Sports
The PE Department is always extremely busy, both during curricular time and extra-curricular sessions. There are clubs and fixtures in a range of sports for all year groups giving all students the opportunity to be involved with PE and sport if they wish.
Hockey continues to develop with girls taking part in various matches against local schools including Leventhorpe and Bishop’s Stortford College, and also playing in both the Hertfordshire and Essex Cups. The Year 7’s have attended training on a regular basis and the A Team have recently played two cup games against Dame Alice Owen in a Herts Cup game in which they drew 0-0 and Queenswood where they lost 3-4 (Queenswood scoring with the last touch of the game). The U13’s have had a successful run and beat Queenswood 5-0 in a recent cup game. The U14’s and U15’s have played a few games but unfortunately a number of scheduled matches have been cancelled. However, they continue to work hard at training and have several fixtures during the Lent term. The U16 team came second at the U16 National Schools Championships and went on to represent Hertfordshire in the regional stage of the competition. The team travelled to Redbridge where they played three games narrowly losing each game by one goal during the pool stage of the competition. They played for 7th & 8th position and came 7th beating their opposition 5-0. The Senior girls and boys train on Wednesday evenings and enjoy their sessions. The girls beat Herts and Essex and still have Parmiter’s and SWCHS to play. Boys in Years 7-9 have been training on Friday afternoons and are competing in the Essex Cup.
Netball continues to be popular amongst the girls and there are clubs for students in Years 7-9. Year 7 are fielding A, B and C teams and have friendlies against local schools and Cup matches to compete in. There are also U14, U16 and U19 teams in Cup action, with U14 and U16 progressing to the 2nd round. The U19’s played Sydney Russell in the first round beating them comfortably but unfortunately in the next round lost to Barking Abbey who are a very successful team. Our girls put on a great performance never giving up even when it was tough they still dug deep.
This year has seen some fantastic rugby played by all year groups with enormous enthusiasm from all students to represent the College. We have had seven boys teams in action this season with regular A and B teams in Year 7 and 8. Our hugely successful U15 girls team from last season has continued, as has the strong Saturday block fixtures against Broxbourne and St Edmunds College, which again, has seen plenty of successful results. The Year 7 and 8 boys teams both triumphed as we hosted our first Hockerill Triangular tournament against St Mary’s and Birchwood. The Senior side and U15's are still involved in cup competitions after putting together a string of positive results of late and they will both have aspirations of making finals. Michaelmas term rugby was completed during the Boarders’ Open Weekend with several teams competing against Bancroft School.
Training started for basketball back in September in anticipation of the start of the District competition which began in mid-November. The Year 8 team, who were runners up in the District competition last academic year made a positive start to their season, winning convincingly against Walden School 40-8. The Senior team started their season with a thrilling 36-36 draw against the same opposition. The game went in to overtime with neither team able to secure the victory. The Year 10 team started their defence of their District title against St Mary’s Catholic School with an impressive 14-6 win. There was a clean sweep in fixtures against St Mary’s with both the Year 9 and Senior teams also winning. The Senior team put in a particularly impressive performance, outscoring St Mary’s 31-17. There are more fixtures in the Lent term leading up to District Finals before Easter. Girls Basketball Club is also very popular and has fixtures scheduled for the New Year.
Year 7 – 12 Dance club has been running extremely well this year with the girls rehearsing and preparing themselves for Hockerill’s Dance show in February. The theme of the show this year is “Ancient Elements” and is a collaboration between Art, Drama, Music and Dance.
