School Sports Newsletter Summer 2017

Have a safe and fun-filled Summer Holiday

It is that time of year again that we look back on our amazing sporting team successes and personal triumphs.

Throughout this academic year we have retained many trophies and earned some new ones. Badminton has continued to grow in popularity and success. We have won 3 of 4 District titles as well as Lancashire titles. We have been crowned Lancashire and District Champions in a variety of sports including Cricket, Athletics, Football and Rounders to name a few. We once again showed others we are a force to be reckoned with. We have some individuals who have continued to develop their sporting careers, taking them to new heights. The Isle of Man trip was fantastic and we already have next year’s trip in the pipeline. Trips such as the A Level PE class visiting Loughborough University were also well received.

Please read on for a full round-up of the summer term. ROLL OF HONOUR 2016-2017 (Simply Incredible!) YEAR 7 SPORTS HALL ATHLETICS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS - GIRLS YEAR 7 SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS - BOYS YEAR 7 SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS LANCASHIRE CHAMPIONS - GIRLS YEAR 7 SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS LANCASHIRE BRONZE MEDALLISTS - BOYS YEAR 7 SUPER 8s DISTRICT CHAMPIONS U14s GIRLS BADMINTON DISTRICT CHAMPIONS U14s GIRLS LANCASHIRE PLATE CHAMPIONS and RED ROSE PLATE WINNERS U14s BOYS BADMINTON DISTRICT CHAMPIONS U16s BOYS BADMINTON DISTRICT CHAMPIONS U16s BOYS BADMINTON RED ROSE CHAMPIONS U16s BOYS BADMINTON LANCASHIRE PLATE WINNERS YEAR 8 SPORTS HALL ATHLETICS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS - GIRLS YEAR 8 SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS - BOYS YEAR 8 SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS LANCASHIRE 5TH PLACE - GIRLS YEAR 8 SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS LANCASHIRE SILVER MEDALLISTS - BOYS U14s BOYS HANDBALL DISTRICT CHAMPIONS YEAR 9 FOOTBALL DISTRICT CUP WINNERS YEAR 7 FOOTBALL DISTRICT CUP WINNERS YEAR 7 5 A SIDE FOOTBALL DISTRICT and LANCASHIRE CHAMPIONS YEAR 7 CLITHEROE RUGBY CLUB CUP CHAMPIONS YEAR 11 RUGBY 7S LANCASHIRE EMERGING SCHOOLS CHAMPIONS YEAR 8 RUGBY EMERGING SCHOOLS LANCASHIRE CHAMPIONS NORTH-WEST SKIING CHAMPIONS U14S GIRLS TABLE TENNIS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS YEAR 7 FOOTBALL LAST 32 OF ENGLAND YEAR 8 FOOTBALL LAST 64 OF ENGLAND YEAR 11 FOOTBALL LAST 32 OF ENGLAND YEAR 9 NETBALL DISTRICT and LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS FOR ALL YEARS IN ROUNDERS YEAR 7 B TEAM FOOTBALL ALL STARS CUP WINNERS U14s ENGLISH SCHOOLS QUARTER FINAL GIRLS FOOTBALL SIXTH FORM FOOTBALL NORTH WEST COLLEGES CHAMPIONS YEAR 7 SUPER 8 ATHLETICS LANCASHIRE SCHOOL GAMES SILVER MEDALISTS YEAR 9 HANDBALL LANCASHIRE SCHOOL GAMES SEMI-FINALISTS U13s DISTRICT CRICKET CHAMPIONS DISTRICT ATHLETICS CHAMPIONS 2017 WOW...JUST WOW! Rising Stars Name: Phoebe Metcalf

Sport: Rhythmic Gymnastics

Greatest Achievement: Gold in ‘Hoop’ at National Rose Cup in Northampton in June 2017 About : Phoebe is a gymnast and is competing with her espoir group at the Rhythmic Nationals in Stoke, currently in 9th place. She also competes individually and won gold in May at the Rose Cup in Northampton with her hoop routine. Phoebe also competed in a women's artistic competition earlier this month in Warrington, finishing in 1st place overall in the 2-piece vault and floor competition. Future Aspirations: To continue to develop her own skills and to begin coaching younger children to help them achieve their goals.

Outstanding Achievement Award

The Hyndburn and Ribble Valley School Sports Association have a special award, ’The Gary Robinson Award’ and each year, schools from the district nominate individual students for their outstanding achievements in sport at the highest level in Year 10. This year the PE Department nominated two athletes worthy of the accolade and we could have chosen many more. The students we nominated were Alasdair Moir and Harvey Griffin. The two boys were up against some fantastic athletes from across the borough and, after much deliberation, it was Alasdair that received the award.

