Sports Round Up Autumn Term 2024

It has been a busy first term for those taking part in team sports this year as part of our +Active programme.   Over 250 students have played 110 fixtures so far this season, representing the College on a Wednesday afternoon in Surrey, the South East and beyond.  

Football

Men’s 1st team – Seb Jeffries
The 1st team have a had an excellent start to the season so far. After a disappointing 2-2 draw with Reigate in the opening league fixture, the team have responded really well in the AoC Cup in the first round, going on to beat Chichester College 9-0. We were then drawn against last years Cup finalists Itchen College 1st team, who we came back from being 3-1 down against, to win 4-3 in an exciting 2nd round Cup match. We have since had excellent results against Barton Peveril, Strodes College and rivals Esher College too, beating the latter 7-1, meaning we have also finished top in the group stage of the English Schools FA Super-League Cup.

All round, it's been pleasing to see the mix of talent from both the uppers & lowers playing so well together and the team are looking forward to the next AoC Cup match vs Peter Symonds on Wednesday, which is being played at Winchester City FC. 

Men’s 2nd team - Jez Ingram 
The Men's 2nd Team Football had a positive start to the season just losing out against Oxted 4-3 then coming back in the last minute to come away with a 3-3 draw against St John the Baptist School in our second game. We had two very hard games against Esher and Wilsons back-to-back where we struggled in both games. We are looking for a positive end to the year when we host St John the Baptist School. Stand out players so far Thomas Christmas , Ethan Knight , Charlie Jones and James Berry. 
 
Women’s Football – Sophie Hollis
We've had a strong start to the season, with excellent attendance at training. Unfortunately, we haven't had many games, but the girls have performed well in the matches we've played. We were unlucky in the regional tournament, narrowly missing out on the group finals. Our standout game was against Farnborough in the cup. Despite being behind at half-time, the team showed great character in the second half to turn it around and secure the win. We are looking forward to 2025 and progressing in the league and cup.

Netball

1st team - 4th team Netball - Debbie, Helen, Shelley

We had a super turnout for trials back in September of over 80 girls, so putting them all into teams has been a tremendous challenge. We have been lucky enough to have 4 teams playing, with our 1st and 2nd teams playing in the Hampshire College league and our 3rd and 4th teams playing in the Surrey College league. 

The Surrey league started quickly with the girls finding their feet and bonding as a team. A slow start, but the results are getting better. There was a good win against Royal Russell by the 3rd team and a close win against Guildford County. There was a tight game against Esher’s 2nd team for our 4th team, losing out by 2 goals, but it was well fought and the team vowed to beat them next time! 

The Hampshire league started later, with some tough opposition, but both teams pulled it out of the bag to beat their respective Farnborough 6th teams with great play by all. The 1st team suffered a 1 goal loss against Barton Peveril but our 2nd team beat them convincingly. 

The 1st team has attended 2 tournaments; Surrey, where the team have qualified for the next round, and AOC, where the team was beaten out of a next round position by 1 goal! 

Our development squad continue to train on a Wednesday and have improved to the extent that some may well be vying for spots in teams. 

1st team

Spending the day with the 1st team at the Charterhouse tournament at the beginning of the season gave me the chance to spend more time with the girls and get to know them personally.  We also took the opportunity to play out some different netball combinations during the day. Although we coach a team, I believe different players need different styles to bring out the best in themselves so time altogether like this is invaluable. Weeks later we attended the tournament at the Surrey Sports Park and seeing the improvements made and the confidence growth, both individually and as a team, was very rewarding. We didn’t win every match but watching the girls recover and go again was a win in itself. They are a super group of girls, very engaging and extremely coachable. It's been a pleasure so far and we look forward to more growth in the new year. 

All in all a good start for our netballers - we are all looking forward to taking on more colleges and showing our abilities on the netball court. 

Badminton 

All teams have been improving from week to week. There have been some tough games as well as some good point wins. The ladies double team has picked up some great wins over the season with a highlight at the Badminton Doubles Regionals where the Women's Pairing of Alice and Raya won a silver medal.