Category: Sport
The Woodbridge Equestrian teams competed in show jumping at Brook Hall Farm on Sunday 18 September, aiming to qualify more teams for the National Schools Equestrian Championships at Keysoe in October.
Year 7’s Grace, Year 8’s Harry, Edie and Zac, Year 10 Evie, Oscar and Lois, Year 11’s Sopia, Year 12’s Ada and Oscar, and Year 13’s Lily all took part, qualifying by winning the 70cm, 90cm and 1m team events.
Also qualifying as individuals were Sophia who took second place in the 1m class. In the 1.10m pony class was Year 10’s Eve in first and second place, and Oscar G also second in the 1.10m horse class.
We wish Edie, Harry, Zac, Grace, Oscar, Lois, Phia, Eve, and Oscar the best of luck at the Keysoe National Championships when they compete in show jumping, arena eventing and in the regional points league over four days from 20-24 October 2022.
We also wish Ada good luck. She would also have been competing for the teams but has had an opportunity she couldn’t turn down and is instead competing with the Junior GB eventing team at the 2*Short international friendly against Ireland at Bicton International over the same weekend.
On Tuesday 4 October 2022, Woodbridge School Prep Year 6 football team travelled to Hertfordshire to compete in the IAPS U11 Football qualifiers. After a long journey on the minibus, Woodbridge began the matches in a pool of four teams, playing three games.
From these games two were won and one was drawn, a great start to the day putting Woodbridge at the top of the group, making sure the team progressed to the quarter-finals.
The last match of the day proved to be the team’s most important result, a 1-1 draw at full time was a brilliant result given they were down early on in the match; they went on to play a golden goal period. A goal in the top corner of the net secured the team’s victory, putting them through to the semi-final stage.
With only four teams going through to the National Finals, from the 19 teams that started the day, Woodbridge School Prep had made it and were through to play in the finals in Millfield late November.
As well as the victory, Woodbridge School Prep Year 6 football team were a credit to the School, playing their part in competing in the right spirit, with the right amount of effort and skill; matching all teams played on the day.
Our hockey 2nd team played against Wymondham on Saturday 1 October, playing superbly and winning the match. Our match report has more details of the game, players and the score.
Woodbridge 2nd vs Wymondham – Match report: Mr Brous
For the first match of the season the team played superbly. On a warm Saturday afternoon we took on the Wymondham team. We controlled most of the first half but really struggled to find the goal, shot after shot was saved or shots missed their target. We were a little slow at recovering in the mid-field to start, but the back four of Year 11’s Lola, Rosie, Violetta and Charlotte ensured that nothing got past them. Backed up by some superb keeping from Year 12’s Kitt our draw was at least secure at the end of the first half. It was in the second half that we really got going. The team upped their work rate and defensibly were superb. This gave us the platform to launch counter attacks, which we did at superb pace. As a result we got three quick goals, two from Year 13’s Iris and one from Year 11’s Violet. Some great saves from Year 11’s Freya at the end helped keep the oppositions scoresheet blank. Player of the match was Year 11’s Charlotte for her superb defensive work and control of the centre of the pitch. All in all I was impressed by the team’s efforts, their work rate and their eagerness and determination to keep working hard throughout the match. Well done team, a 3-0 win.
Our U14A team also played Wymondham as well as Ipswich School last week, winning both matches and celebrating some great play. Match reports from Mrs Johnson below.
Woodbridge U14A vs Wymondham – Match report Mrs Johnson
Making the journey to Wymondham on a Saturday afternoon totally worthwhile were the Year 9 U14As who played some excellent hockey as a team to come home victors. With some stellar defending (meaning that our goalie Freya didn’t actually touch the ball all first half!) from Millie, Lyrah and Liya, and great midfield wizardry from Charlie, Margot, Ellie, Lily McK and Valentina, we were ahead at half time by four goals. These were scored by Bea who then went on to score a 6th in the final minutes of the game. Eloise, Bea, Scarlett and Lily F were all putting pressure on the Wymondham goalie and played brilliantly supporting the mid-field and making good leads up the pitch. A great goal from Lily McK and performance from all, well done! Final score, Woodbridge won 6-0.
