Cross Country & Gymnastics

Written by Maebel G, Isabella W F, Erin L & Ella C

On Thursday the 9th March half of the Year 7 Football term and half of the Year 8 Football team came together to form the U13 Football team that competed at the first U13 GDST Football Rally We all tried our hardest to represent our school in the best possible way, hoping to improve and to have fun; however, winning doesn’t hurt

Our first match ended 1-0 to us against Norwich, but at the end of the second match we ended up 1-0 down against Streatham & Clapham Our spirits were still high, and we won 2-0 against Newcastle In our last group match we won 1-0 again against Northampton We beat Belvedere Academy and Shrewsbury to finish top of our group! None of us were expecting us to even get to the next round, so we were already so proud of ourselves! We were ecstatic to get into the quarter finals and had to face Streatham & Clapham again However, the result was in our favour and won! The semi-final was against Newcastle, and it was very tight, but in the last 5 minutes Sophia, our top goal scorer scored yet again! We made it through to the final it was crazy - we were all screaming and shouting! We were going to place either 1st or 2nd, it was insane! In the final we were playing Northwood, and we were all very nervous as we had gotten this far But as we started playing, we all became calmer Yet again, our top goal scorer Sophia, scored and gave us a lead of 1 - 0 As soon as that final whistle went off, we all burst out in happiness and endless screaming Knowing that we won the first U13 GDST Football Rally ever sparked joy and excitement as we were the best football team throughout all the GDST schools - what a privilege!

Forgetting about the long drive to the tournament, we all really enjoyed ourselves, and found it a good opportunity to improve as a team As it was seen to rain most of the day, Mr Henderson thankfully brought a gazebo, keeping our bags clean and (mostly) dry

Cross Country

The race began when we realised we had to be in school by 7:00am but we had only just left and it was 6:55 Ella’s mum took us in the car and we zoomed down the North Circular hoping to not be too late We arrived at school at 7:13 and Miss Munro was waiting for us outside the coach that was about to take us on a 2 hour journey all the way to Bromley The coach journey was quite enjoyable until it kicked in that it was absolutely bucketing it down with rain We had also forgotten to get spikes (not very smart of us) however we were quickly reassured that we would be okay without them, although it would be a bit easier with them When we arrived at Bromley High, we were taken into a large, quite crowded sports hall where we left our bags When we got to the field, we realised how muddy and wet it was However the Year 6's kept the spirits high by dancing around the wet rainy field After that, we took a walk around the course trying to avoid all the muddy puddles, however our feet still got completely drenched and we hadn't even gone through the muddy bits Our race only started at 11:50, so we had an hour and a bit to do our warm up and get ourselves ready for the race The course we ran was approximately 2 km but we all thought it was maybe a little bit more 11:50 approached quickly and the nerves began to kick in

As 11:45 hit we made our way over to the start line The Year 7's taking part were Ella, Erin, Daisy, Monica, Sofia and Lara Before the race began we had a briefing from a lady in a Bromley uniform telling us where to go READY SET GO! When we finished we were all so tired we sat down on the muddy floor panting like thirsty dogs Erin had a bit of a hard race slipping about 7 times and getting covered in mud! It would be an understatement to say we were just a bit muddy We were coated in mud, our shoes squelching as we walked back to our stuff in the field After we got back to Bromley High, we ran to the changing rooms to get clean and dry We had our legs in the sinks trying to scrub all the mud off Luckily most of us had brought spare clothes however some of us forgot, which meant that they had their clothes in the sink and under the blow dryer

Overall it was a great experience Some of us have learnt a valuable Cross Country life lesson: always get spikes, and bring a whole new change of clothes and shoes