Category: Sport
Congratulations to the U14A netball team for an excellent match on Monday after school! They showed real resilience, guts and determination. East Bergholt came with a strong team of club players and who were quick to challenge every ball. In the first quarter Ella Walker and Emily Whyte shot well and the teams were level. In the second quarter East Bergholt pulled away by 4 goals thanks to some excellent shooting and despite Jess Elmer’s fierce defending mid court for which she took some hard hits. The Woodbridge girls had a change of positions and battled hard in the third quarter to turn the game around. Ariane Bilgen and Issy Eaton dominated their players in the circle, not allowing them any space near the post. Further down court Molly Marshall and April Hill used the turned-over balls quickly to turn the defence into attack. Both teams were not going to let the game slip away from them and in the final quarter the match was very physical and exciting. The standard of netball was very pleasing and the result even more so! To win the game by one goal, 15-14 was well deserved. Well done, girls, on an excellent whole team performance.
The Netball season got under way for the U15B team with an away league match against Westbourne. Luckily, we were playing indoors (which makes all the difference, particularly this time of year), so the girls were happy! Although the first quarter was slow to get going, especially as most of the team hadn’t played netball since last season, we managed to end with a 4 – 4 draw. Our passing was quick, but unfortunately not accurate, and we were panicking, therefore not converting our interceptions. During the second half, the team slowed their play down and managed to convert their interceptions into goals. Maddie Cheshire and Libby Martin worked brilliantly in the shooting circle; moving effectively and ensuring passes was received under the post. Sophie Harper, Amber Harrell and Tori McCarroll worked tirelessly in defence, putting the shooters under pressure and turning the ball over. Charlotte Bowers and Laura Golding kept the momentum going in Centre, ensuring passes into our attacking circle were accurate and Maisie Watts and Lily Craig backed up on our defending line and around our attacking circle. A good team performance – well done girls!
The Woodbridge School Junior Riders travelled to the Easton & Otley College Easton Campus to contest the NSEA Grass Roots Show Jumping Regional Final on Saturday 6 January 2018.
Sasha Reid started the day off by taking 2nd place in the 40cms Championship.
This was then followed by the Team of Isla Appleby (Yr 8), Lily Waterer (Yr 8), Sophia Waterer (Yr6) and Eve Marson (Yr5) winning the 60cms Championships with Lily, Eve and Sophia taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th place as individuals respectively.
The same team then went on to contest the 70cms Championship class and completed the double by winning. Lily Waterer finished the day in Style taking the win as the individual with Sophia taking 4th, Eve taking 5th and Isla taking 6th place.
This was the first time this team had competed at any Championships level.
The riders had qualified for the Championship in September 2017 by winning the qualifying classes at the Tendring Hundred Riding Club hosted show.
Mr Goddard reports:
Last Saturday five Woodbridge School Athletes represented Suffolk County (as opposed to Suffolk Schools) at the South of England Inter County Cross Country in Oxford.
Amy Goddard finished mid field in the U13 girls race, and as fourth home of the eight Suffolk athletes, counted towards the Suffolk A Team result with the team finishing a highly creditable ninth.
Charlie Turner competed a year up in the U15 boys. Charlie was tumbled to the ground at the ferocious start, but despite blood from a few spike wounds, picked himself up and worked through the field to finish in the top third. As second Suffolk runner home he helped the team to a 15th place finish.
April Hill showed a glimpse of her old self, running a year up in the U15 girls as she continues to gain fitness after missing most of 2016 and early 2017 with injury. April was competitive throughout the race finishing second for Suffolk in 23rd place, and only about 20 seconds (over the 4km course0) off a top ten finish. The team again did well to finish ninth.
Nathan Goddard followed his recent Suffolk Schools victory at Culford this time finishing first Suffolk home in 26th place despite running a year up in the U17 men. Nathan was 57 seconds behind the winner over 5km and the first few are the same names that dominate the Nationals. The Suffolk team finished 12th.
