December 2018
WYCOMBE HIGH SCHOOL
SPORTS BULLETIN Autumn 2018
Welcome to the Sports Bulletin, a half-termly Swimming update of our students’ sporting achievements. Harshika Srivastava (Y7/N2) has been awarded the Go to the Sports website for details of fixtures and Wycombe District Talented Athlete Bursary at County follow us on Twitter @WycHighsports level for 2018 for her achievements in swimming. This award is across sporting events and age groups and consists of a certificate and a bursary.
Individual Success Trampolining
Harshika is currently swimming in Junior Performance Squad at Wycombe District Swim Club and she trains Congratulations to Zoe Godfrey (Y7/ T1) for placing 2nd 15+ hours a week. She is aiming to get to South East Regional competition next year and already in the advanced U13 age group at her most recent trampolining competition! In addition to her competition represented WHS in ESSA Regionals and Nationals junior team. This is a fantastic achievement by podium spot, Zoe received rewards for ‘Most HardHarshika, and reflects all of the hard work and effort working and ‘Best Improved’ athlete at her clubs annual awards dinner. We are very proud of all of Zoe’s she puts into her sport, well done! achievements in trampolining, keep up the hard work!
Netball Congratulations to Millie Stebbings (Y7/T8) who with her team mates at Eagles Netball won the Southern Tournament of ENG's Netball Cup on Saturday 17th November. This competition represented the Southern Finals of this nationwide event to find the best No.1 U12 team in England and it was Eagles Netball who came on top to take a top seeded position going into the Nationals in March 2019.
Hockey During the Christmas holidays, on Friday 28 December, Tilly Fellows (Y7/C7) represented her hockey club (Marlow) as part of an U12 girls team in an indoor hockey tournament at the Copper Box Arena at the Olympic Park in London. The tournament involved 16 teams from all over the country and consisted of a group stage, followed by knock-out quarters, semis and a gold medal final. The team won every match they played and were eventual winners of the tournament, an outstanding performance! Tilly plays in goal for her club and was almost able to keep a clean sheet, only conceding one goal in the entire tournament. This was her first experience of indoor hockey. Well done Tilly!
1
Team Success Cross Country ESAA Cross Country Cup—Regional Round
Saturday 10 November was the day designated to the regional round of the cross country cup throughout the UK. Our young, enthusiastic and talented 'Junior girls' team qualified as part of the East Central region; what a result! Runners Lyra from Year 8 and Aashni, Francesca, Jo and Sofia from Year 7 attended the race at Lincroft School in Oakley, Bedfordshire. It was a warm, sunny day, supported brilliantly by parents and siblings. Anjali from Year 7 also qualified for the event, progressing successfully from the first round. It was a difficult team selection overall, given the large number of girls coming to cross country club and trialling for the team. Wycombe High junior girls placed 7th on the day, a trememdous result given the young team and that most of these girls are not club runners! We'll be putting extra training in place to support these talented girls throughout the season - they are capable of great success! Watch this space... Cross country club takes place on Wednesday lunchtimes on the field, coached by Miss Snook, Alan and Helen from the Speed Demons athletics club. If you are searching for an athletics club for your daughter, see @bucksspeeddemons on Twitter. All welcome on the field on Wednesdays.
U18 Hockey Preliminary Rounds Early November saw the first stage of the indoor tournament get underway. Wycombe’s team contained 3 Year 13, 6 Year 12 and 2 Year 10 students. This was the first time WHS had entered a team at this level for a few years, and as many teams would consist of Year 13 students solely, they knew they would be up against it from the off. Despite the tough ask, Wycombe got off to a flying start, defeating host Ayelsbury High 3-0. A 3-1 win against Great Marlow, followed by a 1-0 scrappy battle with Magdalen that should have been far more comfortable had WHS converted any one of their 10 short corners and 1 penalty stroke, meant they had qualified for the Regional Rounds with a game to spare.
Regional Round The Regional Rounds were held in City of London Freeman’s school and saw Wycombe High grouped with last year’s National Finalists, St George’s. One of Wycombe’s key forward players tore her hamstring in the lead up to the event, and another had work commitments, which meant that a new recruit from Year 12 stepped up to help the team out. A doubt was cast over the students chances of further progression and an inspirational speech from the captain was needed to retain the focus. However, a thrilling start saw Wycombe take the lead 2 minutes in to their first match against the hosts. Brave battles ensued and despite a valiant effort, Wycombe conceded with less than 2 minutes remaining. Following this, a hard fought match with St Georges saw Wycombe go in at half time on 1-0 down (a team that had demolished Wycombe’s outdoor team last season 11-1). As this match was played immediately after our first, energy cells ran low and St George’s ran out 5-0 winners. Following a short rest, results went Wycombe’s way and they knew they only had to win the last match against James Allen Girls school to finish second in the group and qualify for the National Finals.
