It has been wonderfully busy and exhilarating term of Oundle sport. We have witnessed a comprehensive sports programme which has enlivened weekday and Saturday afternoons with notable team and individual achievements.
The U16B and U15C girls hockey squads finished their seasons unbeaten. The U15C squad continued on from being unbeaten as an U14 squad, and did not concede a goal this season. The girls 1st XI won nine of their fixtures with a successful cup run, winning sixty percent of their matches.
The 4th XV, U14B and U14C boys rugby squads all remained unbeaten. The 1st XV has enjoyed its most successful season for almost ten years with a sixty-five percent win rate. A specific mention to the U15A boys rugby group for a strong season winning seventy-five percent of their games. They have their National Schools Knockout competition quarter final to look forward to in February.
The following have all enjoyed international recognition: Sophie (Sn) England U18 hockey; Billy (F) England U18 rugby; Joseph (Sr) GB pentathlon Laster Run; John (Ldr) Scotland U15 cricket.
The boys senior swim squads performed well in their ESSA Finals in Birmingham, coming eleventh fastest in the country for the medley relay, breaking the school record, as well as breaking the school record in the freestyle relay by eight seconds. The club also completed another successful 24-hour swimathon and raised over £2,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
U14, U16 and U19 netball squads have all reached the regional finals to be held in Oundle next term. And we bore witness to the 1st team netball squad taking on the 1st team boys rugby squad. They raised almost £1,000 for Breast Cancer UK in front of crowd of 150 spectators.
Girls and boys indoor hockey squads competed at regional finals. In cross country twenty pupils qualified for the County Finals in early January. There have been regattas in rowing, fixtures for golf and fives and a knockout cup action for girls football. There has been an unbeaten season for the 2nd team squash.
In basketball, there has seen continued success for the senior girls and boys teams, our U16 and U15 boys squads.
We have seen county representation achieved in badminton. Charles (B) was runner-up in the U15 Bronze event, playing boys from all over the country in the best ever result in this sort of tournament. Mint (By) and Charles also took part in a fixture against Sussex in Chelmsford with Northamptonshire winning 12-8.
The shooting squad won their national division in the British Schools 10-bull competition, with three pupils competing in the Imperial competition over the summer.
Overall, in excess of 850 pupils have participated in team sports, seventy-five percent representing the school in competitive fixtures. Pupils have the opportunity to participate in over 105 different sessions and activities per week. Across the board, over 100 teams played in excess of 530 matches across eleven sports with a win ratio of almost fifty-five percent.
Nick Beasant
Director of Sport
