ISSUE 16

June 2018 Physical Education Magazine

This is the sixteenth edition of the Physical Inside this issue Education Magazine. We hope you will enjoy Inter-Academies reading about all of the fantastic Rounders achievements of the school teams, and our individual stars of the future. Black Country Handball Indoor Athletics Girls Futsal Plus much more! PAGE 2

Inter-Academies

On Thursday 19 April, the annual Inter-Academies Badminton and Netball tournaments were held at Walsall Academy. As always, the four teams were eager to participate in the event, with Walsall Academy looking to retain the Badminton Shield, and Thomas Telford aiming to retain the Netball Shield. In the Badminton, it was evident that the boys were nervous with them taking a while to get up to match speed. However when they did they put in some fantastic performances against all three opposing teams to ensure they were crowned the Badminton champions for the second year running.

The girls started more confidently than the boys with both teams winning their opening games. The only loss they suffered was to Thomas Telford A which was a nail biting encounter that finished 21-17. Both teams won every one of their games which again meant the Walsall Academy Girls retain their Badminton Shield for another year.

Inter-Academies Netball saw our Year 7 and 8 teams take on our sister schools; Thomas Telford, Sandwell and Madeley Academies. Our Year 7 team played some excellent Netball and demonstrated some strong shooting skills to convincingly beat Madeley and Sandwell Academies. Unfortunately the experience of the Thomas Telford team meant that we finished 2nd overall but it was great to see the progress that this team have made since the start of the academic year and we are sure they will go on to achieve highly next year. The Year 8 team fought some tough opposition. We were very evening matched to the Madeley and Sandwell teams and the scores were close in these matches. We were equal on points to second place but due to goals conceded the Year 8 team finished in third place. Excellent effort by all involved. ISSUE 16 PAGE 3

Rounders Update

Seniors Rounders On Thursday 17 May the Seniors Rounders team played in the Walsall Rounders competition. They were in a pool against two other schools and won both of these games. The schools were and Pool Hayes, the girls won both games by a landslide and we saw some of their best batting to date during these matches. In the final the girls played Shire Oak. This was a close game as both teams only had 1 innings of 18 good balls to play. The girls worked intricately as a team when fielding, making sure they covered all bases appropriately. Their batting was superb and saw them score more rounders than their opposition.

The girls fully deserved to win this league and showed how well they have continued to improve their skills over the years. Woman of the Match went to Daniella for her incredible movement, pickups and throwing into second to get players out. They will continue to play in their league this year to retain their title of Walsall District Champions, of which they haven’t lost a game yet. Well done on a fabulous start to this year’s Rounders games.

Year 9 Rounders On Thursday 24 May the Year 9 Rounders team played in the Walsall Rounders competition. They played three games in their pool, of which they won all 3 matches. 2 games were a landslide victory for the girls, but one game did test their fielding ability. We saw the opposition being stumped out at 2nd post and immediately the ball was thrown to 4th to reduce the number of batters remaining in, showing a very high level of skill and tactics being applied.

The girls had to wait a while to see who they would take on in the final match. This was West Walsall Academy, a team who they lost to last year preventing them from becoming Walsall Champions. The team worked incredibly hard in this match and really thought very tactically about how they could score more points. Fiona scored the winning ½ a rounder which saw the girls win the entire tournament. Throughout this tournament each and every one of the players were gracious, well-mannered and respectful to both other teams and umpires. Maja and Libby from Year 8 played up for the Year 9 team and played as though they had been working with the rest of the team for years. Subsequently these two ladies won Woman of the Match for their brilliant batting and fielding against some girls who were much older than them. PAGE 4

Staff vs Sixth Form Football On Friday 9 March, the staff played the Year 12 team in preparation for the charity match against the Year 13’s. As always, the Year 12 team were high on confidence before the game began, and this confidence grew further when Daniel opened the scoring to make it 1-0 to the Sixth Form. However just before half-time Mr Bull scored an equaliser for the staff, meaning the game went into the break level. After half-time, Daniel scored again with a clever near post finish, but again the staff brought the game back level through a Mr Southam header. Daniel completed his hat-trick shortly after with a good effort from outside the box, however the staff refused to be beaten as Mr Clarke equalised with a composed finish into the bottom corner. The staff then scored again through Mr Glover and lead the game for the first time. From here the staff defended much better and finished the game as 4-3 victors.

