Sports News

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At Blundell's Prep children learn to play a range of different sports, developing skills and teamwork, finding through sport the experience of competition, of winning and sometimes losing and doing both in the right spirit. Sports and Activities currently include: Rugby, Netball, Football, Hockey, Cross-country, Cricket, Athletics, Rounders, Swimming, Tennis, Gymnastics and Judo.

	U11A Rugby
	The U11A team have had a busy week. They played Taunton A on Wednesday, winning 42-19 before taking on a Sandroyd Touring team on Thursday gaining another victory 35-7. On Saturday the team travelled to Port Regis for a Tournament that included games against Millfield, Caldicott, Clifton College and Papplewick. After losing narrowly to Millfield and Caldicott (the eventual winners in the final against The Dragon), the A team beat all before them to become the Plate Winners. This was a great result and the team were congratulated for playing high quality, open rugby.
	U11 Cricket
	The U11 finished off a fine unbeaten season with a win over St Peter's Lympstone on Monday. With several players away through illness, Blundell's nevertheless batted with confidence, scoring 123 in their 20 overs. They restricted St Peter's to 91 for 7, winning by 32 runs. After a really close battle against the Old Boys a week before, where Blundell's Prep secured a tremendous 4 wicket win, Blundell's Prep were not at their best against St Peter's and looked a little weary. Blundell's always had the upper hand, however, and never really looked like losing the game. They can look back on a highly successful season with a great deal of pride. The ever consistent Jack Maunder again scored 27 and Dan Pyle and Ben Steer also batted well, scoring over 20 each.
	U10 Hockey Tournament
	The U10 boys Hockey Team competed at the recent Tournament at Millfield. They performed brilliantly winning many matches before eventually losing in the final.
	Cross Country
	Pupils from both the Prep and Senior School took part in a combined team effort at St. Michaels cross-country relays. It was an outstanding afternoon where both the boys and girls dominated the team events with runners from Years 5, 6, 7 and 8.
	Netball fixtures
	Six teams were recently hosted at Blundell's Prep for a busy midweek fixture. The U11A team beat Plymouth College but narrowly lost to Queen's College. The U11B team lost to Queen's College. The U10B team had an encouraging win against the Queen's team. The U10A team lost to a strong side from Queen's but played well to defeat Plymouth College.
	Regional U9 Rugby and Hockey Tournament
	Last week Blundell's Prep hosted a South West regional U9 rugby and hockey tournament. This successful event was well attended by local schools and the rugby and hockey teams were supported by many parents. The very competitive matches in the early rounds led to both the Blundell's rugby and hockey teams reaching the finals. In the rugby final the U9 A team played Queen's Taunton and won 5 tries to 1. In the hockey final the U9 A team played Plymouth College who they had lost to in an earlier round.  However they raised their game and won 1 goal to nil. A very successful afternoon!
	Rugby success
	The U9 rugby teams have made a good start to the season with the A side winning all their matches at the recent Kings Hall Rugby Festival.
Rugby at home, Weds 19th Sept
A busy match day! All of the year 5's and 6's played in the first fixtures of the rugby season. Some fine displays of skills, speed and power helped create some entertaining rugby. The best competition was the under 11 C game where the game was tighter than the final score line indicates. Under 11A 56 - 0 Taunton A Under 11B 60 - 10 Taunton B Under 11C 0 - 30 Exeter Cathedral A
	Sports Day
	Earlier this week the annual Blundell's Prep Sports Day was held, with the weather being kind to us this year. All pupils were involved with the usual running, jumping and throwing events, including the traditional House Mass Relay, won by Grenville this year. Many parents watched the events unfold and to see a school record broken by Alice in the Junior Long Jump (pictured to the left). Mrs Vivienne Heeley very kindly presented the prizes (pictured to the right) including the overall House Cup which this year went to Grenville.
	U11A football team wins Exeter 7-a-side tournament
	Pictured is the Under-11A football team (with their ever-present coach Simon Swain). They won the Exeter Prep School seven-a-side tournament last Wednesday, beating five teams to win over all.
	National Prep Schools Finals winners
	The Under 10 boys rugby team won the 2007 National Prep Schools Plate Competition at Epsom College. The top 14 prep schools were competing, having won through two previous competitions. We came through via a win at Queen's College Under 10 Tournament followed by a win at the Bryanston Tournament for the best in the South-West. The shirts were sponsored by Island Sports.
	Rugby and Hockey Tour to Jersey
	Over Half Term pupils from Years 5 and 6 left for a rugby and hockey tour to Jersey. Mr Swain, Mr Mildren, Mrs Hoskins, Mrs Aldridge, Mr Cross and supporters Mr Morris and Jamie all came on the tour too! After an early start at Exeter Airport (5.00 am) and a short stop at Guernsey we landed in Jersey. The girls were in action almost immediately with a game against Grouville. The A team played a boys team and won 3 goals to 1. The B team played a mixed team and lost 3 goals to 2. It was a great start to the Tour and even the sun came out to welcome us.
	Rugby and Hockey Tour to Jersey (cont.)
	After a quick turn around at the Hotel the boys were in action at Jersey Rugby Club, facing a physically strong combined side from Jersey Wasps and Jersey Tigers. The difference between the sides was the Blundell's 'flyers' in the back line. The forwards performed extremely well against a much bigger team and produced good ball from the rucks and mauls. Blundell's Prep won by 45 to 25 points. A very enjoyable spectator event was enjoyed by many parents who had flown over specially to see the boys.
	Blundell's Sevens Competition
	The U11 rugby team recently performed well in the annual Blundell's 7's Competition. After beating both St. Michaels and Mount House they unfortunately lost out to Kings Hall and Llannersh Fach from Cardiff to finish in third place.
	Netball vs West Buckland
	The U11A, U11B, A10A and U10B teams before their matches against West Buckland. The U11 teams lost against strong opposition and the U10 teams both won.
	Queen's College rugby tournament
	Our Under 10 team was the winning team at the Queen's College rugby tournament 2006.
	U11 C Team Rugby v St. Peter's
	The U11C team recently travelled to St. Peter's to play them at rugby. Many boys were playing in their first game this year and they had been looking forward to it. The quality of play was good from the Blundell's Prep boys and they went ahead with two tries, both converted. The second half was tight with Blundell's Prep defending well. But as the players tired St. Peter's scored two good tries, both converted, to tie the game 14 - 14 at the end. Well done to all players for a great game.
	U11 Hockey Tournament, Clayesmore
	0-0 Clayesmore; 1-0 Kings Hall; 0-0 St Anthony’s; 1-1 Millfield; 0-2 The Downs An excellent start to the term, the girls learnt a lot and played with great determination. They finished third and were beaten only by the eventual winners.
	U11A Rugby v Taunton Prep
	The U11A team had an excellent start to the season with a good win over Taunton Prep. Toby scored direct from the kick off, his pace surprising the opposition. The rest of the half was evenly contested with the front five and Jack at scrum half working hard to gain and keep possession. The scrums and rucks were evenly contested, but the backs of Will, Ben, Toby, Harvey, Freddie and Thomas made good ground whenever they received good quality possession. The second half was much of the same with excellent defensive work from the forwards. Three more tries were scored, with Harvey scoring the last on the final whistle. Result: 24 - 0 to Blundell's Prep.
	U11B Rugby v Taunton Prep
	Rugby – The U11B’s started the season with a terrific win over Taunton Prep. Some good forward play allowed Andrew Hamilton to score all five tries. Result: 14-27.
U10A Rugby v Taunton Prep
A great start for the year group and we managed to get many involved in the game. Three thirds were played rather than halves and flowing tries were scored by Ben, who was excellent, and Luke. Blundell's surged into an early lead. Mr Folland experimented with the team and made the lads play without their main runners for a good proportion of the game. It therefore became tighter and Taunton bounced back. Impressive defence from Daniel and Tom kept Blundell's noses in front and when Ben was allowed back on, he wrapped up the game with a fine individual try from his own half. Blundell's ended up winners by 35-30 in a useful warm up, allowing Mr Folland to see a large proportion of the year group in action. It was also good to see the development in players such as Harry, Oliver and Marco. Well done boys!
	U11A Cricket
	Played: 9, Won: 4, Lost: 4, Abandoned: 1 Another fun season, although not quite as successful as previous years. A few games were lost that should have been won, and we were beaten by a strong Exeter Prep team. The team was well led by Charlie Watson, a promising young Devon U11 player who bowled consistently well and batted with increasing maturity. It was a year of development and I was delighted by the improvement shown by players such as Alistair, a Devon U10 player, William, Thomas, Toby and Guy. Matthew also made significant contributions, as did Alex towards the latter half of the season, and both will go on to be good players. Congratulations to Charlie and William who were awarded their cricket colours. The season was blessed with excellent weather with only one game being lost to rain and the team saved the best to last, defeating Ridgeway School, a strong touring side, in a thrilling match – winning with an over to spare. In a short term the boys played with complete commitment and thoroughly enjoyed their cricket. All had opportunity and I am certainly a believer that at this age as many as possible should try to bat and bowl in every game. This sometimes costs us, but will develop players and promote enthusiastic cricketers in the long run. Well done boys!
	Rounders
	All of the girls at Blundell’s Prep have represented the school at rounders. The weather certainly helps, but year after year the sport remains popular with the girls. The fixture programme has been busy and our results have been varied but involvement is as important as results during the rounders season. The U11 and U10 girls enjoyed competing at their respective Millfield tournaments, where the competition was tough and the approach serious. Both teams held their own and enjoyed taking part. The U11 girls had great fun competing against the Old Girls from Blundell’s. They were beaten by some great batting by the Old Girls but there was a lovely atmosphere and lots of laughs. The U9 girls have now all developed a good understanding of a game that is far removed from the one I learnt to play at school. There are more complicated rules and certain specific mores for certain situations. The girls learned how crucial fielding is because silly mistakes often cost them the game. The U8 girls won all of their matches at a festival held at S. Peter’s School. Well done to all the girls!
	Athletics - Sports Day
	Despite the first few weeks of term being beset with poor weather most pupils managed to get standard times and distances for their events. Unfortunately Sports Day was postponed for the first time in many years. However, the rescheduled Monday after half term brought with it fine weather and some good performances with Grenville winning the House Cup.
	Athletics at Kelly College
	Two days after Blundell’s we competed in the South West Championships at Kelly College, which is a selection meeting for the National Championships in Birmingham. We took a small team of eight athletes and performed outstandingly well with Charlotte R winning both the Girls’ 100m and 800m and Charlie winning the Boys’ 800m. This event rounded off an excellent season for our athletes in spite of some inclement weather and colours were awarded to Charlotte R and Charlie. Thank you to Mrs. Hoskins, Mr. Swain and Mr. Hirst for their help in preparing the teams. Athletics Squad: Toby Pilkington, Harvey Scott, Thomas Smith, Luke Ricketts, Ben Willder, Harry Pilkington, Jack Maunder, Joshua Crook, Georgia Bricknell, Jessica Atkins, Jodie Atkins, Emily Blackmore, Molly Watson, Alice Smith, Shannon Robertson, Charlotte Routledge, Laura Clatworthy, Jessica Grandfield, Milly Maunder, Charlotte Hare, Matthew Handford, William Loughton, Jack West, Harley Lotz, Tom Hare, Harry Carpenter and Charlie Watson.
	Under 9A & B and Under 8 Cricket
	U9A: Played: 7, Won: 6, Lost: 1, Drawn: 0 U9B: Played: 6, Won: 5, Lost: 0, Drawn: 1 U8: Played: 4, Won: 3, Lost: 0, Drawn: 1 Three very strong squads this season saw us dominate many of our matches with excellent batting and bowling performances. The unbeaten U8 Team, led by Jack, saw both strong batting and bowling line-ups which put pressure on facing teams from the start, although we may need to look a little further at shoring up our defensive play which did see us lose some wickets unnecessarily. The U9B Team was also unbeaten and a large number of boys were rotated throughout the season with much success, very ably captained by Ben. The U9A Team stayed very much the same, which said a lot for the boys’ determination in not wanting to lose their places. In training they always showed lots of enthusiasm and spirit and in matches they attacked and were always on the front foot. The most exciting match came in the penultimate week of the season. We played an unbeaten Exeter Prep away from home. A poor batting display saw us having to keep Exeter to below 22 runs, which seemed at the time an impossible task. However, some outstanding bowling and fielding kept the finish tight with Exeter winning a thrilling match on the last ball of play. Thanks must go to Mr. Folland, Mr. Swain and Mr. Hirst for their help in preparing the teams and umpiring matches, and to the loyal band of parents who have followed us around the South West.
	Blundell’s Athletics Tournament
	With this event being in the same week as our rescheduled Sports Day our athletes were focused and ready for their bid to regain the U12 Boys’ and Girls’ titles. A long and hot afternoon of athletics saw some superb results. Fifteen individual first places were achieved in the afternoon along with three relay titles. Both age groups performed to their very best and ran out comfortable winners, beating second placed St. Peter’s by a margin of 29 points.

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Holland Rugby and Hockey Tour, 2008

The itinerary has just arrived for this year's Rugby and Hockey Tour to Holland. The busy schedule will include matches against local sides for A and B Rugby and Hockey teams.  In addition the tour party have a busy schedule of visits to Holland's tourist attractions including Madurodam - Holland recreated in miniature, the Sea Life Centre at Schevenigen and Space Expo at Noordwijk.  The pupils will also be able to relax at the Tiki water park, a cinema visit as well as experience a visit to Amsterdam.

    

The tour party of 38 pupils from Years 5 and 6 as well as Mr Swain, Mr Mildren, Mr Cross, Mrs Hoskins and Miss Harrison are looking forward to this exciting trip.

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