Sports Results
To view the latest sports results please click on the links below:
Director of Sport Summary - Mr S Vernon
This has been a busy term for both students and staff. You can see from the reports that teams at Hockerill are still competing at high levels and are very successful. Teams have been representing Hockerill at Girls Hockey, Boys Rugby, Boys Basketball, Cross-country, Indoor Rowing and Gymnastics to name a few. A special mention must go to the U14 Girls Hockey Team who qualified for the East Regional Finals after finishing in the top 2 for the Hertfordshire County Championships.
The summer examinations saw last year’s cohort of GCSE PE students achieve another year of 100% A*- C’s under the guidance of Mrs Vernon. She is still, however, looking for the class that will beat the previous best of 75% A*- A grades!
I am very pleased to report that GCSE Dance has started at Hockerill under the guidance of Miss Calcasola. I was greatly impressed with the work I watched on their MYP day trip to London where they participated in a workshop and then took me to watch my first ever ballet/contemporary dance show.
Congratulations should go to the following exceptional students:
Brandon Bowden in Year 10 for selection to the Hertfordshire County U15 Rugby team and the Rugby School of Education.
Jon Hopkins in Year 8 for his selection to the Hertfordshire County U14 Golf team.
Elizabeth Crake in Year 12 has been selected for the county U18 Girls rugby team.
Francesca Pettengell and Daniel Hodder for their selection into the Junior Academy Centre for Hockey.
On a sad note…………at the end of this term we say goodbye to the 13th set of Australian sports assistants (GAP Students). It has been a great pleasure working with Ben and Mitch. They have worked tirelessly and have assisted so many staff and students with their knowledge, commitment and enthusiastic attitude. I am sure we all wish them the greatest success with their university studies, careers and adventures back home in Aus. As I write this the Aussies are stuffing the Barbarians at Twickenham. I think the next 2 weeks of listening to our boasting GAP students will be traumatic for all of us, but not as painful as sitting through their performance to “Ghostbusters” at the annual dance show when they arrived back in January.
Lastly I would like to thank all the staff and students who contribute to Hockerill sport. The students have so many hats to wear at Hockerill and I am extremely grateful that you don your sports kit and represent Hockerill with pride and passion at every sports fixture.
Have a well-deserved Christmas break.
Hockerill Rugby Report
Mr T Coleman
Year 7 (U12)
Our year 7 team have shown superb commitment to college rugby this year and have been rewarded for their hard work with some brilliant results along the way. The team has been led superbly by Captain Harry Croft and some energetic performances by try scoring scrum half Ben Pollard. The season kicked off with a comfortable victory over Birchwood which set the team up for a hard fought 19-14 victory over a determined Bancroft. The team then put in a superb all round display to comfortably beat St Marys and were again on form to ease past St Edmunds College 29-5 with an inspired performance from Dara Dare helping himself to two tries in a man of the match performance.
Districts - 3rd Place
Year 8 (U13)
It has been a mixed year for our year 8 squad. After a disappointing loss to close rivals Birchwood 10-22, we were unfortunate to catch a well drilled Bancroft side losing heavily. However credit must go to the side as they dusted themselves off to win a close encounter with St Marys 14-10 and then pushed a strong St Edmunds College all the way before eventually losing 17-27
Districts - Played 4, Won 1 Lost 3
Year 9 (U14)There have been some exciting fixtures for the year 9 squad this season, who have been led superbly by Alex Waring with some brilliant defensive work from Michael Lauble. After losing a close encounter against Birchwood they then turned in a gutsy performance to compete with a strong Bancroft side just losing 10-17. A sloppy start to the game against a speedy St Marys team gave us an almost impossible task of victory, but despite a late rally, we finished the game as eventual losers 44-22. A great 5 try display from captain Alex Waring led his team to a resounding victory over St Edmunds College 20-44.
Districts - 3rd Place
Year 10 (U15)
The future looks bright for next year’s senior team as our U15 team have once again proved a tough nut to crack against some strong opposition. Teddy King has led by example with some outstanding individual performances which have inspired his team to some convincing victories. He has been helped by the emergence of full back Luke Topolski’s tireless work rate in defence and the composure of Skipper Brandon Bowden at fly half. The season kicked off with a thrilling Daily Mail Cup victory against an athletic St Ignatius team. The team’s next round fixture was a tough assignment against close rivals TBSHS, and although being the better team throughout along with some controversial refereeing decisions we were to eventually lose the game 28-32. The team then bounced back in style with three consecutive victories against Bancroft, St Marys and St Edmunds College scoring 155 points and conceding only 17!
Districts - Runners Up
1st XV Senior Rugby (U18)
There is only one place to start with senior rugby and I know I am joined by everyone at the College in wishing Alex Banjac a healthy and speedy recovery from the terrible leg break he suffered in our recent game with SWCH. Alex has put in some superb performances this season which have epitomised his team mate’s desire to work hard and never give up. We kicked the season off with a hard fought encounter against a more experienced TBSHS team. Although we dominated possession, we were not as clinical at taking our chances as our opponents and this eventually cost us a victory as we narrowly lost 17-20. The team, led by influential captain Borris Diamond, again produced a spirited performance against a well organised Bancroft side, but again failing to take their chances when they presented themselves and lost the game 17-24. The boys clearly took heart from these performances and bounced back in style by beating Birchwood 39-3 with Ed Sutcliffe, Luke Davies and Raf Ageo all putting in solid performances, the latter scoring his first try ever! Our next fixture was in the Herts Trophy first round where after a sloppy start, we ended up comfortable winners against a plucky John F Kennedy side 27-5. This result set us up nicely for a tough clash with a strong SWCH side. Unfortunately, producing the best half of rugby all season and winning 7-0, the game was brought to an abrupt end with the unfortunate injury to Alex, again, we wish him well.
