SPORTS ROUND UP

This term has been another busy one in the sporting life of the school. Rugby, hockey, cross country, swimming and golf have been offered during Games sessions. AH boys had plenty of opportunities to show off their ability in their chosen sport in internal training sessions, house tournaments, fixtures with other schools and in stand-alone tournaments and festivals.

Every boy in Year 2 upwards played in at least one school match. In all, 165 fixtures were played! Regardless of the sport being played, AH boys approached their endeavours with energy, resilience and good humour.

The Under 13 Rugby team gelled together brilliantly this season under the watchful eyes of their coaches Mr Ingram and Mr Harahap. They played 10 matches, winning 7 and only losing three times. The season also included a tour to Belfast where two excellent matches were played with the team recording a win and a loss. As always the team played in three 7s tournaments, these included events hosted by Durston House, Wetherby Prep and our own at Canons Park. The team seemed suited to this format; they were second in the Wetherby event, third in the Durston one and won the event hosted by AH.

The Under 13 2nd XIII rugby team also made progress. They played a full schedule of matches too; winning 5 and losing 4 of their 9 matches.

The Under 11s were coached by Mr Matthews (Colts A) and Mr Milburn Fryer (Colts Bs). The boys had a tremendous season. Mr Matthews’ A team were undefeated; an amazing achievement. They played 12 matches, won 10 and were held to a draw in two; both drawn matches were against The Hall! The team also came first in the AH annual Under 11 tournament which this year involved 6 visiting teams and came second in the Durston House tournament.

The B team also enjoyed success. They played 6 matches, winning 4 and losing twice.

The RFU player progression pathway adds quite a few aspects into the game at Year 5 (Under 10) level and the boys benefitted from the expert coaching from Mr Montague and Mr Ingram who are passionate rugby fans and experienced coaches. The Under 10s played 7 games. They won 3, drew 2 and lost 2. Mr Ingram highlighted the 35-35 draw away at Durston House as being the team’s best performance

Year 4 is another key stage in the learning journey of our young boys (tackling is introduced) and Mr Milburn Fryer, who looked after the U9A team and oversees this age group more generally enjoyed seeing all the boys develop. The Year 4 boys played 9 block fixtures and this included a memorable outing to the Stonex Arena, the home of Saracens RFU for a tournament. This group of boys are certainly one to look out for in the future. The A and B teams won every match they played apart from one draw.

The Year 3 boys play touch rugby and Mr Wint , who heads up this age group, was also impressed with the skills and focus of this age group. 4 block fixtures were arranged for this year group; all the boys enjoyed playing. They showed good sportsmanship.

In addition to the rugby programme, Year 3 and 4 boys had the chance to opt for multi-sports options and swimming on certain Games afternoons. These sessions took place at the Barnet Copthall Leisure Centre. Mr Montague and Mr Cox headed up the swimming sessions; they were impressed with the boys’ approach. Mr Montague is looking to enter the school into a swimming gala next term, so watch this space!

At AH the Spring term is also synonymous with hockey. At Year 7 and 8 level, AH regularly fielded 3 teams in block fixtures. I had the pleasure of working with the Under 13 A team. During the term we played 9 matches. Four wins and 5 losses were recorded. The highlight was the team’s performance at the AH Hockey Festival where the team played brilliantly to win the event (beating teams from WUS and St Anthony’s). The U13 team were also great company on tour in Belfast where we played two matches. The IAPS regional qualifying tournament that the team entered at Cheltenham College provided another challenging, yet hugely rewarding experience for the boys. In the annual AH tournament, the team played brilliantly to come third out of 7 competing schools.

The Year 7 boys were coached by Mr Stones and Mr Gleeson and they too made excellent progress. Although the Year 7s occasionally played up with the Year 8s, they did contest five stand-alone Year 7 matches, with Hill House, Westminster Under School, Newton Prep (twice) and Northbridge House. The team won four of these games and lost one.

Miss Hall and Mr Cox coached the Under 11 teams (Year 6) and they had a terrific season. The team were unbeaten; playing 8, winning 7 and drawing once. The highlight of the season for Miss Hall (the A team coach) came in the IAPS South East region tournament held at Abingdon School, Oxford. Playing some brilliant hockey along the way they were eventual winners of the Plate.

Miss Smith and Mr Lutyens worked with the Year 5 (Under 10 boys) this term. Five matches were played and the team won 4 and lost only once. The team’s annual trip to Charterhouse School to play in their tournament proved to be a valuable experience for the boys. Miss Smith’s Under 10 hockey award winners are listed below

Cross Country is another popular feature of the Spring Term at AH. The Spring Term House cross country events were enthusiastically contested. The results for the Year 5 and 6 competition were: Nelson 4th, Brunel 3rd,

Wellington 2nd and Pitt 1st. The top five finishers were: 1st Albie Whyles; 2nd Isaac Dong; 3rd Farris McKinnan; 4th Tama Matthews and; 5th Seb Murray Bruce. The Under 11 team participated in two events. They came fourth out of 8 in the Hereward House Cross Country and 2nd out of 6 in the AH event; Albie Whyles came second place in this one out of a field of 42 runners!

The Under 13 boys also embraced cross country this term. In the House event. The results are listed below

Senior boys also enjoyed success in cross country meets involving other schools. The AH Year 8 team came second out of 7 schools in the Hereward House Event. Josh Guttmann showed his star quality with a first place finish. The Year 7 team contested the AH event. Charlie Nicolson came in first place in this one and his efforts along with strong finishes from the likes of Ethan Shaer, Thomas Outred, Paco Van Den Berg-Tejedor, Finley Miles and Lore Aofolaju meant that AH finished in first place overall out of 6 schools; a great result!

Award Winners: