SPORTS REPORT January – April 2017

NETBALL

Our netball teams have really started to shine! When we started playing at the beginning of the new school year, we knew we had a lot of work to do! Wow – what a different bunch of players these girls are now. They now train together and it shows. They are now confident and could beat anyone on the day – well almost! We played Brentwood Prep back in January on a freezing cold day. Both teams were beaten quite convincingly, but the girls didn’t give up and they learnt a lot. We then took part in a netball rally at Shenfield School. We took 2 teams of year 5 and 6 girls. One team had a brilliant day and got through to the semi finals, beaten by a very strong St Peter’s team. Our parents were very proud and couldn’t believe how well the girls had done and how much they had come on. Well done girls!

Our next tournament was held at St Martin’s school. This was the District competition. Our girls were in Pool B alongside 4 other very strong teams. They got off to a great start by beating St Thomas’s 2-0. Nest up was Kelvedon Hatch. A great team performance – another win – this time 7-0. Ursuline are always very strong and they were our next opponents. The girls battled hard, just losing out 4-1. St Josephs would be another tough match, but again the girls showed their strength, winning 2-1. Last match in the group was against Ingatestone – brilliant performances all round – 3-0 win. That meant we had come 2^nd in the group and would have to play the winners of group A which were St Helens. A great match, with some superb team play. Unfortunately we lost this time 5-2. We then had to play the other Semi-final losers, Herrington House. This was going to be very close. The girls, although very tired by now, did not give up. Their hard work paid off and they were the winners 3-2, coming 3^rd overall out of 12 teams. Brilliant teamwork girls!

GIRL’S FOOTBALL

At the end of January, St Mary’s girls continued their league matches with an away match at Kelvedon. The girls started off very strong. Clara had little to do in goal, but she did make an awesome save later in the match. Some great passing and finishing saw St Mary’s win 3-0.

Our next match was away again to Bentley. With only 7 girls available this was always going to be hard. Again, the girls produced some lovely moves and passing on the pitch. Unfortunately, we were 2-0 down at half time. Clara was much busier this time! Ella pulled one back late on in the game but it wasn’t enough. Unlucky girls.

BOYS FOOTBALL

This year started off with a visit to Brentwood Prep for the year 5 teams. Brentwood proved too strong for our A , B and C teams, but the boys didn’t seem to mind too much – they did get a sausage and chips tea!

It was then the turn of our Year 4 boys. Two teams went over to Brentwood. Our B team came up against a very strong Brentwood Prep team, and although lost 8-0, Thomas Lewis was a star in goal! The A team, however, played some fantastic football, and won their match 4-1. A great team in the making!

The year 6 boys were invited to take part in a Premier League tournament in Basildon on March 1^st. This was a 6-a-side tournament played on astro with 9 teams taking part. We played 4 games and won all 4, keeping clean sheets in all of them. The boys were awesome! Their passing, shooting, defending and teamwork was out of this world! They comfortably got through to the next round which would be played at Beckton.

Another journey in the team bus saw us at the lovely facilities at Beckton. We knew this would be extremely hard, playing against teams from East London and all around Essex. Our first match was against Quilters. The boys produced some great passing and were too strong for the Billericay team. St Mary’s got their first win, 1-0. Next up was Dorothy Barley School. Again, the great movement of the St Mary’s boys proved too much for the opponents and we won 2-0. No break for us, straight into the 3^rd match against Warren Junior. A very tight game, few chances, ended 1-1. Still a great result. We knew we had to draw our last game as least, to get us through to the next round. This was exciting and the boys were playing some brilliant stuff. We thought we had the draw, but with 5 seconds to go, Whitebridge smashed the ball into the middle of our goal. Such a shame, but the boys did St Mary’s proud with their play, behaviour and sportsmanship.

Probably the Year 6s last game of the season saw us at home to Kelvedon Hatch Primary. After their efforts in Beckton, this team were up for a win and we were not disappointed! Goals galore, saw St Mary’s winners 7-0. Well done team.

YEAR 2 FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

ON the 7^th March, we took 3 teams to Shenfield High School for a Year 2 tournament. This was the first time some of the children had experienced playing proper games against other schools. They had a fantastic time and were an absolute credit to St Mary’s School. They were very sporting. The two boys teams did very well, just missing out on a finals place. Well done boys. I can see we have a very good team coming up through the school. The girls played 4 matches – they won 3 and drew another, so went through top of their group to the final against Brentwood Prep. The girls were so focused, they were determined to get a goal and not let anyone through their defence! They were brilliant! They dazzled Brentwood with their skills and their wonderful smiles! They won 3-0 and were winners of the tournament! The girls were so proud to win and get their medals. Well done girls and thank you to Paul Clarke who has been coaching them at the school club.