Districts - 3rd Place
Girls U15 Rugby
Once again it was a case of so near yet so far for our very talented U15 girls’ team. The girls travelled to Hertford RFC to compete in the Herts RFU County Festival. Despite finishing a respectable 3rd place last year the girls took a step closer this time out losing a tense final by a single try to Chauncy High. Our route to the final was based on some great attacking rugby, superbly displayed by Kate Willis and a solid defence which was demonstrated once again by Pat Metcalfe-Jones. The girl’s group stage victories were against Queens 20-0, Rickmansworth 25-0, Chauncy 10-5 and Sir John Lawes 15-0. They then drew a tough final against last year’s winners Presdales 0-0 but progressed to the final on count back (scoring more tries throughout the group stage). In a hugely competitive final, against a Chauncy team we had already beaten in the group stage, the girls unfortunately lost 0-5.
Year 7 (U12) Girls HockeyMrs R Vernon and Mr A Menzies
In hockey this season year 7 have trained hard under the duo of Mrs Vernon and Mr Menzies. It took the coaches a while to establish the year 7 into the right A and B teams and also the right positions. With a disappointing loss to SWCHS the coaches made changes and the new Hockerill squad was unstoppable and unleashed a huge victory over St Mary’s. After October half term we had the Districts this was enjoyed by the Year 7 squad and both teams had to take penalty strokes to secure their place in the semi-finals. The A team didn’t manage it but the B team did and we ended the tournament with the A team coming 3rd and the B team 2nd. Mr Menzies was extremely pleased with the girl’s progress and we will be entering them into the U13 County Cup next season. Well done girls and a big thank you to Mr Menzies who is an inspirational coach and a huge asset to the PE Department.
Year 8 (U13) Girls HockeyMiss S Davis
The year 8 girls Hockey squad this year has remained very strong with a great turn-out at every training session. Following on from England Hockey information, the year 8’s remained as a 7a-side team this year in order to continue their skill development before the jump to 11a-side next year.
The season started off with a pretty heavy defeat against SWCHS however after this slow start, the Year 8’s put in some great team performances to beat St Mary’s and H & E at home. An exciting away visit to Leventhorpe saw the girls dig in deep and produce some gutsy tackles to convincingly win, with Millie Berrett and Maddie Fox demonstrating the determination and skill to never give-up. Due to our extended October half term, Hockerill were unable to attend the U13 Hockey districts, however an away fixture against Newport was a chance for the girls to both prove and realise they have come far and will be a team to reckon with in the future. With the best performance of the season from both the A and B team, Hockerill saw the A team lose against a side with many County players while the B team captained by Olivia Tomlinson finished on a well deserving win!
Well done to all girls who played in the games this season and I am extremely excited about next year! Bring it on girls!
Year 9 (U14) HockeyMrs G Hodder and Mrs R Vernon
Year 10 (U15) HockeyMrs R Vernon
The U15 Hockey squad have been very committed to training but unfortunately for them a lot of other local schools could not manage to set up successful U15 squads and many of our pre-arranged fixtures have been cancelled. Despite this the girls were fantastic at the Districts and Mrs Trimble who escorted them to the tournament was hugely impressed with their skill level and great teamwork. The girls ended up in fourth place but this was not a real indication of the way they played. I hope the season is better for them next year where they will progress to be in the U18 Senior Hockey Squad at Hockerill.
Dance ReportMiss A Calcasola
This year has seen our first cohort of GCSE Dance students undergo the examination course. They have all been very fortunate to spend a day in London with the Rambert Dance Company, taking part in a practical workshop, later followed by a performance from the Rambert Company. The girls responded well to the day and have been a credit to teach in this first term.
Additionally, our Year 11 Dance Leaders have been very busy this term leading Year 7 and 8 Dance club. The response from the students has been fantastic and our Year 11 students have enjoyed teaching their dances to the Lower College. An all-round success.
U12 Netball ReportMrs K Yates
In our first term of Netball at Hockerill, Year 7 have made great progress due to our fantastic coach Mrs Yates. She has taught us many things such as: barrelling; passing; channelling; spacing; shooting and defending. This is our secret to our success! After our first match against a great challenge, Howe Green House School, we won 33-9. Hockerill’s year 7 Netball team have worked extremely well together and we hope we can be as successful in the forthcoming Lent term.
By Elizabeth Ward-Booth and Freya Rowson (Year 7)
Gymnastics ReportMiss S Davis
Towards the end of September, our teacher Miss Davis was pleased to announce to the Hockerill gymnastics Club that we would be entered into a Tumble and Trampette competition in mid-October. This was to be held at Marriott’s School in their Gymnastics Centre of Excellence in Stevenage.
All 11 girls who represented Hockerill had their hair tied up neatly into buns and plaits and some of us even had glitter hair spray! Whilst we travelled in the minibus, everybody was excited and singing. On entering the Gymnastics Centre, we were all nervous and looked around in awe of the apparatus and other Schools who all appeared so professional! But as we warming up, I soon realised that all we needed was a bit of encouragement, so I called for a group huddle and delivered a short team talk. Overall, the day was a huge success with Hockerill gaining 9 medals between 11 girls! Congratulations to all of the amazing girls from Hockerill who took part in this; amazing results!
By Shirley Kirby (Year 11)
EQUIPE EVENTS
Equipe competitions run throughout the year. All students are expected to participate (except medical exemptions - letMr.rs to be given to Mr. Vernon before the event).
The next Equipe event is: Football (boys) & Netball (girls): Lent Term - March 2010