And Ruby Vinton: wow! Ruby has entered her first senior school cross country season by competing a year up and blazing an unprecedented trail. Fresh from her win at the England Schools’ XC Cup Final two weeks ago, this race seemed likely to provide a sterner test. Or so we thought… Under orders to follow the lead pack, Ruby soon realised that two athletes were getting away and so with adults holding their breath, she set off in pursuit. Surely on catching the leaders Ruby would settle… Not a chance, she ran past the leaders and eased away to become Champion of the South by 7 seconds, all a year young. An outstanding effort and achievement! Congratulations to Ruby from all at Woodbridge School.
It’s also worth mention that the Suffolk U13 Boys’ team won the South of England team title (despite no Woodbridge School athletes this time!), to indicate just what a bright future there is for our Suffolk youngsters. All part of an impressive end to the first half of the cross country season, with a long awaited Christmas break to recharge ahead of some major races between January and March.
Despite freezing conditions at The Jays, Bury St Edmunds on Saturday 9 December; the Woodbridge School riders excelled at all levels to land three County Titles in Show Jumping.
The younger team of Sophia, Eve (9) (both still at the Abbey) with team mates Lily and Alex did faultless rounds to be narrowly beaten into 2nd place in the 70cms Show Jumping NSEA Suffolk County Qualifier. Lily, however, produced a super round to win the class and be crowned Suffolk Champion and qualify to represent the school and Suffolk at the NSEA County Show Jumping Championships. Eve was also placed 3rd individually.
The next level caused problems with no single School finishing on a zero score; but the Woodbridge School team of Ada, Perdi, Lily and Alex completed on a score of 4 to win, be crowned Suffolk Champions and qualify for the NSEA County SJ Champs next April. Alex was also placed 4th individually.
Woodbridge had one team to compete in the 90cms competition of Ada (11), Alex (12), Perdi (11) and Olivia (12). This is a new height for this team and they all rode with excellent skill to produce 3 out of 4 immaculate clear rounds. The Class finished with Woodbridge taking the win on a zero score and again be crowned Suffolk Champions and qualify for the NSEA County SJ Champs in April 2018. Ada was also placed 5th individually.
The children are very lucky to receive two training sessions a week provided through the School. This gives the opportunity for every child to train at least once a week if they have other school commitments. The training is geared around practice for competing as well as technical improvement. The children work really hard and this is really paying off, producing such consistent results. They also have a lot of fun.
The NSEA County Championships are held at Bury Farm, Bedfordshire in April 2018. The Woodbridge riders will be representing the School and Suffolk at the Championships.
Full results:
70cms
Individual winner Lily on Annabelle;
Eve on Big Ben was 3rd;
Team of Lily, Eve, Sophia and Alex were 2nd.
80cms
Team of Ada, Lily, Alex & Perdi won and qualified;
Team of Eve, Lily, Sophia and Lolly were 5th;
Alex riding Faith the Third was 4th.
90cms
Team of Ada, Alex , Perdi and Lolly won and qualified;
Ada was 5th individually.
ESAA National Cup Champion – Ruby Vinton!
On Saturday 25 November, Amy Goddard, Anna Jackson, Willa Cole, Iris Morton, Ella Pitt and Ruby Vinton travelled down excitedly in the school minibus to Sevenoaks to compete in the ESAA National Cross Country Championships. This was the 2nd year in a row for Amy and Anna to compete at the Nationals (as last year we were in Formby, Liverpool), so they knew what to expect. This team of Junior Girls had worked hard in the previous rounds both at the County and Regional competitions, so to make it through to Nationals was a superb achievement. 27 schools throughout the UK made it through to the finals, out of 580 school entries.