Alasdair has worked hard over the past few years to get where he is today. In January, he competed at a GB national under-19 age group ranking competition in the Modern Pentathlon Tetrathlon and came first in his age group of 15 years. He was ranked 14th overall in the GB under-19 age group. Following this, he was invited to Hartpury College to be assessed over two weekends with fourteen other athletes. This was a talent identification camp and was attended by Jan Bartu (GB Performance Director) along with other members of the Senior International coaching team. Having done so well over the weekends, Alasdair was invited to move from the English talent programme to the World Class Talent programme. In March and April he competed in the GB under-17 age group ranking competitions, which resulted in him being ranked 6th overall and again top in his age of 15 years. On the strength of these performances, Alasdair was selected for his first international debut where he represented Team GB in Lisburn in the under-17 age group, securing an impressive 6th place at their European competition. In order to develop his Fencing discipline, Alasdair also competed in the NW England under-16 epee championships and came second, qualifying to compete at the British Youth Fencing Championships in May when he ranked a very creditable 34th in an international field of 55 fencers. Alasdair’s future aspirations are to compete in the World Championships in 2018 and maintain his position of 1st in the under-17 Tetrathlon. He hopes to gain a scholarship to Rossall School and eventually go to Bath University, the National Training centre for this event, and we wish him well. Sports Personality Awards 2017 This year we decided to change the format of the Sports Personality Awards and what a great success it was - a mixture of celebration, summer fete-style games and recognition of achievements! And the Sports Hall was full to bursting with delighted parents, staff and students. Mr Edmondson, Molly and Jacob were our comperes for the evening, supported by our GLAMS (Girls Leadership and Marketing Squad). Our guest speaker, Mr Coupe, delivered an inspirational speech about how hard it has been to make it as a professional jockey and his message to the students was to ‘work hard and never give up’. Mr Coupe then went on to present our winners with their trophies and certificates. The awards that we give are a culmination of the dedication and effort of our students and for each and every award it is extremely difficult to choose just one winner. This goes to show the depth of talent we have in the school. This year’s overall winner, Merrill Tsang, is an exceptional and worthy winner. We have seen him develop from a shy Year 7 to a hugely talented Year 10 student. Merrill has not only competed for school in many teams such as Badminton and Basketball, but he has also helped coach younger teams. Our other winners in each year group have all done extremely well and we are immensely proud of all of them. The night was such a special occasion and we would like to thank each and everyone of you for your support and generous donations of raffle prizes. We raised approximately £800 and this will go directly to purchasing new sports equipment to replace worn out items. We always appreciate the help from the wider CRGS community and if anyone can help or provide ideas that would make this event even more special then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. For the winners’ photographs, please see the next page!

Sports Personality Awards 2017 cont ...

Badminton

In the winter newsletter edition we reported that we had dominated in Badminton and won 3 out of the 4 District finals. We had just started playing in the Red Rose competition. We’re delighted to report that the U16 boys’ team went on to win this league and were crowned Red Rose Lancashire Champions! This is a fantastic result and 3 of the 4 members of the team are in Year 10 so they will be even stronger next year, particularly with George Hand being added to the team! In the girls’ U14 competition we got knocked out after only losing one game all year. The girls then went into the Lancashire Plate competition and went on to win this and become Lancashire Plate champions! Well done to the large number of students who have taken part in Badminton this year. We look forward to retaining our titles next year!

Leadership at CRGS

Our leaders continue to run sessions for the younger students in school and also out in the community. They have again been congratulated for their professionalism and enthusiasm at events in the district. Our Year 10 students have also completed the CRGS Leadership Award. The majority received the Silver and Gold Awards and those pictured have been recognised as outstanding leaders and have gained the Platinum Award which is a fantastic achievement.