Woodbridge U14A vs Ipswich School B – Match report Mrs Johnson
This was another great team performance by our Year 9s, illustrating leadership, support, tactics and hard work which culminated in four goals being scored before half time. The first goal was scored within a minute – a ‘Champagne goal’ which came from a fantastic ball from Meda into the D with Charlie getting on the end of it. The other goals were scored by Bea, Scarlett and Aurelia. We started the second half with a few people on the bench due to injury, but we passed the ball fantastically, and supported the play well up the pitch. Lily F snuck in to score a great goal in the last five minutes and her smile summed up the afternoon – amazing! Final score, Woodbridge won 5-0.
The Suffolk round of the English Schools Cross Country Cup was held in School this week on Tuesday 4 October. We’re proud to report that all six Woodbridge School teams, with Year groups from 7 through to 13, ran and qualified for the regional round of the cup, being held at Felsted School in Essex on Saturday 12 November.
Special mention and congratulations to Year 8’s Romilly and Year 10’s Angus who took excellent individual victories in their races.
The Junior girls team were outstanding, and comfortably the best result of the day, with all six of our athletes finishing in the top ten.
Well done to everyone that took part, particularly those that qualified, wishing them the best of luck for the regionals!
The next cross country fixture is the first Suffolk Schools trial at RHS on Thursday 13 October where around 70 of our athletes, from the Senior School and Prep, will be racing. Parents are welcome to attend with around 1,800 Suffolk athletes from some 80 schools racing throughout the day.
Having just been selected for the England Rugby Development programme, Year 11’s Nancy has very good reason to be proud of herself and her achievements of late when it comes to commitment and progression in sport.
Having played rugby for Ipswich U16 since she was 10 years old, Nancy was recently selected to not only play for but to Captain Eastern Counties Rugby U16 team; and it was there she was seen and selected for the England Rugby Development programme. A six week schedule which includes meal planning and a personal trainer, Nancy was obviously delighted to have been selected from over 60 players all hoping for a place which could ultimately end with her being chosen to play for England U16 team.
This latest success has been the icing on the cake for Nancy, having trained two nights a week every week over the summer, as well as competing at weekends for hammer and shotput. Recently she’s celebrated throwing her longest ever hammer throw at County Athletics in Oxford, increasing her throw by 3m to a distance of 46.3m, taking her into the top 10 rankings that month for the U17 English hammer.
But it doesn’t end there, Nancy is also currently in the top 25 for shotput, and the top 20 for discuss in England. Nancy explained her drive and motivation comes from the feeling she gets when she achieves, “I really enjoy the sense of achievement I get, coming off the pitch, being congratulated, knowing I’ve tried my best – and it’s paid off! That feeling I get when I’m running with the ball, the crowd are there supporting the team and we’re working together to win – I love that and that’s what I think of when I’m training hard!”
Woodbridge U13a vs Farlingaye – Match report: Mr Simpson
In the first Match of the U13 season the U13A team played a very competitive Farlingaye side at Woodbridge Rugby Club. The game saw contrasting tactics, with one side bashing it up the middle and the other trying to move the ball to the wings and into space with fast fluid hands. After an initial period of passive defence against the very strong, direct tactics, the Woodbridge team realised that if we were able to stop the bash attack, we would be able to move the ball with speed and fluidity to the wingers and put them away in space. This meant that after the early conceding of tries the half time turn around was 5-3 to Woodbridge. A positive team talk of keep moving it wide and yes, we can beat them, enabled the boys to focus on the task at hand. With continued excellent tackling, especially from Year 8’s Oliver the Farlingaye attack was nullified and with the turnover ball being moved to the wings quickly several tries were scored by the Woodbridge Wingers, with Year 8’s Tom scoring 5 in total!
