SQUASH
NETBALL
A good start was made to the season with a 3-2 win over Barnsley Vlth form college in the first round of the Dunlop National Schools' Championship. Although they had two county players we were stronger at numbers 3, 4, and 5. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding about the time of the court booking, we were unable to play Greenhead College in the next round. We next played Woodhouse Grove where the consistency of Emma Ward's serving enabled the team to win 3-2. Emma has been an enthusiastic and determined player and has made perhaps the most progress over the season. I wish her well as next year's captain. The return match in the Spring Term was lost 2-3, due to the absence of ever-reliable Emma! This was the first year that the squash option was opened to some of the Middle School girls. Obviously this will enable us to have a much stronger team in future years. As in the past the majority of girls were non-squash players on their arrival at School in the Vth form. Congratulations to Eleanor Bowling and Connelee Morris who both represented the School and although lacking in match experience they both show much potential. Our No.5 string was played by Nik Westwood who has done well to win five of her seven matches. She often made life difficult with a slow start but nearly always came back to win. She was also the only player to win her match against a strong side from Harrogate College. Sharon Wareham has proved to be an able and very organised captain. She has led by example and always played with enthusiasm, encouraging the other team players. Alex Masefield and Sophie Jackson have both made good progress over the season and played with commitment. Ali Holley and Juliette Webster were also called on to represent the team and did so with enthusiasm. Again matches have been difficult to organise with fewer Schools willing to play fixtures. Unfortunately Ashville, who we have played for several years, no longer have a team. It is, however, encouraging that we have three of the team left for next year and with more experience at a younger age we can hopefully play against club teams to increase the number of fixtures. Many thanks are owed to Mrs. Shepherd for her expert coaching and the time she has spent on arranging fixtures and travelling with the team.
Netball becomes the major game for the girls in the Spring Term and due to the good weather we had throughout, only one set of fixtures was cancelled. A total of fifty matches were played by the four teams and of these forty-four were won, one drawn and five lost. A really excellent result from everyone, but especially from the 1st team who had sixteen fixtures and were only beaten once and this by older girls from the College of Ripon and York St. John. It was particularly pleasing to beat Scarborough College and York Vlth Form College as we had not done so in previous years. The Vlth Form College also had four junior county players in their side. Some of our team were undoubtedly talented enough for county selection but unfortunately this takes place in September when the senior girls are not playing netball. Eleven players represented the 1st team and eight of these will be here next year to provide the nucleus of the team. Unfortunately Abigail and Louise Fowler are both leaving, as their height contributed greatly to the overall scores. They rarely lost the ball from the attacking circle without scoring as the defence had little chance of rebounds! They both played with enthusiasm (if somewhat noisily at times!) and will be missed next year, as will Ronnie Wareham who decided after all that there was life when the hockey finished at the end of the Autumn Term! She played throughout with great commitment and had good attacking and defending skills, important to all players but especially the centre. Isla Pollard came into the L. VI with great enthusiasm and athletic ability but little netball skill. She made exceptional progress through the season and became a very reliable defence player. She was an obvious choice to captain next year's team and I am sure will provide inspiration for all the players. Eighteen girls represented the 2nd VII and as only one of them is leaving the School I am sure they can attain an unbeaten record next year. Twelve matches were played with nine won, one drawn and two lost. Only one goal separated the scores against Woodhouse Grove and two against Scarborough College. Julia Thompson and Melanie Gibb played the shooting positions in every match. They shot goals with accuracy and were unfortunate not to be regular 1st team players (but Louise and Abigail had a definite height advantage here!) although Julia played on several occasions. I tried to play a team to match other School's abilities, hence the number of girls who played. The 16-16 draw against the 3rd team from the College of Ripon and York St. John and the win against York Vlth Form College by one goal were the best results, with very good team play being shown. Julia Thompson, as captain, led by example encouraging the others. The U.15 team played netball weekly in the Autumn Term and had three matches, winning two of them. As well as the twelve matches in the Spring Term they played in the rally at Joseph Rowntree School on March 14th. They qualified for the semi-final against Huntington School as section runners-up. Here they were unfortunate to lose by only one goal, despite having the greater number of shots. However, the team played well together, both
Results: V Barnsley 6th Form College Home V Woodhouse Grove Away V The Mount Home V Harrogate College Away V Woodhouse Grove Home V Home Barnard Castle V Home Harrogate College V Home The Mount
3- -2 3- -2 6- -0 1--5 2- -3 5--0 3- -3 6--0
The following represented the 1st V and were awarded colours: S. Wareham (captain), A. Masefield, S. Jackson, E. Ward, N. Westwood. W. M. Shepherd/Sharon Wareham 71