Football The Year 7 football team finished the season in style by beating St Augustine’s 2-1 to be crowned District Cup winners. This trophy adds to the District 5-a-side title and the Lancashire 5-a-side title! Goals from Kitt Nelson and Will Kellington and a Man of the Match performance from Harrison Rickard were the highlights of a close and nail-biting final. The boys narrowly missed out on the league title by 1 goal and Mr Alcock said that they played the best football he has ever seen from a Year 7 team at the school. Despite seeming to be much smaller than every other opposition team, the boys have shown superior technique and the team spirit and positivity has been fantastic right from the very first trial game in September. The B team have finished their season in style by winning both games on tour in the Isle of Man and claiming the ‘All Stars Cup’ against St Wilfrid’s. Regularly there have been close to 50 boys at football practices this year with some boys there simply to have fun and others trying to get into the two very good teams. All students have been a credit to the school and we eagerly await next season and look forward to playing some more fantastic football. Year 8 Football - written By Nic Malpass. This year we have been very successful as we came runners-up in the District Cup Final which is a huge improvement on last year. Unfortunately, for the first part of the season we were missing key players in big games and ended up being relegated but we fought back and won the league below to get back into the top league, winning every game. The team is playing much better football and each player is a lot more committed. Our team is getting stronger all the time and any mistakes we make we learn from. Year 9 Fooball - Without their inspirational captain, Joshua Bailey, you could have excused the squad for not achieving as highly this season but this simply wasn’t the case. The squad rallied, players filled in and played in unfamiliar positions and they once again had a very successful and progressive season. Whilst they didn’t follow on their English Cup final with a similar run, more can be said in the Lancashire Cup and District Cup. In the Lancashire cup the squad reached the quarter finals and were beaten 3-2 by Haslingden High School. The squad fought hard but difficulties arose when the goalkeeper, Max Ardern, had to be substituted. Little did Mr Hutchinson know that Max had been struggling for 10 minutes, in which time Haslingden scored their 3rd goal. Finishing runners-up in the league on goals scored, to Ribblesdale, meant that our last chance of a trophy came in the District Cup final. Beating a very strong St Christopher’s in the semi-final 4-2 was a highlight in itself, especially for Hamza Vaid as he scored a hat-trick. But the final eclipsed this performance as we beat St Augustine’s 6-0, and Hamza Vaid incredibly helped himself to another hat-trick. Remember, this is all without the captain, Joshua Bailey! Next year will no doubt be another successful season. We will be back to full strength and hope to have a good run in national, county and district competitions. Mr Hutchinson’s player of the season was Max Jones. Year 10 Football - With the squad littered with district representative players, and having had 4 players nominated for the county trials, it probably should have been a more productive season. Unfortunately, with the loss of George Edwards to another school and niggling injuries to key players early in the season, it was difficult for the squad to find any momentum. In front of goal we were missing more chances than we created. Captain Jacob Simpson did his best to rally the boys for the post-Christmas fixtures and the performances did improve. A highlight of the season came when we beat the eventual league winners St Augustine’s in the league 2-1. An amazing second half performance saw the team come back from 1-0 down - Frazer Liddle and James Wallace with 2 superbly taken goals. We reached the District Cup semi-final but lost to a very strong Ribblesdale team. All is not lost however, as next season Ravi Goshawk should be fully fit, Ben Dinning will be even stronger in the centre of the park and captain marvel will play in more of a wide role to help create more chances - progressive season with lots of promise for their final year in September. Lancashire School Games

After being crowned District Champions, both our Year 7 Super 8 team and our Year 9 Handball team represented Ribble Valley at the Lancashire School Games at Stanley Park in Blackpool. The teams had an amazing day and although the Handball team came up against really tough opposition they had a great day, just being pipped into 4th place. The Super 8 team were fantastic and came away with a magnificent Silver medal. For a full round-up, please see the Handball and Super 8 sections of the newsletter.

Rounders

The Rounders teams have had huge successes in the leagues this year. CRGS managed to play all of their league fixtures, despite the inclement weather! Final official standings are yet to be confirmed, but we believe that all the CRGS teams have gathered more points than any other school! The teams have really enjoyed their tournaments again this year. The Year 8 team suffered from a really tough group draw at their competition and lost in the qualifying round to the eventual tournament winners. This team have improved immensely this season however and things look hopeful for next season. The Year 9 team were really looking forward to their competition. They were winners in Year 7, but were not able to defend their title in Year 8 after choosing to watch the Football team compete in the national final. This year was a chance to win back the title! They played exceptionally well in their group stage and progressed through to the final, but unfortunately missed out narrowly on first place! The Year 7 team followed in their footsteps, winning all of their group games, but missed out narrowly in a rather contentious final! The Year 10 team went with high hopes of winning and started the tournament off in fine form. The first game went to the wire and they lost by just half a rounder off the last ball. The girls gathered together to win their remaining two games but unfortunately went out in the group stages due to having lost the first game. We have not had such strength and depth in a Year 10 team for quite some time and it is fantastic to see. We are really pleased with the commitment, progress and efforts of not only the team players, but also those who have trained twice a week at lunch time and have really enjoyed playing Rounders with their friends!