A great win for the first game of the season and well done to joint men of the match, Oliver and Tom.
Woodbridge Year 7, A team vs Farlingaye – Match report: Mr Gage
Woodbridge started off their season with a home game against Farlingaye. It was a close game which saw both teams moving the ball well and playing some excellent rugby. Farlingaye scored first after some great link up play breaking through the Woodbridge defense. However, their lead didn’t last long, a quick counterattack saw Woodbridge draw level. Some great defense from both sides meant neither team could break through. Farlingaye found a gap in the defense going into half time one try up. 10-5 to Farlingaye.
In the second half, there were plenty of opportunities for both teams to score. Some great defending on each try line meant the score stayed the same. Farligaye looked like they would hold onto the lead, until a great pick up and movement of the ball saw Woodbridge get around the outside of the defence to score in the corner.
A well-deserved draw.
Woodbridge U14A & B vs. Colcheter RGS – Match report Mr Brous
The first match of the season was forced to be a touch game due to the conditions. The lack of rain meant pitch conditions were too hard to play a contact game. We also had to break the game into quarters, so that both the A and B team were able to play against the opposition. The first quarter started well, with the A team matching CRGS play for play. We were definitely better organised than the opposition; we were quicker to recycle the ball, quicker to get it down the line and defended well but lost out a little on physicality. Both teams crossed the line once, with Woodbridge having a try disallowed. The second quarter saw the B team take the field. Again we were well organised and disciplined, but two very quick runners ran around the team to score three times. The third and fourth quarters were similar. All in all it was a pleasing start to the rugby season and highlighted the work we had done on quick play and recycling.
Woodbridge U14A vs Farlingaye – Match report Mr Brous
This game also started as a touch game; once again to the fact that we had had limited physical practice due to hardness of the pitch. It was played in thirds, in order to develop the game and to get the team used to physical match play. Each third more and more physicality was added and by the final third we were ready to play a full contact match. It was in the last 15 minutes that we really found our feet, with Year 9’s Seb going over for a try after we had camped in the opposition’s 22 for a good period of time. Our tackling and physicality improved as the game progressed and Joe marshalled the back line superbly, showing silky hands and a well-balanced run.
A narrow loss.
Woodbridge U14A vs Culford – Match report Mr Brous
In the first 10 minutes of the game, Woodbridge were superb, with us locked in the opposition half. We pushed and pushed for the try and it almost came. However, a quick counter by the opposition, who had 2 incredibly fast runners, ran around our defence and scored. Unfortunately, from the kick -off we missed our tackles and the opposition collected the ball to run the full length of the field to score again. It took us a while to get ourselves organised, and we were guilty of losing the ball in contact. Having started well, this poor spell cost us and we conceded a number of tries. To the boy’s credit, we progressed towards the last 10 minutes and got going again, slowly but surely beginning to recycle the ball, and supporting our players in contact. This is a team with work in progress but equally so much potential. With continued work on our contact position and tacking we know we will soon see improvements. A match lost but lessons learned.
Last weekend three Woodbridge riders celebrated great results at the U18 regional Equestrian Eventing competitions and the National U16 Pony Eventing Trials.
Having been successful the previous weekend beating Olympian William Fix-Pitt (on a young horse) in an Open competition at the South of England Horse Trials, Year 10’s Eve rode Monroe Lad taking 7th place in the National Pony Trial at Little Downham. A great achievement as the course was very demanding, so much so it caused many of her fellow competitors to retire or be eliminated due to accumulated refusals.
Eve’s sister, Year 12’s Ada also competed at South of England in an International 2*S competition finishing 17th out of 54, the youngest competitor in the class riding her mare Izzietop. Ada and her horse went on to take 8th place this weekend in the U18 Open Novice class which is a selectors class for the Eastern Regional team at the International Youth Champs in 2023. She represented the team this season when the team took 3rd place.
