Sports report

Rowing

The Hampton Head, held in February, has been running for over 50 years and is a prestigious event in the rowing calendar. The J18 pair of Matilda Drewett and Lola Crampin won the event, beating several GB candidates and medal winners. A huge well done to them.

• The J18 girls came 3rd out of 14 crews.

• The J16 girls came 4th out of 14 crews.

• The J15 girls came 10th out of 32 crews.

Mr E Green I Director of Rowing

Golf

The 2023 KGS golf season got underway with a regional plate semi-final match against Hurtwood House at Slinfold Golf and Country Club near Horsham. Playing an unfamiliar course and an unfamiliar opponent, KGS didn’t know how the match would go but there was little sign of rustiness from a winter layoff as all three matches went our way. Jonatan Ronberg led off and while he didn’t have his best stuff, he won comfortably 25 to 15 in this handicap Stableford round. Natalie Ivory produced the round of the day to win 33 to 30 and captain Oli Dawson prevailed 31 to 20 despite claiming to have putted poorly. KGS now moves on to a regional final against local rivals Hampton.

Mr M Rodgers I Head of Golf

Football

We really have experienced all seasons this term, with high winds, freezing temperatures and waterlogged pitches. With over 100 matches from boys’ and girls’ teams from the s through to the U18s, and record numbers of students attending training, we continue to be delighted about the development of the football programme at KGS. Each student has had the opportunity to represent the School in a fixture.

There have been some exceptional individual performances from Hanna Rouse and Gina Saltykova who have been representing Surrey Schools U14 and U16 teams respectively.

The traditional Classics v Moderns match was first played at KGS in the 1890s. The Classics this year were represented by the Upper Sixth, with the Moderns made up of Lower Sixth and Fifth Years. It was an easy victory for the Moderns, who ran out 6–0 winners: this bodes well for next season’s 1st XI team. Hopefully some leavers will join our Old Boys’ team who continue to do us proud in the Arthurian League. You can follow @oldkgsfc on Twitter for updates.

Mr

Netball

The U13s and U14s played seven games in a round-robin format in the annual Borough tournament earlier this month. The U13s came third and only lost two games and the U14s won all seven matches! They are Borough winners for the second year in a row. Well done to all.

Mrs J Stapleton I Head of Netball

HOCKEY U12A boys

The U12A + B boys played in their first major tournament of the year with the London Heats being hosted at Ditton Field in late February.

The As started their campaign with a slow start against Haberdashers and the early concession of a goal. Thankfully, some fast-flowing hockey ensured two goals for the home side in quick succession and the first three points of the day. In their second game, against Thomas’ Clapham, they went four goals clear by half time. A poorer second half performance meant the opposition scored twice but we came away with a win.

Trinity were always going to be tough but we certainly didn’t expect them to score five in the first half. After a change of tactics, the boys came out in the second half with positive energy. The game finished 7–2 to Trinity but we had done enough to earn ourselves a place in the London Finals.

The Bs got off to a flying start by beating HABS by two goals. Another flourish of goals against Teddington meant that, regardless of the next result, KGS would be into the London Heats semi-final. Their final pool against Trinity finished 3–0 but Mr Buckle used this as an opportunity to raise morale for their semi-final against Trinity’s C team. In an end-to-end game, we were the first to score and this remained the same until the final whistle.

Special mentions to both goalkeepers, Daksh Ravendran and George Tzortzis who, in the cold weather, remained focused throughout the tournament and pulled off some fantastic saves during the day.

Mid-March saw the London Finals at Eltham College, In the U12A pool the boys played Eltham, Whitgift and Trinity whilst the Bs played Royal Russell, UCS and St Dunstan’s as well as a classification match against Whitgift Bs.

The As got off to a positive start with a solid performance against the hosts. Eshan Patel managed to score two goals (one of which was a welltaken deflection over the goalkeeper) and Seb Merrison struck the ball into the sideboard to finish the game 3–1. Conor Barr started the goalscoring in the second game against Whitgift by drag flicking a penalty corner into the bottom corner of the goal. However, Whitgift came back into the game and won 3–1. It was a strong performance from the boys nevertheless. The last of their games saw some lovely hockey. Roman Gorczak and Matties Van Herwaarden transferred the ball well. Wilfie Lawrence, Locky Kirk and Dhara Chopra caused problems for the Trinity midfield and Kye Brown looked dangerous in the front line. Kye managed to score a hat-trick and Conor completed his hat-trick of drag flicks for the day as we dominated, winning the game 5–1. George Tzortzis made some outstanding saves at crucial times, all of which helped the U12A boys finish runners-up in the London Region.

The U12Bs had a great experience at Eltham College, playing four games throughout the day, most of whom were A teams. They started the day against Royal Russell which finished as a 1–1 draw. We then lost 2–1 to University College School and 3–1 to St Dunstan’s which meant a fourth place play-off against Whitgift Bs.

Luke Bowyer scored a couple of lovely goals to make the game go to a penalty stroke competition. KGS were unlucky with the strokes but helds their heads up high and walked off the pitch graciously in defeat.

Well done, boys, for an amazing achievement: we’re proud of you all.