Netball

As ever, we have more and more girls enjoying Netball practices and fixtures. We have continued training throughout the year in preparation for the Malaga tour and this will begin again in September . We will also be preparing for the new season ahead and hope to maintain our good run of form. Pictured above are our successful (and brilliant!) Year 9 and 7 teams who won their tournaments in style this year! Basketball

Girls’ Basketball Girls’ basketball continues to grow at a fast rate and we have many girls training. They are all eager to represent school. The Year 7 team enjoyed their debut season and there were some fantastic individual performances. The U14 girls had a fantastic season and played their way into the Lancashire finals. Unfortunately injury struck a key player, making the challenge very tough and we were unable to bring home the silverware. A similar story with the U16 girls - they had a fantastic season which unfortunately ended in defeat at the Lancashire finals. We are already looking forward to next season. Under 12 Boys’ Basketball The basketball season started and finished with enthusiasm from the new Year 7 boys. Participation at lunch time practice was great and it was always going to be difficult to choose a squad of 10. The squad was chosen and 3 Lancashire Cup matches were played. Ariyaan Bashir became the natural point guard of the team with some superb dribbling skills, whilst Edward Burrow became very useful under the basket in both defence and attack due to his height and power. Despite failing to reach the knock-out stages of the cup, the boys enjoyed every minute of their time on court and next year could be much more successful. Under 14 Boys’ Basketball The number of students wanting to play Basketball for the U14s was huge. After several sessions of practice for all students a trial process took place to whittle the numbers down to a squad, albeit a big squad! There was a good mix of Year 8 and 9 students which augurs well for next year as the Year 8s have had some invaluable experience this year. There was no District League this year so the team were restricted to the Lancashire Cup. Some good games ensured we reached the Quarter Final stage but could not get past a much bigger more physical St Wilfrid’s team. All the students enjoyed the training and games and those in Year 9 will have the chance to play in a very strong U16s team whilst the Year 8s will be confident of doing well in the U14s league. Well done everyone! Girls’ Cricket This year’s outdoor season has been another successful one for the girls’ cricket teams. As ever, the girls trained hard over the winter, but this year we have had greater numbers than ever maintaining their commitment to training throughout the year. The winter competitions have served the teams well and meant that CRGS were able to go into their outdoor competitions with lots of experience and confidence. The U13 competition came first, on a very rainy day! The event was due to be held at Rishton Cricket Club, but the weather conditions were too severe. CRGS immediately offered to host the competition on our 3G pitch and the organiser was very grateful for the opportunity. The U13 team played really well in their group games and progressed through to the finals easily. There they met St Augustine’s. CRGS went in to bat first and the 4 pairs set the opposition a tough target. But St Augustine’s had batted exceptionally well in their group games, scoring a greater number of 4s and 6s than CRGS. Our girls were going to need to bowl accurately and field tightly. In this format of the game all players need to bowl one over and all of the team did the school proud. They coped well with the nerves and pressure, bowling really well. Despite maximum effort from the girls, they were pipped at the post by St Augustine’s, who in the end batted very well. That result put the CRGS U13 team as runners up across the District, a superb position for a team made up by many Year 7 students. This looks promising for next season. Next came the U15 competition, which was held at Clitheroe Cricket Club. Players from this team have been crowned District Champions since they were in Year 7 and so the pressure to keep their title was immense. The girls’ experience certainly paid off and they sailed through the group stages. This time the CRGS team met Ribblesdale in the final, a team that they had already met and beaten in the group stages. The team were confident and went in to bat first, giving a huge score for Ribblesdale to aim for. True to form, the CRGS girls fielded tightly and more importantly encouraged each other after mistakes. This team spirit paid off and CRGS were crowned champions! This will be the final season for Anjalie Singh, Sophia Fielding, Aqsa Jalgaonkar and Sarah Carr. This group of students have been representing the girls’ cricket team together throughout their time at school and have done themselves proud. They always give each other confidence and encouragement and we look forward to them helping to coach the younger players next season. Boys’ Cricket

U13 Cricket (by Harry Singh)

We have had a good season so far as we haven’t lost a game. We are now in the semi-final of the Lancashire Knockout Cup; we will play Merchant Taylors in September (rain has meant that we haven’t been able to play it before they break up!). We played Kirkham Grammar School in the first round. We made 104-6 off 20 overs with a good batting performance from Jacob Mithoo. We restricted Kirkham to 99-5 off 20 overs with them needing 6 off the last ball.

