Sports Summary

from Terraces Magazine 2021-22

BOARDERS

DAN SANDERSON DIRECTOR OF SPORT

Well, just like that, another school year has flown by, and now is the time to look back at the wonderful happenings in PE and sport and reflect on some of the wonderful highlights of the year.

This year has seen the gradual return to the full Truro School programme, and sport was no different. It has been a joy to see our pupils experience the opportunities that Truro School sport provides, and they have relished being able to represent the school and participate in a wide range of activities.

We began September with Covid still at the forefront of people’s minds and, whilst most restrictions were eased, life still wasn’t back to normal. There were fewer tournaments for the traditional sports of netball, hockey, rugby and football, but we were still able to enter national competitions. We lost a few overseas trips, but we were able to have overnight tours and fixtures in netball, football, fencing and squash. The fixture lists remained well stocked and, this year, across 21 different sports, we competed in over 750 fixtures.

Curriculum-wise, this was the first year that we were able to run through the new Senior School PE and Games curriculum without interruption or adaptation. Our incredible facilities continue to allow us amazing flexibility and the ability to offer a wide range of sports. In Games, all our pupils have access to the entire range of sports that we offer during Games lessons. Each sport has half a term of lessons and both boys and girls experience netball, rugby, hockey, football and striking and fielding (cricket, rounders, softball etc). It has been very pleasing to see the pupils rise to the challenge of being out of their comfort zones, and some of the progress made has been breathtaking. Throughout our lessons, clubs and practises, we are always promoting the values that we want our pupils to exhibit both in and out of school. Skill acquisition in the sport they are learning is important, but so are empathy, resilience, teamwork, creativity and enjoyment. We want to help produce good people, through sport. After all, we are a school, and our main priority is to provide a fantastic, well-rounded education.

I am pleased to say that we have plenty of highlights to share with you too. Our pupils are so very talented and great fun; they have achieved amazing things, whilst also increasing their participation across clubs and fixtures.

We will start with some of the selected team highlights over the last year:

The U12 girls’ hockey team were county champions, with some outstanding displays (and so many players across the two teams!)

Our U13 teams came close across a number of sports, but it is safe to say that this age group has improved the most over the last year and I am really excited to see them in action next year.

Our U14 netball team were crowned county champions, which sent them to the regional finals in Bournemouth.

Sports Summary

The U14 boys won the county cricket and were runners up in the rugby competition. It is a talented year group, with a lot of strength at depth across the board. The girls, combined with some 2nd Years, also won the Cornwall School Games athletics competition.

The U15s had a great year, with county wins for boys’ indoor cricket and the girls’ hockey team. The girls’ netball team also represented the school in the World School Games, which took place in Loughborough.

The U16s won the boys’ hockey county cup and also did well in the boys’ rugby 10s tournament, winning the bowl at Queens Taunton. It hasn’t been easy for this year group, as they prepared for their GCSEs after two years of disruption,but they competed well across a plethora of sports and tournaments.

The senior sides continued to do well across the board. There was a historic ‘double’ for the football team, winning both the county cup and county league title. In rugby, they progressed to the last 16 of 256 teams, beating Plymouth, Mount Kelly, Wellington and Richard Huish before losing to an excellent Bristol Grammar School.

Our badminton team swept the board at the county championships, winning across every age category.

The last word for the team announcements goes to the all-conquering KS5 squash team. They became national champions this year and made up for the heartbreak of losing the final in 2019. The team comprised Louis M (L6), Jack M (L6), Ben T (U6), Joe T (5th Year), Callum O (5th Year) and Ed H (5th Year). The effort, commitment and skill that went into this victory cannot be underestimated, and a special mention should also go to the head coach, Tim Smith. Individually, there were some incredible achievements.

Jacob L (U6) continues to impress across 200m and 400m and achieved national times for both; he will race in the schools finals this year. Victor M (3rd Year) is hot on his heels (pun intended!) and qualified for the 100m, clocking 11.5 seconds, despite only taking up athletics this summer term.

Naomi H (2nd Year) and Daisy H (3rd Year) have represented team GB in Biathlon and Lazer runs, with both winning medals in the European championships.

Tegan B (L6) has been selected for the England surf team to compete in the world championships in El Salvador. Sam C (U6) has been selected for the GB squad for the upcoming world youth championships.

Louis M (L6) was part of the victorious KS5 squash team, but has also climbed to the number-one ranking spot in England for the U18 category, which is a remarkable achievement.

Sam H (5th Year) made his debut for the Exeter Chiefs academy, hopefully the first of many.

Lola S (1st Year) has performed amazingly well in gymnastics this year, representing county and regional teams (collecting medals galore along the way).

Libby W (5th Year), Merryn O (5th Year) and Jasmine B (3rd Year) have all represented Team Bath in their respective age groups for netball.

Sports Summary

As the world started to open up, we were keen to celebrate with those around us and our community, and two of the year’s highlights took place during the Summer term.

Mr. Hooper organised an amazing primary school football festival, which hosted 24 teams at the senior school. It was wonderful to see so many schools on our campus, and this will pave the way for future festivals in other sports. The Truro School Golf Society is now in full swing, with players comprising of pupils, staff, former staff and alumni. If you would like to know more and get involved, what are you waiting for?!

This year also saw the return of the Truro School Senior Sports Dinner, which had 164 attendees. We welcomed our guest speaker, five-time Olympian Fran Houghton (who gave her medals away as prizes – for a short time, anyway!), who spoke wonderfully. Our two big prize winners were Louis M - Sports Personality of the Year Award (for outstanding achievement) and Katie F, awarded the Truro School Sports Ambassador Award (for outstanding service and contributions to school sport). Two very worthy winners, and they are both fantastic role models to our younger pupils.

Well, that’s all you get from me for another year but, of course, I can only offer you a snapshot of life here at Truro School. To feel the whole experience, you are very welcome to get in touch with us and join us on the sidelines to support a game. Alternatively, all of the action and good news is posted to our social sites, which can be found on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Just search Truro School sport and that should be all you need. If you would like to get in touch with us, please email