INDOOR ATHLETICS

Another day, another event! Back to Shenfield School for the annual indoor athletics competition. We took 22 of the Year 6 children to this event. It included indoor javelin, speed bounce, standing high jump, standing long jump, and lots of races. We really do have some talented children at St Mary’s. These events give everyone a chance to have a go at things they might not have tried before. St Mary’s came 5^th out of 12 schools, so well done to everyone for a great team effort.

ORIENTEERING

On the 7^th February, it was another event held at Shenfield School. This time it was all to do with working as a team, some inside the sports hall and other parts running around the fields, looking for clues. This is a great team-building event. The children worked really well together and had a great time.

SWIMMING GALA

Sixteen children from year 5 and 6 went to the Brentwood School swimming pool for the gala. None of the children who took part from St Mary’s, swim competitively out of school. However, they were very competitive when it came to the races! 10 of the 16 were from year 5, so we will have some strong team members racing next year. Well done to all those who took part. You swam your best and had a lot of fun.

BASKETBALL

The new basketball league started with Year 4 playing on the 23^rd January. Some of the boys and girls played last year in the year 4 league, when they were in year 3, so we knew they would be strong. This team really wanted a victory and they did it with ease. They are a great little team, work well together and are very good basketball players. They got their first win of the new season. Well done to you all, and thank you Emily for being the only girl in the team!

The next evening saw the girls play their very first match. This is the first time St Mary’s have ever had a girls team. We had players from years 4, 5 and 6. What a great game they had. Very strong, great teamwork and a win to cap it all. Fantastic girls – well done.

Nest up was the Year 5 team. We are short of year 5 players, so we had to call on our year 4 boys to help out. They certainly didn’t look or play like they were a year younger than their opponents! A great effort boys – unfortunately we just lost out.

February was the next lot of games. The girls were first off this time. We were drawn against probably the strongest girls team of St Peter’s. The girls tried their best, but the year 6 St Peter’s girls proved too strong for us this time. We lost this one, but the girls will bounce back next month!

Year 5 boys were next on the 22^nd Feb. Again, we called on some of the Year 4s to help us out. And help us they did!! They were all awesome and we beat our opposition on the last session.

The Year 4s then had their own year group match the next evening. With help from two year 3 boys this time, the boys played a great match and won easily. Two out of two for the year 4 boys.

The Year 6 boys had their first match on the 27^th Feb. We know how awesome these boys are now – they have played together for a couple of years and it shows. They are strong, their passing is brilliant and they work together so well. First game – first win! Well done everyone.

CROSS COUNTRY

After some superb running in the St Mary’s cross country races back in February, we took our strongest runners to compete in the Brentwood and District cross country event at South Weald park. A majority of the runners at this event are year 6 boys and girls. So, it’s always amazing when you see year 4 and 5 pupils coming in the top 10 – 15 out of 80-100 runners. Well done to all our cross country team – it was a very tough race but you ran your best and you were all amazing!

Next up for the runners was the Thorndon meet. We took a total of 48 runners over the whole day. There were more than 700 pupils taking part in this event! Our children ran a brilliant race and some were so lucky to just miss out on places in the finals in April.

However, our brilliant Year 4 boys and Year 5 girls both came first in the team events and will go on to race at Hadleigh Park in April. We also had some awesome results that means some of our pupils go on to the finals for the individual event. Joshua (1^st) , Thomas (3^rd), Sophie (3^rd) and Anna (2^nd) – well done to you all for coming in the top 3.

Good luck everyone for your next races at Hadleigh Park.

YEAR 5 SPORTS EVENTS AT THE BRENTWOOD SCHOOL

St Mary’s were invited to take a team of footballers and chess players to The Brentwood School to compete against other schools. After a few games of chess at St Mary’s, the winners were chosen to take part. Kirit, Daniel, Zak, Ben and Henry took their places at the chess boards and the competition began. The team played against 4 other schools. They all had 2 wins each, with Daniel also gaining a draw. Well done to you all.

Out on the fields, our football team were getting down to business! The year 5 boys were brilliant and won all 3 games to top the group. All the group winners then had to play each other in the finals. Brentwood Prep, Alleyn Court, Loyola and St Mary’s. St Mary’s once again proved too strong for Loyola and Alleyn Court, but they had their hardest opponents to play – Brentwood Prep. This was an end to end game, full of excitement. Prep went 1-0 up, but St Mary’s came back after a brilliant free kick hit the back of the net. Prep then got a second, and although we came very close on a couple of occasions, we couldn’t get the equaliser. A great game and the boys got a trophy for all their hard work!