In the second round, we played against Archbishop Temple. We achieved 172-4 off 16 overs with Harry Singh leading the innings with a score of 128 not out and Charlie Atkinson with 32. Archbishop Temple got 45-9 off their 16 overs.

In the third round, we were up against our local rivals, Ribblesdale. They put us in to bat on a tricky pitch at Ribblesdale Wanderers. We lost a wicket in the second over but a good partnership from Harry Singh (52) and Jacob Mithoo (55 not out) put us in a strong position. Due to all our bowlers bowling consistently, Ribblesdale couldn’t get near our total.

We have just played in the Quarter Final of the County Cup against Lancaster Royal Grammar School who were very confident coming into the match. We won the toss and batted first. We lost two batsmen without scoring and were 54-4 after 13 overs. A crucial partnership of 95 from Harry Singh and Daniel Rawson set us a platform at 149-5 after 26 overs. A great finish from Harry Singh finishing on an unbeaten 140 not out and a handy knock from Harrison Rickard with 30 not out gave us a score of 217-5 off 30 overs.

A good tight bowling performance from everyone especially Harrison Rickard and Hammad Amin enabled us to move to the semi-final with a comfortable win of 62 runs.

In the District Cup we played all three games away from home. We comfortably beat Bowland by 9 wickets. Everyone who wanted to bowl did so and everyone contributed to a great win. We then played St Christopher’s at Enfield. They opted to bat first and we restricted them to 74 on a short boundary. The batters made light work of the chase and wrapped up another impressive win. That left a final game with St Augustine's with the winners taking the honour of becoming District Champions. On a glorious day at Great Harwood, St Augustine's won the toss and put us in to bat. On a very slow pitch where the ball stayed low we did incredibly well to hit 105 off 16 overs. Again, all the batters did well and contributed to the cause. Harry Singh retired on 30 and Charlie Atkinson scored 24. Will Kellington and Henry Butterfield scored some important runs to take the score over 100. We had to keep things tight when we took to bowling. Charlie Atkinson, Dan Rawson, Harry Singh and Harrison Rickard bowled St Augustine's out before the 16 overs were over and we restricted them to 30 to take us to a comfortable win by 75 runs. We are delighted to become District Champions and remain unbeaten all year.

The team has been a real credit to Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and a pleasure to watch. Sports Day 2017 Just when the British weather looked to spoil Sports Day 2017, the rain dispersed, blue skies appeared and the competition began in earnest. The Sports Day morning events have been running for a number of years now and give the opportunity for every student at Key Stage 3 to contribute to the points scored by their House on Sports Day. The events are made up of Sportshall Athletics-style activities and each student competing in the morning takes part in 8 activities. After the morning events it was time for the more traditional Athletics. With the Samba band creating an amazing sound, the atmosphere was electric. Students with true grit and determination were giving it their all to become champions. There was a fantastic display both on the track and the field. Some long-standing records held in the throwing events remain, but we have had a great run of form in the Triple Jump where a record was broken in each of the year groups. For the first time in many years, a few track records were also broken. The Year 7 boys produced a brilliant race and with some slick changeovers, knocked a whole second off the previous record held for almost 20 years! Another long-standing record was the Year 7 Long Jump, held since 1996 and broken by Ella Wadley who flew through the air to claim the new title. Records Broken 2017 Victrix and Victor Ludorum Year 7: Long Jump - Ella Wadley 4.28m (3.47m 1996) Year 7 - Sally Capstick and Rory Triple Jump - Jessica Mathew 8.25m (8.00m 2015) Teare Boys relay 1.01secs (1.02secs 1998) Year 8 - Abigail Earnshaw, Nombeko Ndou and Noah Davies Year 8: 1500m - Abigail Earnshaw 5.43secs (5.55secs 2014)

Year 9 - Hazel Jenkins and Joshua Triple Jump - Bradley Abbott 10.13m (9.64m 2013) Loan-Clarke Year 10 - Alasdair Moir and Amelia Year 9: Long Jump - Joshua Loan-Clarke 5.10m (4.94M 2015) Bolton Triple Jump - Hazel Jenkins 8.97m (8.95m 2009) Overall Champion House– Galileo Year 10: Triple Jump - Anjalie Singh 8.90m (8.53m 2007)