On Friday 23 March, the staff played against the Year 13 team which had been a highly anticipated match due to the game finishing 3-3 last year. Both teams were eager to be on the winning team this time around, with the staff especially keen on keeping their winning streak going. The staff team started the brightest, with an early goal from Mr Clarke settling the nerves and allowed the staff to start playing some lovely football. The staff grew from strength to strength as Mr Southam headed in the second before Mr Rolls and Mr Hitchen scored with calm finishes to make it 4-0. Mr Southam then added his second to make it 5-0 at half time. In the second half Mr Scroop and Mr Rolls both scored from close range, before Mr Southam completed his hat-trick with the goal of the game, a right footed volley that riffled into the roof of the net. Lewis scored a consolation goal for the students with a lovely curling free-kick, but it was the staff team that stole the show with a convincing 8-1 victory. ISSUE 16 PAGE 5

Girls Futsal Tournament On Wednesday 28 March, the U14 Girls Futsal Tournament took place at . They competed against other schools within the Walsall area which included Streetly Academy, West Walsall E-Act Academy, Shire Oak Academy, and Queen Mary’s School. The girls represented the Academy excellently all day, with each game being a very close encounter. In the first game of the tournament the girls unfortunately lost 2-0 to Shire Oak, however they didn't let their heads drop and in the next game they beat Queen Mary’s 2-1 with our two goals being scored by Maja. In the next game they drew 0-0 against Streetly Academy which was due to a masterclass from both goalkeepers and in the final game they drew again to West Walsall E-Act Academy. The girls had a fantastic day at the event and are aiming to do even better next year.

Indoor Athletics

In March our Year 9 Indoor Athletes competed in the Walsall Championships at West Walsall Academy. The team were looking to retain the trophy after lifting it for the previous two years. Technical ability combined with grit and determination meant that the boys clinched first place and the girls third. This meant that we were again crowned Indoor Athletics Champions of Walsall, for the third year running. Due to our success we were selected to represent Walsall at the Black Country Finals. Unfortunately we narrowly missed out on a podium finish as we finished in fourth place overall, however still a great achievement. Well done guys. PAGE 6

Black Country Handball

On Monday 26 March, both boys and girls Handball Teams competed at the Black Country Games Handball Tournament held at Aldersley Leisure Centre. Due to their excellent performances in the Walsall tournaments, Walsall Academy had four teams represented at the Black Country Games. These were Year 9-10 Boys combined, Year 9-10 Girls combined, Year 7-8 Boys combined and 7-8 Girls combined.

The girls tournament was played first and despite little prior competitive experience our Year 8 and 10 girls Handball Teams did exceedingly well to qualify for the Black Country Finals. Both teams performed very well and built on their skills as the competition progressed. Both teams developed their defensive skills and displayed some excellent teamwork and skill to block out the opposing teams attacks. We also had some strong attacking opportunities. On the day we played some experienced teams of which went on to dominate the competition. The Year 8 team did very well to finish in 5th place out of 10 teams and the Year 10 team 7th. With more practice we are sure this is something we can improve on next year.

In the afternoon the boys tournament began which was extremely competitive from the first whistle. It was clear that every team in the tournament had been training hard, as there was excellent displays when both defending and attacking. Excellent goalkeeping displays from Thomas and Alfie made us difficult to score against, and there was great attacking flair which resulted in very entertaining Handball. The Year 9-10 boys finished 4th overall, and the Year 7-8 boys finished 5th overall, however this is a fantastic achievement in our first year of entering this competition. The boys were all eager to improve on this overall position next year. ISSUE 16 PAGE 7

You Know The Drill

On 19 March, the first ever Walsall Academy ‘You Know The Drill’ aired on broadcast. This involved three members of staff, competing against two Sixth Form students in a Football shooting drill. The two students were Cameron and Josh, who competed against Mr Southam, Mr Clarke and Mr Bull.

This proved to be extremely popular with the Academy when it was shown on broadcast, not only for the Football drill competition, but also because of Mr Southam’s hilarious commentary. The final score finished 5-2 to the staff, who showed great composure under the pressure of the cameras. Due to its success, the PE team are working on other drills in other sports, to make it a regular feature on the broadcast.

Duke of Edinburgh

This term has seen the Duke of Edinburgh expedition training get underway. Year 9 students engaged in their first Bronze training day in the Shropshire Hills where they developed navigation skills and learnt how to cook safely on a trangia. Silver and Gold groups spent a day in the Berwyn Mountains refining their navigation skills in preparation for their tough practice and final expedition in Snowdonia in July.

Also congratulations to brother and sister, Emily and Joe who have recently collected their Gold Duke of Edinburgh certificates in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.

Good luck to all students taking part in expeditions later on in the term.

ISSUE 16 PAGE 8

This is the sixteenth edition of the PE Magazine and we hope you have enjoyed it. We are looking to get students more involved in the process by supplying pictures, writing match reports etc. So if you want to get involved and supply a story/report save the file to memory stick or disk ready for editing and pass onto the PE Department.

If you want to be a part of the next magazine, come to Session 3 and get involved in PE and Sport.

Mr L Bull PE Department