Heartbreak struck as Wycombe conceded in the first minute of the match. Several players in the Wycombe team stepped up and showed immense leadership and determination to not let things lsip from their grasp. Several attacks in a row from Wycombe led to a short corner being awarded, and a slick move at the top of the circle saw a well taken goal for Wycombe level things up with the second half looming. Both teams battled it out and came close to scoring several times. However, the deadlock could not be broken and the match finished 1-1. Leaving Wycombe agonisingly 3rd in their group, with the top 2 teams progressing to the National Finals. A sad farewell for the Year 13 students in the team, who gave it their all to prolong their WHS Hockey career for a little longer. They have left the team in a much stronger position than when they joined and with the majority of the WHS team being Year 13 students next year, hopefully the story will be different. A very proud day for myself and all the students involved.
- Mr Nevard
Swimming ESSA National Championships
Furthering the WHS junior inter and senior swimming teams successful national qualification from the regional round in both medley and freestyle relays, on Saturday 17 November all three teams travelled to the London Aquatic Centre for the National ESSA finals.
It was a brilliant day at the London Aquatic Centre for the junior team, the team arrived expecting to swim in only the freestyle relay after the regional round, however, during their warm up Wycombe High School received good news! A team had to pull out of the medley relay and the WHS team were asked to race as the next fastest team at the event! The girls placed 18th in the freestyle and 23rd in the medley, an amazing performance after not previously qualifying for the event!
League Results
On Wednesday 14 November the second round of the Buckinghamshire Schools Swimming League took place at Wycombe Abbey School. The WHS teams performances were excellent, the juniors and inters are currently in second place and not far behind first in points table! The Junior team took first place in the 50m Freestyle, the 4x25m Freestyle relay and in the 50m Butterfly with Harshika Srivastava breaking a league with 35.43. The Inter team improved on their previous 4th place finish and placed 2nd. Well done to all of the swimmers who took part, particularly those who were also competing in the National Championships in the same week—outstanding commitment to the sport! The third league gala will take place on Wednesday 30 January.
Football The U12 team won their ESFA second round cup game 2-1. The draw for the next round is on Monday 10t December. U13
The U13s finished top of their 9 a-side County Cup Group winning all 4 of their games which takes them into the semi finals. The U13 team also competed in the EFL Girls Cup, this was a 6 a-side tournament hosted After a fantastic effort from the inter team in both by Wycombe Wanderers. The girls had 4 points from relays they placed with a respectable finish in both their 3 group stage games which put them second in events, placing higher than they qualified in both the group which sadly wasn’t enough to go through to events! The team placed 22nd in the freestyle the next stage.
relay and 16th in the medley relay.
The seniors followed with strong swims in both events and secured a place in finals for the freestyle and medley relays amongst the top ten teams! The senior team just missed out on a medal in the freestyle relay placing 6th and placed 7th in the medley relay, but in both events, were the highest placing state school! Well done girls outstanding performances!
U15 The U15s won 4 of their 5 group stage games in the County Cup to finish second in their group to also go through to the semi finals—well done! Additionally, the U15 have won 5 of their 5 7 a-side league games so far this season which puts them top of the league with 2 games to go. Good luck!
3
Gymnastics
Top Sporting State Schools of 2018
Milano Team Competition
Wycombe High School have been placed 11th for school sport in the whole country for state schools.
U13 On the Friday 14 January, the U13 gym squad competed to an outstanding level at St Mary’s school across different events including an individual vault and floor routine each, as well as a group routine. The team - comprised of Hollie Cotton (Y8), Olivia Russell (Y8), Amelia Massaro (Y8) and Tallulah Challenor (Y7) - all performed so well and were unlucky to miss out on a place to go to the National finals. All the coaches were proud of their performance and the dedication that went into training in the weeks coming up to the competition. Well done girls!
An indication of just how difficult it is to reach the list can been seen in that reaching the top 30 means you are in the top 1% of sporting schools in the country. Wycombe High Schoool have entered numerous competitions and we have had individual and team success across a range of sports. We could not do this without you, so a huge well done to you all! More information can be found here: https:// www.schoolsportmag.co.uk/top-state-2018/4594492928
Inter-house Results Well done to everyone who took part from Years 7 to 11! Below are the results for the autumn term. Year Group Results
U16 The U16 squad also performed in the Milano competition and were complimented on their outstanding group performance. The squad place 7th in their age category—well done! Overall Results
Secondary School of the Year 2018
1st Place: Parks & Bronte 3rd Place: Curie
Wycombe High School was shortlisted for the Bucks and MK sports awards as Secondary School of the year 2018! The PE department had the honour of attending the awards, we missed out on the top spot but were overwhelmed to have been nominated and enormously proud to be in the top 3 in the country.
4th Place: Austen 5th Place: Nightingale 6th Place: Pankhurst
Key Dates Highlights: Wednesday 27 March & Thursday 28 March Year 7& 8 UK Sports Tour: Friday 7 June — Sunday 9 June Sports Day: Tuesday 9 July Reserve date: Tuesday 16 July
Sports Achievements
We would like to celebrate your daughter’s sporting achievements outside of school. Please email us at office@whs.bucks.sch.uk with your daughter’s success stories for inclusion in the next edition and / or if you would like to become a Friend of Sport to help with fixtures, events, etc. 4