Sports

The girls in Years 9 to 11 enjoyed their first rowing lesson of the year. The high ratio of coaches to pupils means the girls receive intensive coaching during the two-hour period they spend at Molesey Boat Club, with a mix of rowing on the river, technical training in the indoor tank and functional... strength work in the gym. The expert coaches include Katey Byrd, who has been selected to represent Ireland in the Olympic Weightlifting World Championships in Thailand at the end of this month. Katey will be competing in the 71kg weight category and is Ireland’s only competitor at the World Championships. As an accomplished athlete and strength and conditioning coach, Katey is a wonderful mentor for the upper years girls.

The sun was shining on another successful Middle and Upper Years sports day yesterday. This year the event was held at school with a selection of new events for pupils and their families to enjoy. Our school houses; Garrick, Halifax, Twining and Wright competed in track and field events for years 5 &... 6, 7 & 8, and 9 to 13 heats and finals. Old favourites like the 200m relay, javelin and sprint races were accompanied by new competitions such as shot put relay, 60m sprint and triple jump. The focus of this year was not on results and medals but on technical merit with prizes awarded to individuals who demonstrated the best technical competency irrespective of their place in the competition. The highlight of the day was the final event, the five minute run, which was new for 2019. Four representatives of each house ran as many laps as possible for five minutes with points distributed for the amount of laps run. The competition was nail-biting as the narrow point difference between each house meant there was a jostle for places throughout the afternoon but as the final scores were announced it was clear that the winning house was Wright with 637 points.

Children from Pre-Nursery to Year 4 took part in the sponsored run on Wednesday 22nd May to raise money for the first school in France to be set up within a refugee shelter, in Ivry-sue-Seine. This camp has welcomed families since 2015 and the school helps the children to learn French and adapt to French... culture. The children generally stay between two weeks and two months in this school before finding a more permanent place to stay and integrating into a public school. Unfortunately, the children’s shoes are usually in very poor condition when they arrive at the refugee shelter, having travelled far from Africa or the Middle East to escape war and famine.

The Middle and Upper Years Sports day was held at the Xcel centre in Walton. With the sun shining bright, the action kicked off with a commanding win from Ryan in year 9 storming to first place in the 100m with a time of 13.28 seconds.

During the 800m, where we saw an impressive performance from Dylan... in Year 9, taking control of the race from the go developing and maintaining a clear lead. In the Year 7 and 8 girls 800m we were treated to a fantastic race in which Hope took a confidant lead to only be over taken by Zoe with 30 m to go.

On Tuesday 10 October, the Y6 netball team played in a match against the U11C team from Newland House School.

It has been great to see the girls’ enthusiasm for netball continue to grow this year, as numerous breaks and lunch times are spent on the netball court practising their shooting, footwork... and ball skills. Eager to return to the court after a long rest over the summer, the girls played with determination and focus to gain possession of the ball for the majority of the game.

On Wednesday 20 September, the Years 9-11 ‘A’ team played in a netball fixture against Thames Christian College (TCC). It was the first match of the season and with new members joining the team, the HCH girls didn’t quite know what to expect. HCH started with a particularly strong set of passes... and communication with some goals scored quite early on by Krystyna, Romane and Katie. Poppy and Dimitra were as strong as ever with their interceptions in the defensive third and managed to stop TCC getting the ball into the circle. Scarlett, who was playing centre in the first part of the match did particularly well at getting free from her opponent in both the attacking, centre and defensive thirds and is to be commended for her excellent communication with the rest of the team. Fia made her way on to the court for the first time representing HCH and was very strong in creating space and intercepting numerous balls as WD. Beth and Grace, being such versatile players succeeded with any challenges that came their way!

On Thursday 6th July, Hampton Court House witnessed a sporting event of such epic proportions that Wimbledon paled in comparison. The ever-enthralling Staff versus Students Cricket Match took on an added layer of grit as the fixture became the inaugural Staff vs. Sixth Form Match.

After choosing to... bowl first, student skipper Haydn Roberts sent down the first over to Graham Ainge and a regular pattern of fours and sixes was established. Graham raced past his half century before showing the kind of charity Haydn is known for and retiring. This brought Caroline Wass to the crease, who displayed remarkable cultural sensitivity in learning the most British of sports. After a roller coaster 15 overs, the staff amassed 196, with Selwyn Leamy ensuring that his last innings as a member of staff was as powerful as his art lessons.