down. Mistakes from the Worth defenders saw the quite found their shooting sticks. Wycombe High took battling forward Emily pounce and tap in to take the the lead through a silky smooth short corner routine, lead. Mistakes were apparent at both ends though, and only for Headington to bounce back with one of their some timid defending from Wycombe High on a short own. The students never gave up and some corner saw Worth equalise in the second half and leave aesthetically pleasing dribbling skills from the Wycombe Wycombe fearing the worst. That was about to change!

High front line, saw a winning goal scored and sealed With 20 seconds left on the clock, the rejuvenated and their spot in the next round. deadly central midfielder for Wycombe High, Sarah, With the final match against Beaconsfield High a dead won a short corner that proved to be decisive. A new rubber, both teams already assured of qualification, routine resulted in the injector, Annabel, scoring her first only pride was at stake. Wycombe High however, Indoor goal for WHS. The final whistle blew and played mind games and rested their entire starting line- Wycombe High were almost through. up (minus star goal keeper Maya). With only minutes to Wellington went on to demolish Worth in the next go the game was poised at 1-1, only for Beaconsfield High to take the lead. A well-deserved victory for them, match. Following Beaconsfield High’s last minute although Wycombe High knew there was more to come. winner against Worth earlier in the day, Worth were now guaranteed to finish bottom of the group and Wellington likely to finish top. This meant that Wycombe High had to win and hope Wellington would beat Beaconsfield High.

U18 Indoor Hockey group Stage

Following the success of the previous week, Wycombe High found themselves in a tough and daunting group.

The venue, Wellington College, and the teams on the day, Wellington themselves, Worth and again, Beaconsfield High.

Win they did. An exemplary performance on how to counteract your opponent’s strengths and utilise yours effectively was evident throughout. Goal after goal came Wycombe High’s way. Short corner routines were highly effective and the final score a staggering 6-0 to Wycombe High.

With goal difference the key factor, Wycombe High had to hope Beaconsfield high wouldn’t do the impossible and beat Wellington by 7 goals or more. Unfortunately for Beaconsfield High it wasn’t to be as Wellington came out resounding winners.

Wish us luck as we hope to show the rest of the country, what Wycombe High Hockey is all about.

8 December 2019 - U18 Indoor Hockey, South of England Championships

Some crisp passing across the back between Rosie and Annabel freed up space for the ever dangerous in attack, Jemima. Leading by example as all Captains should, she continuously battled for every ball and powered out of each challenge to create multiple shooting opportunities. The JAGS defence could only keep her at bay for so long; a swift drive around the back of the defence and a divine cut back pass to the top of the circle, found Hafsah free to shoot. The shot hit a defenders stick, flying in to the air and earning a short corner. JAGS bounced back and with only moments remaining in the first half, earned a short corner of their own. Their initial two shots were thwarted by the on-form Maya, however there was nothing she could do about the third as it was expertly taken as the half ended all square. It was now or never and the second half was exciting to say the least. JAGS had a shot following a short corner that the ever present Annabel somehow managed to save.

Attack after attack followed for both teams, with multiple fine saves from both keepers keeping the game close.

Despite a final circle entry from Sarah that produced an outstanding save from the JAGS keeper, the hooter went and the realisation hit, the journey had come to an end. The final group table looking like this; Cranleigh – 6, KES – 6, Wycombe – 4, JAGS – 1.

The time had come for the team to assemble and try to do the unthinkable, qualify for the National Finals. As we amassed at the front of school ready to depart, the unknown awaited. With Wellington and St George’s College both drawn in Group A, little was known about the majority of the opponents we would face in Group B. James Allen (JAGS) were in our group last year and carried a short corner threat, as was expected from all of the teams playing. Cranleigh and King Edward (KES) both topped their groups in the previous round and would undoubtedly be a tough challenge.

Our first opponents King Edward were donning a similar coloured kit which resulted in a delayed start as we had to change in to our second playing tops and apply a red tape strip around each sock. Nonetheless, this had a galvanising effect as we started like players possessed.

Within a minute Hafsah drove in to the KES circle and won a short corner. Injected by Annabel to Sarah at the top (who unfortunately missed the tournament last year due to a torn hamstring), guided the ball in to the bottom corner to open the scoring. A fitting start for one of Wycombe High’s all time finest. The match was a closely fought affair and as the game went on KES mounted countless attacks on goal, with Maya (our Year 10 goal keeper) pulling off a series of fantastic saves. A resolute defensive performance from the entire team though, kept them at bay as we ran out 1-0 winners.

Following a two hour break between matches and our last game being the final one of the group stage, the table looked like this: Cranleigh – 6 points, KES – 6 points, Wycombe – 3 points, JAGS – 0. The situation was simple, win and we were through on goal difference to play Wellington in the semi-final.