After a gentle walk around the course, the girls were ready for the challenge. With the teams all lined up in their pens waiting patiently for the starting gun, shivering due to the frosty and cold conditions, the girls knew they had to have a good start – especially as 100metres into the course, there was a slight incline which narrowed so needed to ensure they were in a good position. The girls tried to fight their way through but found it tough, however, they continued to battle and fight as hard as they could. Throughout the race, the girls were each picking off other competitors, to try and ensure we had four good scores (as four out of the six runners placing counted towards the final position). In the last 400metres, what happened next was short of a miracle. Ruby Vinton (who was competing a year young – as well as being one of the smallest runners!) was in 7th place. The determination on her face and pure grit was phenomenal. In the last 200 metres, Ruby was on fire, overtaking 6th place, 5th place, 4th place, 3rd place and then 2nd place to ensure she was in a medal winning position. Millfield’s runner was approaching the finish line in 1st place, although had slowed down, thinking she had won…all of a sudden, Ruby sprinted straight past her to take 1st place…what an achievement! Not even out of breath! Tears were flowing as what had just happened was barely believable. Definitely one of the best finishes of the competition. This spurred the other team members to push hard for the last 400 metres and so they did. Amy finished in 67th position, Anna in 115th, Willa 146th, Ella 150 and Iris 152. An excellent team effort, girls, well done! The team finished 23rd overall out of 27. We look forward to next year as the National Finals will be at Woodbridge when we play host.
Thank you to all the parents who travelled down to Sevenoaks to support the team, and to Mark Goddard for geeing the girls up and preparing them so perfectly for the race.
On Wednesday 22 November some of the year 5 & 6 girls played a fun match against Woodbridge Primary School. We were mixed up with members of each school in each of the four teams. We rotated positions giving each one a try, using lots of the different passes and catches we had learnt about last year. It was a perfect way to refresh our skills and start thinking about the Netball season which starts in January. It was great fun and everyone played really well despite the cold weather.
The results were as follows:
4th Green Team
3rd Yellow Team
2nd Blue Team
1st Red Team
The members of the Red Team were: Millie Johnson, Zara Mansfield, Ruby Field, Tabby Cranfield and Amelia Moreton.
By Thea Langdon
U11 A Rugby v Moreton Hall
We played Moreton Hall and we scored some cracking tries. Moreton Hall were a good opposition, but The Abbey came through for us. The first try was held up by four people from Moreton Hall. The second try was right in the far corner almost pushed out of the line. The third try was passed a lot and then got to a very good runner who took it over the line.
The tries were made by William, Luca and Jonjo.
We had some excellent rucks by Jack P and good breaks from Lexie. And everyone else played their best which I thought was amazing. We play very well as a team and we did some good passing. We drew 3 – 3.
U11 B Rugby v Moreton Hall
We had a great first half of the match. Edward, Henry A and I, all scored two tries. We scored them quite easily because most of the opposition were up front so we could run the full length of the pitch. They managed to score two tries in that half so that by the end of the first half it was 30-10 (6-2) to us. The second half was just as successful if not more so becuase George played some great rugby and instead of scoring the try himself he passed a metre or so from the try line. Aidan scored but they both did well. A few minutes later Dominic scored, he did well to get that try because he had to dodge a lot of tackles. I scored one last try but then a few minutes later Justin scored his first try and ran very well. Later they scored two tries in about 5-10 minutes but then the whistle blew and the match ended. The Abbey won 12 – 6
The results have just landed on my desk from the gala on 28th September. Firstly I was extremely proud with all of the swimmers, as they performed extremely well and conducted themselves in a brilliant manner. Many swimmers competed in extra races and relay legs without complaint or fear regardless of the stroke, which was particularly pleasing. Results as follows (Lowest points win) U11 Abbey 25 – IHS 35, U10 Abbey 14- IHS 7, U9 Abbey 39- IHS 39.
On Monday 13 November the Under 9 Boys Hockey Teams travelled to Rushmere for the 2017 Hockey Festival.
We were due to play 4 rounds against some very good schools.
The A team’s first nail-biting match was against OBH and we drew 0-0
Next we were against the home team, Ipswich Prep. Although we played better as a team, finding each other to pass to, unfortunatley we lost. Orwell Park and South Lee are all good teams and we all played our best and learnt from our day
Although not the top scoring team on the day, I think we were definitely winners as we all had such respect for each other, encouraging each other and coming together as a team . We had great fun.