And finally, Year 12’s Oscar competed in the Open100 U18, a selectors class for the Eastern Regional team at this level, and produced a super double clear to take 10th place. Congratulations to all of them!
Woodbridge School is thrilled to announce its partnership with Best of Suffolk in order to deliver The Well HQ’s Sport In Her Shoes conference on Friday 11 November 2022.
As part of our School’s PHSCE programme, the Sport In Her Shoes conference has been organised by Helen Richardson, Director of Co-Curricular at Woodbridge School, as well as The Well HQ co-founders Dr Emma Ross, Dr Bella Smith and Baz Moffat. Dr Emma Ross is a female athlete health specialist and former Head of Physiology at The English Institute of Sport. She was also the lead for the SmartHER project within the UK High Performance System from 2016 to 2020. Dr Bella Smith is a GP and specialist in women’s health. Baz Moffatt is a former GB rower and now a women’s health coach with expertise in pelvic health.
The one-day workshop aims to support girls, boys, teachers and coaches in understanding and being able to talk about and discuss the female body, how it works and how to approach issues so that girls can continue to participate in sport and physical activity at all times. With research1 showing that over 40% of girls drop out of physical activity and/or sport during puberty, it’s vital this subject is approached, understood and communicated to everyone.
The event will be attended by girls and boys from Years 7 to 9 and 10 to 13 from Woodbridge School, in separate modules appropriate to age; making Woodbridge School the first to include boys in the conversation.
During the day, a number of presentations will take place, providing information and the opportunity for discussions on subjects including: the menstrual cycle, the power of female centric nutrition, breasts, bras, pelvic floor, injury and concussion, coaching girls and the female mindset. Speakers will also discuss the social-political context of gender gaps inherent in the world of sport, exercise and physical activity.
Many of the topics are currently considered taboo and are perhaps uncomfortable for many since they deal with what might be considered private and personal; anxiety over ‘getting it wrong’ can also be one of the major reasons many of these topics are not discussed or mentioned. The biggest aim of the day is to reduce embarrassment, increase education and encourage more support and conversations on matters that affect girls and women every day.
Commenting on the event Shona Norman, Head of Woodbridge School said, “This event provides us with a great opportunity to not only involve our whole School, but many others as we invite schools and clubs from across the region to attend and then share the information received with their own communities. A challenging subject, I’m looking forward to our staff and students having the opportunity to be involved with and participate in the event and hopeful that the impact will be felt throughout the entire School.”
This was echoed by Tim Ripman, Director of Operations at Best of Suffolk who added, “Being able to enrich the lives of the Suffolk community by supporting events like In Her Shoes is absolutely key for Best of Suffolk. Not only do we work with local businesses and Schools such as Woodbridge, but we also work with local charities and communities to support where help is needed.”
An evening session will be held the night before the conference in School, on Thursday 10 November 2022 where parents of students taking part, local sports coaches, clubs and other schools are invited, and will have the opportunity to be introduced to The Well HQ and the conference content. For further information on this event please visit woodbridgeschool.org.uk or call 01394 615000 to talk to Helen Richardson.
The hockey season is now in full flow, having started well with the Junior 1s playing in the annual Orwell Park U13 pre-season festival and all of our Junior girls teams playing against RHS on Wednesday 21 September.
Orwell Park pre-season festival – match report
Saturday 10 September was a wet and wonderful afternoon during which so much learning took place. It was an honour to pay tribute to Her Majesty The Queen in a two minute silence before matches started; our team conducted themselves perfectly, understanding the occasion throughout the afternoon.
Each player played in three or more positions during the six short matches, to gain maximum learning, experience and exposure, apart from Eva who was in position as goalkeeper, and on great form all afternoon.
Year 7s, representing the school for the first time, impressed with their open minded approach, never saying, “I don’t know how” but instead, “I am keen to try” or, “Yes, I can!” when challenged outside their comfort zone – to much success.