At 06:00 on Wednesday 5th July 43 students and 6 members of staff departed for the College’s second trans-Atlantic boys Rugby Tour. During the two week tour of Eastern Canada the two teams played four matches each, against Canadian opposition. Hockerill students were provided with excellent hospitality by Canadian families in Ottawa allowing them to develop lifelong friendships, and some of the boys are already organising return trips for their Canadian counterparts! The teams played eight matches, winning five and drawing one, improving throughout and providing the students with the opportunities to develop their skills and rugby knowledge. In addition, the tourists were able to recover through an extensive programme of recreational activities including watching baseball and rugby league games and a trip to Niagara Falls. Character was tested during grade 5 white water rafting on the Ottawa River. The students’ heads for heights were challenged on a high ropes course in Ganaraska and at Canada’s largest theme park. The tourists also enjoyed a cycle tour of Toronto and a visit to Calypso Waterpark in Ottawa. The tour was a complete success and has contributed to the international culture at the College. The Tour Leader, Mr Connolly would like to thank the students, parents and particularly the staff for their enormous contribution to the success of this tour, the support received from them and the tour sponsors Pestells Estate Agency and Marshall Volvo, was greatly appreciated especially during the fundraising efforts in the lead up to the tour.
For the tour photos CLICK HERE
At 04:45 on Friday 27th June 38 students and 5 members of staff departed for the College’s first trans-Atlantic Sports Tour. Planning for the tour had started 18 months before during an information evening at College on Wednesday 27th March 2013. The students and staff were tasked with fundraising £20,000 through various events including; race and quiz nights, fun runs and bag packing which reduced the cost of the trip and paid for kit and food while we were away. During the two week tour of the USA and Canada an Under 13 team and an Under 15 team played four matches each, against both club and representative teams. Hockerill students were provided with excellent hospitality by American and Canadian families allowing them to develop friendships with their opponents before the matches. We played eight matches, winning four, improving throughout and providing our students with the opportunities to develop their skills and rugby knowledge. Special mentions must go to the following students; Gareth James and Timmy Simpson for winning the Best Player Award for their respective teams, also, James Cave and Taha Alibhai for winning the Best Tourist Awards.
In addition to the fixtures, the tourists were able to recover through an extensive programme of recreational activities including whale watching and sea kayaking on Vancouver Island. Character was tested during an extreme activities trip to the Rocky Mountain ski resort of Whistler where boys were plunged into ice cold water whilst white water rafting on Class 4 rapids. Heads for heights were tested on the high ropes and zip wires course. The tourists also enjoyed mountain biking near Vancouver and a visit to Wild Waves Theme Park in Seattle. There is a real sporting momentum building at Hockerill with increased opportunities for all our students to participate and represent the College. In July 2015 our girls Hockey, Netball and Rugby teams embark on their tour to Hong Kong and Malaysia proving that the appetite for competitive sport at Hockerill is stronger than ever. Finally, I would like to thank the students, parents and staff for their enormous contribution to the success of this tour, particularly the fundraising committee who raised £20,000.
On Friday 3rd July 34 students from Years 8-11 and 4 members of staff departed for the Girls first Hockey and Netball Tour to Hong Kong and Malaysia. During the twelve months leading up to the tour students and staff organised and carried out various fundraising events including a Fun Run, Sponsored Swim, Quiz Night, Movie Nights, Disco’s, and the week before departing we held a Curry Night for all girls attending the trip along with their parents at Neelakash restaurant in Ware. Neelakash were sponsors of the tour.
After nearly 24 hours of travelling we arrived in Hong Hong where we were greeted by our friends from Po Leung Kuk. We spent four days in Hong Kong where we had the opportunity to visit cultural and tourist places of interest including the Big Buddha, Chi Lin Nunnery, the Peak, Ocean Park and various night markets. We were also fortunate to visit the girls from Po Leung Kuk at their care home and one of their junior schools where we were able to identify and find out more about their way of living and the opportunities open to them. Our firnds from Po leung Kuk also organised a morning of Rugby led by the Hong Kong sevens coaches.
Having spent four long but fantastic days in Hong Kong we travelled to Malaysia where we were greeted by our tour rep Lawrence. On arrival we were taken to a traditional restaurant where we given the opportunity to experience some of the local cuisine and watch some traditional dance performances. Following this we checked in at our hotel and prepared ourselves for the forthcoming matches and excursions. Whilst in Malaysia all girls had the opportunity to participate in both Netball and Hockey matches against schools and clubs. Both the U14 and U16 teams had two Hockey and two Netball matches organised for them. However, during one fixture an additional opposition asked to play our U16 Netball team.
