Mrs Nora Lavorini – PE Teacher

Prep Sport

This has been a very busy month for fixtures. Many thanks to Miss Sharp for coordinating them all. Also, a special thanks to Mr McGrath for organising all of the football for both boys and girls, as well as the cross country on Saturday mornings.

Football

Prep Girls Under 11’s AJIS Football
On 27th February, the Prep girls’ football team competed in the AJIS under-11s competition. There was a great deal of talent on show, and the girls played against some very tough opposition. In the group stages, they faced Birkenhead, Kirkham and Bury. They just missed out on qualifying for the semi-finals, only losing one match. Special mention goes to Orla and Sylvie who were the star performers on the day!

Prep Girls Football @ Whalley Range
The league season finale for the under-11 girls took place on Wednesday, 4th March, at Whalley Range High School. St Bede’s Prep faced some very tough opposition against Manchester High, Claremont and St John’s Primary. The girls managed to win 3 games, losing 2 and drawing the remaining fixture 0-0. This meant that the final league table showed St Bede’s as 4th, which was a good achievement for the girls. Player of the season undoubtedly goes to Honor for some amazing goalkeeping performances.

Prep Boys Under 11’s AJIS Football Plate Tournament
The Prep 6 football team competed in the AJIS Plate competition at Platt Lane complex on Friday, 6th March. St Bede’s fielded a strong team and managed to qualify from the group stages with two wins, a draw and a loss. They then faced King’s Macclesfield in the semi-final and were narrowly beaten 1-0. There were some very good performances for all boys on the day. A special mention goes to Max, who had several man of the match performances awarded, a real achievement as he is playing two years above his age.

Prep Boys Under 9’s AJIS Football Festival
On Thursday, 19th March, the Prep 4’s competed in a football festival at Cheadle Hulme school. The boys played a total of 8 matches during the morning against different opposition. They played against schools such as Bolton, Scarisbrick, Bury and several other large Independent schools. The boys managed to win 4 games, draw 2 and lose 2 over the course of the morning, and it was a great opportunity to practise playing together as a team. Joe and Vasik also impressed playing a year up for the morning!

Hockey

Manchester Schools Inspire Tournament
We use this tournament to allow younger pupils or those who have less experience to play some competitive hockey. It was a year 6 tournament, we had 2 Prep 4, 4 Prep 5s and 1 Prep 6 playing. Whilst the age difference was quite difficult at times, it was great to see the enthusiasm and improvement in all the players. The matches are all 4-aside on small pitches, so plenty of chances for the players to have lots of touches on the ball.

Manchester Schools Excel Tournament
In the first round, we entered two teams, a mixture of Prep 4,5, and Prep 6. Playing 4-aside with no GKs is difficult, as the advantage is clearly with the attacking team. After a few problems at the beginning, the teams started to pass and tackle more. The teams grew in confidence and their play improved throughout the tournament. Only one team could progress to qualify for the finals, which were held at Manchester High School. Unfortunately for the finals, we were missing two of our strongest players, which, when playing 4-aside, is very difficult. However, the team battled well and created many chances. Unfortunately, we did not win any games, but it is encouraging as many of the players are still eligible to play next year.

End of the hockey season
On Wednesday 25th March, we had our final training session. I think we had four seasons in one day! It was a shame we missed our Prep 6 at this session, as they were at a meeting for their upcoming trip to France. Well done to all of the pupils who have attended training and matches this year. It is fabulous to see so many of our young pupils enjoying hockey. Joining a local hockey club would really help to boost your child’s progress. If you would like some advice on which clubs to join, please contact Mrs Lavorini or Mr Henderson. (nlavorini@sbcm.co.uk jhenderson@sbcm.co.uk )

Netball

Prep Girls Under 11’s AJIS Netball Tournament
On Friday, 13th March, the Year 6 netball team attended the AJIS netball bowl competition at Scarisbrick Hall. The girls played 4 matches in total against Bolton, Rossall, Westholme, and Scarisbrick Hall, and came away with 4 wins, winning the competition. They scored 16 goals and conceded just 1 goal. They played some lovely netball throughout the afternoon.

Inspire Netball Tournament
On our first sunny day of the year, we held the Inspire Bee netball tournament. We had 2 teams entered, the red team was managed by our U3 pupil Mia, and the yellow team was managed by our L4 pupil Nancy. Both girls did an excellent job, sorting out the high-5 rotations and giving the girls coaching points. The red team came away with 3 out of 4 wins, with Henni and Bonnie being awarded special values badges. The yellow team came away with 5 wins, scoring an impressive 16 goals and only conceding 2. Dorcas and Miriam earned the special values badges for this team.
Thank you to Elsie, Gray, Rosie, Sophie, Enya and Hollie. They not only umpired, but also had to do a coaching session with the visiting teams for twenty minutes before the matches started.

Summer Term

Activities in the summer term will be rounders, cricket and athletics. I would like to urge parents to encourage their child to practice throwing and catching over the Easter holidays. Throwing and catching are the foundations of so many sports, and obviously are fundamental to rounders and cricket. Playtime and lessons are so much more fun when the pupils can throw and catch.