A non-stop array of fixtures in the first 5½ week of the new academic 2019/20 year completed!
Our Manor children have taken part in 66 matches and events for Cross Country, Football, Hockey, Netball, Rugby and Tag Rugby. We have successfully hosted our biggest ever Cross Country Tournament and an inaugural U9 Rugby Festival – what a few weeks this has been! As we savour the highlights of the first half of the Autumn Term below, we can look forward to our Manor children showcasing their talent and love of sport with a jam-packed fixtures list confirmed to take us up until Christmas, just as soon as we’ve had a rest over the half term!
The Manor Inaugural U9 Rugby Festival on Saturday 5 October
Moving from Tag Rugby in Year 3 to Contact Rugby in Year 4 gave our Manor children an opportunity to put their new skills into practice at our hugely successful Festival organised by Mr Roberts, our Head of Boys’ Sport. We welcomed Christchurch, The Oratory, Magdalen and Kitebrook, and we very much look forward to hosting another festival next year!
St Hugh’s U8 Hockey and U8 Tag Rugby Festivals on Saturday 28 September
The children had a very positive introduction to competitive sport at these events. They played non-stop matches against Pinewood and St Hugh’s in the Hockey Festival; and Pinewood, Kitebrook, Christchurch, The Oratory and St Hugh’s in the Tag Rugby Festival. Everyone improved considerably with every game and we were very excited to see a lot of budding young talent on display!
Cothill U8 and U9 Football Festivals on Friday 11 October
On the last day of half term and for the second year running, The Manor were yet again represented in the U8 category and for the first time, with two U9 teams. Football is a very popular sport amongst our boys and girls at The Manor and everyone had a great time playing matches against Knightsbridge, Wetherby, Broomwood Hall and Cothill, finished off with a delicious lunch!
Looking further up the school, congratulations to our newly-appointed Sports Captains:
Cross Country: Megan P & Nicole H
Hockey: Sibby R & Sophie C
Netball: Flo O & Lillia B
Swimming: Marnie L & Nikita J
Cricket and Tennis Captains will be announced in the Summer Term when we start to play these sports.
IAPS U11 Regional Hockey Qualifier on 25 September
The most prestigious of our Hockey events in the annual calendar. The U11 Lightning team played 5 group games; winning 3, drawing 1 and losing 1. This resulted in them winning their group in the first round which secured them a place in the Cup section. Unfortunately, they lost to a very strong Dragon side, missing out on a place in the finals. Despite this, Miss Ingram was so proud of how brilliantly they performed as a team and the significant progress they have made in just a few weeks.
The Manor U8-U11 Cross Country Meet on 26 September
This popular event was another very successful occasion, attracting a record-breaking 13 schools from both the local area and that of the adjoining counties. In total, we hosted 309 runners, with 59 of these children from The Manor across all age groups, including, for the first time, representation from the Manor boys in the U9 race. Well done to everyone that ran! A special mention to The Manor children who featured in the top spots for the Girls’ U8 and U10 races below.
U10 Girls U8 Girls
1st place – Skye F 1st place – Martha T
2nd place – Anna D-P
Schools Biathlon Regional Qualifier on 14 October
All 14 of our biathletes performed brilliantly in both swimming and running events. Congratulations to Megan P in the U11 section who picked up the silver medal. We now await the results to see which of our Manor children have qualified for the Nationals that is due to take place in Nottingham on 23rd November.
Year 5 House Tag Rugby
Well done to all the children who took part in the Year 5 House Tag Rugby on a gloriously sunny October day! Congratulations to Kestrels who were the winning House.
Well done to those children that have achieved high performance selections at County level and beyond outside of The Manor:
Megan P competing on the International Circuit!
Huge congratulations to Megan who, over the half term, took part in the The World Championships Biathle and Triathle in Florida! This year, the competition was represented by 32 countries in many age groups from U9 to age 70+ masters. Team GB was the largest and Megan competed with U11 girls from Egypt, South Africa, USA, Guatemala and Finland with up to six athletes per country. Her start time was at 9:15am in the morning and the temperature had already crept up to 27 degrees! Megan’s first event was a 400m run, then a dive in the very salty bay for a 50m swim, finishing with another 400m run. Both runs had two hairpin turns each and the swim had one too, making it extra challenging with all the stopping and starting. Megan came an amazing 9th place after a very tight race. She competed brilliantly against such a high standard and what an experience that was for her! Evey, her sister who left The Manor a couple of years ago, also did amazingly well by coming 8th in her age group. Both GB teams in the U11 category came 1st and 3rd overall, and Megan helped them achieve this!
Oxfordshire County Tennis Programme
Congratulations to the many Manor children who have gained places in the Oxfordshire County Tennis Programme recently. Josh, our Tennis Coach, has confirmed that the squads are still being finalised, but I will be able to publish those names and celebrate their successes in my next sports report at Christmas.
Rhonda Forbes
Director of Sport
