Another busy term draws to a close and I would like to reflect on the large amount of Sport and Physical Activity which has taken place since January.
This term has been incredibly busy, with exceptional level of participation across all our sporting disciplines. We’ve had record numbers of pupils representing the school in netball, hockey, football, equestrian events, sailing, shooting, canoeing and swimming.
“Since January, over 550 of our pupils have represented the school in at least one fixture and many more have represented their form or house in sporting events, such as house swimming.”
We have had fixtures or competitions against other schools in 11 Sports this term.
The swimming squad have had the district swimming championships and fixtures against Oundle, BMS and St Faith’s, with some very impressive performances as Felicity has just talked about.
Our Clay shooting team recently went to Oxford to compete in the National Schools Championships and certainly held their own.
Although the seasons haven’t officially started, we have already had two LTA National Tennis cup fixtures against Hills Road and The Leys, whilst the U13 & U15 Girls Cricket teams both won the county rounds of the ECB Indoor cup and now go to regionals in April.
The senior golf team competed recently in the county championships, finishing 3rd in the team championships and were 3 shots off going to the national finals again. The golf team look forward to the upcoming fixture versus the OKs in April as well as House Golf.
The equestrian team have competed in show jumping, dressage and arena eventing this term. Over Easter they are competing in the County dressage final to hopefully qualify for Hickstead in May – good luck to the team!
In early March, the sailing team competed at the Schools Keelboat Championships. This was challenging due to sailing unfamiliar boats and the standard of the other teams being very high; however, they had a number of top 10 results and placed 21st overall.
The canoe team started the Waterside Series in February and have now completed races A, B and C. Strong performances from all the team members mean that confidence is high going into Waterside D in 2 weeks and the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race over Easter weekend. Good luck to the Kimbolton paddlers at DW.
Finally, on Wednesday we had our first ever Senior Girls Football fixture against St Peter’s School, which was a fantastic experience for all who played.
Individual sport updates
Netball
What a season it has been on the Netball court with our teams winning 51% of the 143 matches played across the 27 different teams we have fielded this term. More importantly, 238 girls have represented the school this term with every pupil in Ingrams playing at least one fixture. After school practices have been superbly attended with the new floodlights having had a positive impact on being able to play outside after school up until February half term.
Our Ingrams sides have faired incredibly well, playing 60 matches across 12 teams and winning 44 of these, which is very impressive. The U13A’s also came 3rd at the prestigious Brentwood tournament recently, whilst the U12C & U13C teams both won all 7 of their matches and the D teams were undefeated. These results clearly show how hard the girls have been working and the positive attitude that they have all displayed.
The U14’s and 15’s have again been competitive with the U14B&C teams winning over 60% of their matches. The U14A’s had great victories against Wellingborough, Wisbech and Bloxham whilst the U15A’s came 2nd in the Culford tournament at the weekend.
At the senior level, we fielded 6 teams against Princethorpe and the 2nd’s and 4th’s both won over 60% of their matches. The 3rd VII had a good victory against BMS, but had an exceptional performance against The Leys despite the 39-37 loss. The 1st VII have enjoyed victories against both Wellingborough and St Edmund’s, whilst our performances at the Brentwood tournament were really positive against some of the strongest schools in the region.
Finally, we also won our block against Stephen Perse on Saturday, traditionally strong opponents. Last year we won 4 of the 15 games, on Saturday we won 10 which again shows the strides we are making as a school. Very well done to all of you who played.
Hockey
A really successful term has seen 153 Hockey matches played, with 56 wins, 56 losses and 41 draws. 212 boys have represented the school this term across 17 different teams.
At Ingrams, the vast majority of boys have represented the school in at least one fixture across the 8 teams with the U13C remaining unbeaten with 7 wins and 1 draw in their 8 matches. It was great to see many pupils in the first form playing the sport for the first time and developing their hockey skills.
At Middles, after school practices have been really well attended with all 4 teams being very competitive. The 15A’s performance of the season came in a 4-0 win vs Mill Hill, with the 15B’s only lost 2 of their 7 matches. The 14B’s won 4 of their games, whilst the 14A’s were arguably the team of the season qualifying for the tier 2 regional tournament. At the tournament the boys played superbly and reached the final against Hitchin. The final finished 0-0 and the team were incredibly unlucky to lose on penalty shuffles, missing out on a place in the National finals by a very fine margin. The boys should be very proud of the achievements in being regional runners up.
The seniors have had a core group of committed players, working hard on a Wednesday afternoon and all teams put in some great performances over the course of the season. The 1st XI have enjoyed a tough fixture card primarily because they progressed through a couple of rounds in the cup. The performances of the season came in the National Cup victory against Stowe on flicks or the 5-2 victory against Bishop Stortford College.
Finally the highlight for all of us is our performances against Stamford. Last year we lost 12 of the games, whilst this year we won 7, drew 3 and only lost 6, showing the progress we are all making on the Hockey field.
Well done to all who have represented your school in Hockey this term.
Sports code of conduct
Please find below our Sports Code of Conduct. Kimbolton is fortunate to benefit from incredibly supportive parents and spectators who, alongside our dedicated staff, foster an exceptional environment for our pupils’ athletic participation. This Code is designed to ensure our pupils can play and compete in conditions that actively support their learning, development, and the cultivation of holistic skills through sport.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the members of staff who have dedicated their time and expertise to coaching and supporting our pupils throughout the term. Their passion and commitment are a vital part of supporting the large numbers of pupils to represent Kimbolton. We wish our Middles Girl Cricketers and Boy Hockey players all the very best on their tour to the Netherlands. Keep up to date with the tour on @KimboltonSport on Instagram.
Creag Lawrence
Director of Sport
@kimboltonsport on IG