Galileo Girls Relay

Girls Leadership and Marketing Squad This year CRGS has embarked on a new journey in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust: The Girls Active Campaign. As part of the campaign, two of our girls attended a training day and were inspired by England footballer, Rachel Brown, to take on the task of increasing participation of girls in sport at our school. It then snowballed from there. The two GLAMS (Girls Leadership and Marketing Squad) became 10, new recruits joined and we now have 15 who are working tirelessly behind the scenes to provide opportunities for our girls in school. The GLAMS studied our Girls Active pre- implementation survey and found that there was a need for a Fitness / Dance club. After an assembly to talk about what they were planning, the GLAMS were delighted when over 60 girls signed up for the 30 spaces for our new and exciting Cheer Dance class. The class ran for 8 weeks and the girls enjoyed it so much that some of them performed at the school’s Fashion Show, the Open Mic night and, most recently, our Sports Awards evening. The survey was conducted again at the end of June and the statistics have shown that the GLAMS efforts have had a positive impact on participation. Alongside increasing participation in physical activity for girls, the aim was to increase confidence in girls and attempt to change attitudes towards physical activity. As a reward for their dedication and effort, the GLAMS girls were invited along to enter the Pretty Mudder 5k event in Preston. This was alongside all the other GLAMS from the Lancashire area and our girls crossed the finish line ahead of every other competitor. A fantastic day was had by all. A very big thank you to our GLAMS for their continued work this year. Plans are already in the making for September and the GLAMS will be targeting Year 10 and Year 11 girls as well as maintaining the participation rates amongst Year 7 to 9 students. We look forward to being a Year 2 Girls Active school in September. District Athletics 2017

District Athletics has always been the highlight of the sporting calendar for as long as we can remember. As a school, we have always come a very close second, historically to Hollins and in more recent years to St. Augustine’s. Training, practices and friendly Athletics meets made sure our students had the best possible chance of glory when the big event arrived. A dull and gloomy start to the day didn't dampen our spirits as we boarded the coach to Wilson’s Playing Fields. We knew we were as strong as ever and year on year we have been closing in on the coveted District Champions title (having won the Year 7 Super 8 title for the last three years). Our athletes produced some of their best ever performances and our medal haul was fantastic! Five of our team were crowned Victor Ludorum or Victrix Ludorum meaning they scored the most points overall individually: Eleanor Jorgenson, Jamie Teare, Abbi Earnshaw, Rory Teare and Bradley Abbott. All our athletes supported each other, celebrated together and if the result wasn’t what they desired, they would get back up and try a bit harder in the next race. In the end we missed our Year 10 students who were on the German Exchange and the difference between first and second place overall was just 3 points, with St Augustine’s just edging the victory with 610 points to our 607. Despite the disappointment, the mood on the return journey was very positive and we were delighted to have been the girls’ Field, boys’ Track and boys’ overall champions. Or So We Thought!! Following the event, the results were double checked and it turned out that Abigail Earnshaw’s amazing 200-metre win had not been recorded and, with another 10 points, the outcome dramatically swung in our favour! We therefore have become District Athletics Champions for the first time in a long time - certainly none of the current PE staff have ever known us come away as outright champions. Although the way we won was disappointing the fact remains that all our hard work this year and in previous years has paid off. Finally we are District Champions and deservedly so! Well done to all the team and we know that we will work twice as hard next year .to ensure we retain our title! Sportshall Athletics and Super 8 In the winter edition we reported on the fantastic clean sweep of district titles in Sportshall Athletics for Year 7 and 8. All four teams went on to represent the Ribble Valley at the Lancashire Schools Champions finals in Blackpool. The competition was a further step up from the district competition with only champion schools from each area taking part. We are delighted to report that Year 7 girls won Gold and the boys took home the Bronze. This meant that overall we also became Lancashire Champions. In the Year 8 competition the girls came 5th and the boys came a fantastic second and picked up the Silver medal. These are the best results we’ve ever had as a school and we certainly did the Ribble Valley proud! Both teams were rewarded for their efforts by picking up the coveted ‘Team of the Year’ awards at the CRGS Sports Awards event. A huge well done to all the students involved.