Tactics and principles were learned and how exciting it is when it works perfectly like when Ella (Y7) and Rosie (Y8) scored great team goals.
A fantastic start to the season with great questions asked, telling personal reflections done and loads of fun had.
RHS, seven teams play against RHS – match reports
On Wednesday 21 September, we had our first full block of junior girls hockey fixtures, featuring seven teams against RHS. Every girl in Year 7 and 8 played in a match, and for many this was their first taste of representing Woodbridge School. It was a great afternoon, home and away with both schools doing ever so well and the spoils very much shared. Below are some individual team reports.
The Junior 1st team delivered a near perfect performance in their first full match outing of the term. The Year 7 and 8 debutants were nervous before the match but soon started to flow, led well by captain, Georgia (Y8), who delivered a player of the match performance at left back.
Things got off to a speedy start again when a training ground set piece was executed perfectly and Amelie P (Y8) ended up putting the rebound away with her first of two goals in the match. Going into half time 2-0 the team knew they would have to dig deep. RHS came back strong after half time, but Eva (Y8) made the important saves in goal.
Eventually on minute 12 in the second half RHS got a goal which could prove telling, but two minutes later Rosie (Y8) restored the lead. More flowing and exciting hockey followed, Woodbridge passing the ball with confidence, defending with more assertiveness and continuing to fill the right spots.
The match was sealed in the dying minutes when Felicity scored a far post deflection, lobbing the ball over the GK’s head.
A great start to the season, showing so much progress as a team and learning as individuals already.
The Junior 2 girls started the season with an extremely entertaining 3-3 draw away at RHS. There were some great passages of hockey on display by the girls in their first outing of the season. Amelia (Y8) scored to make it 1-0 before RHS grabbed an equaliser soon after, to make it 1-1 going into half time.
The girls came out with great energy and strung some nice passes together, which led to Amelia’s second goal of the day.
RHS then scored twice in quick succession, before Amelia completed her hat trick to pull the score back to 3-3.
A very promising start to the season!
The Junior 4 girls played a good game to start the season, with excellent effort for their first match. Much improved play in the second half and Pip’s (Y8) perseverance paid off with a well-deserved goal.
Well done Cleo, Mrs Scahill’s player of the match who worked tirelessly in defence, and also to and Millie (Y7) who was picked player of the match by RHS.
While many of us were perhaps enjoying a break in the sunshine over the summer break, Year 12’s Henry was busy having a summer he is unlikely to forget. Henry started the summer having just completed his GCSEs, knowing full well that his training had gone to plan and a medal at English Schools Track and Field was a realistic target.
His summer of racing commenced on Friday 8 July where he won his heat in the 1500m at English Schools in Manchester. He was back the very next day to race the final, showing great heart to lead the 1500m from gun to tape, running quicker than he had ever run to take gold in 3:54.89. In winning this race Henry was selected to represent English Schools at the home international in Belfast the following week.
On Saturday 16 July he lined up against the best 1500m athletes from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Once again Henry led from start to finish to smash the lifetime best he had set the week before, winning in 3:51.64.
In the second half of the summer Henry switched his attention to the longer distance of 3000m with some incredible results. First up was an open meeting in Watford in early August where Henry (still aged 16) finished 2nd in the Adult A race, running 8:15.36. To give this performance context, that time ranks Henry 5th on the UK All Time list at U17 and the person he relegated to 6th at that age was none other than Mohamed Farah. Now Sir Mo Farah!
Henry took the confidence from this event to the English U17 Nationals in Bedford on Sunday 28 August. He won the 3000m title in an incredibly tight finish, winning by just three one hundreds of a second after seven and a half laps of the track. In doing so Henry ran 8:24.06, breaking the championship record that had stood since 1980 – that’s 42 years!
What a summer for Henry and a real inspiration to other pupils involved in sport at Woodbridge School.