The Hockey competition was strong and although we lost our matches all girls worked extremely hard and gave of their best which encouraged them to develop not only as individuals but also as a team. Netball saw the girls evenly match and we won one game, drew two and lost two. Again all girls worked hard and playing Netball was particularly tough due to the fact that we played in a small gym with ceiling fans only during the day when it was at it hottest. This in itself was a challenge for some of our girls and they had to adjust to the heat.
Whilst in Malaysia the girls had the opportunity to once again participate in various excursions including visiting the Batu Caves, Silk Factory, the Elephant Sanctuary, Sunway Lagoon, night markets and we finished the trip by spending our last evening having dinner at the KL Tower.
The tour was an amazing experience for all and every student had the opportunity to develop skills within sport and their knowledge in various cultural areas.
Finally I would like to thank the students and staff who helped to make the tour such a huge success. I am looking forward to organising the next tour in the forthcoming years.
At Hockerill Anglo-European College the PE Department offers an extensive Extra-Curriculum programme giving all students across all Year groups the opportunity to take part in sporting clubs and matches. In order to celebrate the success of the department and more importantly the success of our individual students and teams we come together and hold our annual Sports Dinner where our stars of the future are recognised for the contribution that they have made to the College or their sport.
Last year we held our annual Sports Dinner at Hockerill Anglo-European College on Saturday 10th June 2017. Based on feedback from our students we decided that we would hold the event on the Principals Lawn and Cedar Lawn followed by a Disco in SAH. Presentations were held on the Cedar Lawn for Years 7 – 9 whilst Years 10 – 13 were treated with a Hog Roast and then the year groups swapped over. Presentations and Hog Roast were followed by Ice Creams from a local ice cream van and a Disco in St Alban's Hall.
It was a great opportunity to have so many students coming together to celebrate the success of sport at Hockerill Anglo-European College and we look forward to this year’s Sports Dinner which is being held on Saturday 23rd June.
As soon as College finished for the summer, 37 students from Years 8 to 11 and 5 members of staff, in full tour kit, flew to Cape Town via Dubai. They made sure they took in all the sights with visits to Table Mountain with its amazing views before lunch at a waterfront restaurant and heading to Hout Bay for a trip to Seal Island, before finishing at Boulders Beach, to observe the wild penguins. Further day’s sightseeing involved the Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront, Robben Island and Drakenstein Lion Sanctuary.
They also enjoyed pro-led hockey and netball training sessions in order to make sure they were ready for their fixtures, the first of which was against the independent Curro Durbanville School. The girls worked hard in their matches, and enjoyed a post-match get together with the South African students.
Their second set of fixtures was against DF Malan High School who were incredibly tough competition, and wonderful hosts. Again, they enjoyed a post-match function where the students got to know the South African students. Their final sports fixtures took place at The Strand High School. Here again the students played hockey and netball fixtures and enjoyed spending time with the students from the school. The school also made traditional South African snacks for our students to have after their games.
Day 7 began with a trip to the Langa township, where our students helped to run sports activities for the local primary students. The students taught basic hockey and netball skills, and also joined in tag rugby and other games.
The rest of the trip was equally action packed with beach visits, looking around the local craft market in Greenmarket square to buy some souvenirs. They then headed for one of the highlights of the tour – staying at the private Aquilla game reserve. On arrival we had lunch and checked into our accommodation. We then went for an evening safari, where students saw rhinos, elephants, zebras, hippos and much more. Day 10 was a very early start as we prepared for a very early and very cold morning safari.
They returned to Cape Town to complete the tour, students and staff all had a fantastic time. The students worked very hard in the training sessions and all their fixtures. They enjoyed all the activities and visits and represented Hockerill proudly.