The Year 7 Super 8 Athletics teams always really look forward to this event. It is an excellent opportunity for the Year 7s to compete in their strongest events at an outdoor Athletics track. The team had worked really hard in preparation for this event, practising at dinner times in their own specialised events and together as a team for the relays. As ever, the hurdles event is first and some of the athletes compete for the first time ever in this event! Next the girls compete in their track events, while the boys go into the field. After this first round Mr. Hutchinson and Miss Sutcliffe were very hopeful as it looked like all of our athletes had done really well! The next phase saw the boys compete on the track while the girls completed in their field events. Almost all the athletes came back having finished in 1st or 2nd place. The atmosphere was tense; if they were announced as winners, the Year 7 Super 8 Athletics team would be the first CRGS team of the season to qualify for the Lancashire School Games Finals to be held in Blackpool in July. All 16 competitors were ecstatic when CRGS were announced as both Girls and Boys District Champions! So in July, along with the Handball team, the team travelled to the School Games Finals at Blackpool Sports Centre. This is always a fabulous day and a real celebration of sport. The standard was exceptionally high and the boys’ team competed really well, particularly in the field. However, they missed out on a medal on the day. The girls’ team pulled out an exceptional performance doing extremely well on the track. At the end of the day they were announced as 2017 Lancashire School Games Silver medallists! This was a huge achievement and of course contributed massively to the whole squad winning Year 7 Team of the Year at this year’s Sports Person of the Year awards. Tennis

Under 12 Tennis Mr Hutchinson has hailed the Under 12 boys’ Tennis team as the most exciting Tennis team the school has had in years. Tom Stephens captained the squad and was a fantastic role model to the other squad members from the outset. Games against Westholme, St Mary’s Hall, Kirkham and Lytham were all well contested with wins and losses mixed in. Commitment to lunch time practice was consistently good as was the attitude from the players. Mr Hutchinson hopes that the squad will be able to secure more fixtures next summer in order that more progress can be made. Tom Stephens is most certainly a name to watch out for in the future.

Under 15 Tennis George Hand led a fine Tennis squad this season and despite too few games due to the format of the national competition, the team have done well and shown lots of progress since last season. A very strong St. Peter’s beat the squad in the knock out stages. George and his counterpart played out one of the best sets of tennis Mr Hutchinson has ever seen in that age group. Andrew Sutcliffe impressed with much more consistency this season and Anirudh Mohan, despite not being available as much as we would have liked, showed his class from a player with an impressive 6.1 rating. Anirudh has become the Lancashire Team U18 County Cup Champion and Lancashire Open U16 Champion and most recently won the Yorkshire Open U16 Championships. He also reached the semi finals in the men’s competition. He has coaching 6 days a week and his next competition is the Lancashire U16 and U18 County Championships at Bolton Arena.

Equestrian This year members of the equestrian club have been competing successfully outside of school in addition to taking part in the NSEA competition held at Northcote Stud on 2nd April. The dressage team of Vanessa Lace, Hannah Bettess, Megan Conlon and Sophia Bettess won their class, qualifying them for the national championships in October. In the 80-85cm show jumping class, the team of Vanessa Lace, Sophia Bettess, Alice Pilkington and Lizzie Warburton came third, qualifying them for the newcomers’ championships in December. Next year we hope to continue our success as a team, and carry on competing individually outside of school. As a club we have no regular meetings, but new members are always welcome. If you are interested, please speak to any student wearing an NSEA badge, or Mrs C Reeves. Handball

In March the U14 boys’ Handball team was formed. Handball is a sport that is growing in popularity and has been added to the PE curriculum for more year groups. After some strong performances in lessons, students were invited to try out for the team. The best 10 players then represented the school at the District tournament. After a slow start the boys found their form and started to score goals with Hamza Vaid and Harrison Richardson finding the goal numerous times. The boys didn’t lose a game and were crowned District Champions! They then went on to represent the Ribble Valley at the Lancashire school games. Not having played much before, there were no expectations placed on the team and we hoped to just learn more about the game and improve ready for GCSE PE in Year 10. However, the team did extremely well, won their group unbeaten and made it to the semi-finals. They came up against a fantastic school from South Ribble so played for the Bronze medal. We were 1 nil up with 30 seconds to play and the opposition scored to take it to extra-time. The opposition then did it again to go 2-1 up in extra-time. We looked down and out but were awarded a penalty with the last throw of the game. Unfortunately the opposition keeper made a good save and we were awarded 4th place. This was extremely disappointing but considering our lack of experience we were delighted to have done so well and gained a fantastic experience. Student Voice

The penultimate week of school is Student Voice week in the PE Department. This year has seen a new phenomenon sweeping through CRGS. ‘Magiball’ is like Dodgeball but with a twist, that twist being a Yellow Magiball with magic powers. The game was created by a Manxman named Geoffrey Keg. An enjoyable, fast, and skilful game involving ‘Magi Rounds’, Magiball has been the most popular sport of the year and has already acquired legendary status amongst students. It is set to be a regular feature in Student Voice week for years to come. 3, 2, 1 Magiball! Sports Tours at CRGS