Mr D Bartram I Hockey

Coach

U14 boys

U13 boys

The U13s have enjoyed another excellent season, with both A and B sides qualifying for the London Finals in the Tier 1 & 2 competitions. The Bs finished fourth in their group, with the As waiting to conclude their competition at the time of writing.

A promising run for the A team in the Independent Schools Cup was cut short against a strong Eltham College team. Great performances v Merchant Taylors, Dulwich and RGS Guildford were particular highlights.

The B team had two great games against Reed’s as well as high-scoring games v King Edward’s and Sir William Borlase’s. A number of players have rotated between squads and experienced 11-a-side school hockey too, some for the first time.

The numbers who have attended after-school training and played for the C&D teams have also been really encouraging. All squads have produced a number of very positive performances against challenging opposition. The Cs have shown great potential and are playing some excellent attacking hockey. The D team, and E team, have played on a competitive fixture list and worked extremely hard as a group to improve.

There is great potential in the year group. Hopefully they will continue to develop the pace and power of their game to match some of their more physical opponents in the upcoming years. They have been great fun to coach and I know all staff have enjoyed working with them during the course of the season.

Mr A Watts I Director of Sport

The boys made the transition to 11-a-side hockey this season. At the start of the year, we set out some core principles and the boys worked extremely hard throughout to ensure each became a part of our hockey DNA. From this basis they have grown and flourished into a hardworking, skillful and smart team. At times this year they have played hockey beyond their years and have been rewarded with some fantastic results. They have also had their struggles, with some tough results at the London Finals. However, they always bounced back and enthusiastically threw themselves into training to ensure individually and collectively they came back the next week better than the week before. Some highlights of the year were our second-place finish at the Indoor Hockey Cup where we agonisingly lost by the width of the post, along with Holland where they managed to come away with three victories out of three. Even more importantly, they really gelled as a team. They have been a pleasure to coach, and we are all excited to watch them develop further next year.

Mr T McCarthy I Hockey Coach

U13A girls take bronze

Having had a had a tough pool in the London Heats, the U13As progressed to the London Finals at Eltham College earlier this month. An Olivia Klein hat-trick saw them win their opening pool game 3–0 against JAGS. Next up were Tiffin. The girls played excellent hockey, creating chance after chance but failed to convert. A defensive error saw Tiffin take the lead against the run of play. Despite having more opportunities to score, the side went down 2–0 after conceding from a late corner. There was also some excellent hockey in the game against Latymer Upper, with KGS dominating the play. Olivia scored followed up by one from Jemima Mack. Despite peppering the Latymer goal, the game ended 2–0 and meant we finished second in the group on goal difference.

This set up a semi-final against local rivals Surbiton High. The game was end to end, with both teams having opportunities to score but Surbiton took the lead from a short corner. The story of the day continued, with chances being created but not converted, leading to a 2–0 to Surbiton final score. KGS went on to take bronze, beating Alleyn’s 2–1 in the 3rd/4th play-off.

Ms A Byrne I Hockey Coach

U13B girls: “a great attitude and some brilliant hockey”

The U13Bs took part in the Tier 2 competition, beginning with a 2–0 win against Notting Hill and Ealing High School. Goals came courtesy of Maddie Robinson and Heidi Chambers. This was followed by a thrilling 1–1 draw against Croydon High School, in which Hannah Price levelled the scoring with a few minutes left. After going 1–0 down against Highgate School, the team rallied at half time, with Bella Brunati, Hannah Price and Maddie Robinson scoring a goal each in the second half.

The team required a win to top the group and progress through to the semi-finals in their last game. A hattrick from Hannah Price, two from Olivia Priest and a goal each from Heidi Chambers and Maddie Robinson sealed the deal against St Augustine’s. The girls then played Ibstock School in the semi-final, with the chance to progress through to the next round on the line. Unfortunately, after a hard-fought game, Ibstock won 2–0.

Having only played A teams throughout the day, the girls demonstrated a great attitude and played some brilliant hockey.

Miss H Naismith I Head of Girls’ Hockey

U15 girls: London Champions!

The U15s took part in the London Finals at Lee Valley Hockey Centre, playing against Forest School. They got off to a shaky start, conceding in the first quarter to go down 1–0 down. The girls continued to grow in confidence as the game progressed, athough Forest School edged further away early into the final quarter, making the score 2–0. With 5 minutes left on the clock, Anna Goodsman smashed a backhand strike into the goal from a tight angle to make it 2–1. Shortly after, a short corner was awarded to KGS, with Anna stepping up to rifle the ball from the top of the circle to even the scoreline.

After a tense 10 minutes of extra time, the score remained equal. Penalties were a nervous affair. Maya Hendrickx saved the first Forest School flick, with Anna, Charlotte Edwards, Daisy Mack all scoring. Jessie Yates narrowly missed after hitting the post. Emma Pope levelled the scoring with a perfect penalty into the corner to make it 4–4 and send it to sudden death. Anna scored the first and Maya saved the Forest School penalty to make the final score 5–4. It was a great display of hard work and effort from all the girls throughout the game.

Mr C Mackenzie I Hockey Coach