“Thank you to all parents for bringing the students so early on a Sunday morning. For seven of the twelve players, it was their final game for Wycombe High. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them and the rest of the squad for their commitment and dedication over the years. Being the only state school to make the South of England Regional Finals and taking on the top independent schools in the country, shows what heart and determination can achieve. I am immensely proud of each of the players and it has been a pleasure to be a part of their journey. “ Mr Nevard.

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Swimming ESSA National Championships

Furthering the WHS junior inter and senior swimming teams successful national qualification from the regional round in both medley and freestyle relays, on Saturday 18 November all three teams travelled to the London Aquatic Centre for the National ESSA finals.

League Results

On Wednesday 13 November the second round of the Buckinghamshire Schools Swimming League took place at Wycombe Abbey School. The WHS performances were excellent with all teams currently sat in a qualifying position for the league final with one more qualifying round to go! The final qualifying round will take place in January where all of our WHS swim teams hope to earn a spot in the league final. Well done to all of the swimmers who took part, particularly those who were also competing in the National Championships in the same week—outstanding commitment to the sport! The third league gala will take place on Wednesday 30 January.

Gymnastics Milano U13 and U16

Despite their nerves, the junior, inter and senior swimming teams stepped up to the challenge of racing at the national championships and performed to the best of their ability and achieved an excellent set of results in a very competitive field, including specialist swimming schools such as Millfield, Mount Kelly and Ellesmere College.

Over 400 schools entered the regional rounds, so qualifying in the top 30 is an amazing achievement. All things considered, the day was an extremely valuable experience for all swimmers involved and we are incredibly proud of all of them.

We would like include a special thank you to Dynaband, the number one resistance band for swimmers, for sponsoring the team and providing us with some very smart team kit!

On the 16th December we took an U13 and U16 squad selected from our gym squad to the Milano Trio competition (the regional round). The girls performed single floor routines and competed on vault each as well as both squads performing a trio routine on floor.

The girls performances were all to high levels and all did well to cope with the pressure especially some of the U13s at the first school competition.

All coaches there on the day were impressed with the performances the girls gave even though the teams were unfortunate not to place in the top two to go to the National rounds.

U13 Squad - Tallulah Challenor, Ciara Pascoe, Lottie Oakes, Tanzim Chen U16 Squad - Lola Bonnick, Rufaro Chikwanda, Hollie Cotton

Top sporting state schools of 2019 Wycombe High School have placed 22nd for school sport in the whole of the country for state schools.

An indication of just how difficult it is to reach the list can be seen in that reaching the top 30 means you are in the top 1% of sporting schools in the country. Wycombe High School have entered numerous competitions and we have had both individual and team success across a range of sports.

“ I learnt a lot about the body and it was very interesting how they made plastinates.” Caitlin, Year 10.

“Reading how all the muscles work in the body and how they form different movements, also seeing the live blood vessels/muscles.” Keshni, Year 10.

Many thanks to our parent volunteers for helping supervise this brilliant visit and to all students who capitalised on the exciting opportunity to attend.

Photography is not permitted at this exhibition, but here are a few stock images for you to appreciate A huge well done to everyone who has contributed the content of this exhibition. to sport at Wycombe High School, we could not have achieved this without you!

More information can be found here: https://www.schoolsportmag.co.uk/top-100-sportsschools/4593453769

Bodyworlds Educational Visit 29 November 2019 A total of 44 GCSE and A Level Physical Education students from years 10—13 elected to attend the fascinating ‘Bodyworlds’ exhibition in central London. A fantastic day was had by all seeing real body ‘plastinates’ as they are known, positioned in various forms around this large, engaging exhibition. In addition to full bodies, body parts, comparing healthy and unhealthy tissue formed a large part of the exhibition as well as animals and a video on how the plastinates are made. Students got involved in the more interactive activities from CPR to blood pressure monitoring, to full body scanning. The exhibition Upcoming Events! very much brought our learning in the classroom to life. Survey results indicate that 100% of students Wycombe Wanderers Girls Cup Area Finals: think we should offer the visit again, highlights Tuesday 7 January 2020 included: “It was really interesting to see all the different plastinates and it is an experience I will never forget.” Eeesha, Year 10.

“I enjoyed the relaxation section and the virtual projection of the skeleton of yourself where you could see the muscles and organs and bones in your body.” Lois, Year 10.

“Being able to see key concepts in action.” Adel, Year 12.

National Netball Finals: Saturday 25 January 2020 Gymnastics Floor and Vault Championships: Sunday 9 February 2020 Sports Presentation Evening: Friday 19 June 2020 Sports Day: Tuesday 14 July 2020

Sports Achievements

We would like to celebrate your daughter’s sporting achievements outside of school. Please email us at office@whs.bucks.sch.uk with your daughter’s success stories for inclusion in the next edition and / or if you would like to become a Friend of Sport to help with fixtures, events, etc.

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