As in previous years there have been sports tours taking place and many students have enjoyed a range of activities on various tours. Malaga will be the next big sports tour for the current Year 7 and 8 and we have had record numbers signing up. Students will be heading off to enjoy a Netball and Football Tour in October 2017 and some lucky students will be skiing in California in 2018! Year 7 Football and Netball Tour Isle of Man 2017

What a fantastic trip! From start to finish the students represented the school magnificently both on and off the field. A very excitable group of staff and students boarded the coach to Liverpool airport for the flight to Ronaldsway. With high winds, heavy rain and ferries to the island cancelled, we anticipated a bumpy flight. We landed safely in time for supper and made our way to King William’s College, our home for the weekend. After a tour of the grounds and some much needed fresh air, the group settled down to a fantastic quiz made by Mrs Clarkson and a gymnastics display by Mrs Gillespie. Groups were sorted and the students were allowed time to settle into their dorms and unpack. After a good night’s sleep we were up early for breakfast and then straight down to business at Castle Rushen High school for our first fixture. The boys were playing with a fantastic backdrop of the Irish sea and both the A and the B teams came away victorious, Harry Coupe scoring 4 goals as left back. The girls’ netball games were very tight with some excellent individual performances. An early injury meant that the B team were unsettled for a time but they picked up the pace and held their nerve for a 3-2 victory. The A team came away with a 9-5 win. All aboard the coach again to go back to KWC for a quick change and a hearty meal before setting off for the dizzy heights of Douglas where we visited the National Sports Centre for a swimming session. Unfortunately no water slide records could be broken as the timer wasn't working so Mr Alcock and Mr Hutchinson can still fight over their title! Another quick change and back on the coach to Douglas for some 10 pin bowing, table tennis, pool and air hockey. After a couple of games with an abundance of strikes and spares it was time to head back to Douglas for our evening meal at La Piazza. The service and the food were amazing. Everyone enjoyed their meals and there was even a little time for a stroll and some photographs on Douglas promenade before heading back to college for a well-earned rest. We were up again with the lark and out for breakfast before our match against KWC. Again, it was another close contest between the four netball teams. Our B team managed to stretch their lead to win 9-5 and the A team came back from behind to draw 10 all. The boys again played really well with some great link up play and came away victorious once again. When the final whistle went it was swiftly back to Junior House to change and pack ready for our flight back to Liverpool. During the tour we were very impressed with the way the students conducted themselves and how they stepped up to the challenge of new opponents. This year’s trophy awards were extremely difficult to choose as everyone was a worthy winner and it took some deliberating before deciding on the winners. Our Most Valuable Player Award for netball went to Zoe Woodward and for football it was Harry Coupe. The Most Improved Player for netball went to Jess Duckworth and for football the worthy performer was William Hearle . So another successful trip over and we look forward to the next one in 2018.

Examinations Twitter

Good luck to all our students who are now awaiting exam results. As ever, they all worked really hard Please continue to follow us @crgspe to keep throughout the year and deserve to do well. In up to date with fixture information. addition to lessons, as always, there have been In addition we now have Twitter for GCSE and weekly support sessions throughout the year. Thank A Level PE students. We strongly encourage you to all the PE staff who have put on extra students to follow us @crgspetheory to help sessions and given up time to help students improve their wider reading and knowledge of succeed. the subject.

We look forward to starting the whole process again Please also continue to retweet us and get your in September with new cohorts and can’t wait to get friends to follow! started following a good break over the summer! @crgspe

Fixtures Reminder

We really appreciate the support of parents and carers in transporting students and allowing them to take part in so many fixtures. Please remember that we now publish our intended fixtures for the following week on our website. Please check these every Friday to help you in organising your hectic lives!

Feedback We are always looking to improve Physical Education and Sport at CRGS and value feedback from students and parents. We are always on the lookout for coaches who can come in and provide clubs for students - so if you know someone willing to give up some time to help, please let us know! (Likewise referees!) We are currently looking at ways of making our end of year Sports Awards and celebration evening even bigger and better so if you are able to help in any way please let us know! We greatly appreciate everyone’s continuing support and we are looking forward to another exciting year of success and participation at CRGS. There will be another newsletter at Christmas but in the meantime, please do keep up to date by following us on Twitter @crgspe and by regularly checking the school website www.crgs.org.uk.

ENJOY A LONG AND FUN-FILLED SUMMER