Netball
U12 Netball
The U12s have had a promising start to their netball careers at BHS. Our strong defence of Sevenna
and Venus have developed throughout the season and have both made excellent progress. Ellie,
Erwin and Emiko have improved their shooting technique and our central attacking players have
learnt many new skills and tips. We have had successful wins against Dunottar and Therfield and
thoroughly enjoyed our first Central Surrey Schools tournament. Many of the girls were lucky
enough to get tickets to watch the professionals at work at the Copper Box in March and we hope to
run many more trips like this, as well as a tour next year.
U13 Netball
We have played so well in netball over the past term, we can definitely see improvement since
throughout the team. Although we haven’t won our matches our teamwork has come together and
our netball skills are improving in every game. We are a strong team and we work well as a one. We
had a tournament in the middle of the season which we tried our best in and felt we performed well.
Well done to our shooters: Cici, Charlotte and Scarlett. Well done to our defenders: Eliza, Isabel,
Ilaria and Lara, and out attackers Lauren and Anouk.
Well done to everyone on the team! Lauren, Cici, Charlotte, Scarlett, Anouk, Isabel, Eliza, Illaria and
Lara.
And thank you to our coaches Mrs Pilkington and Gaby.
U14 Netball
The Year 9 Squad enjoyed a very good season and showed their versatility on court. The girls were
happy to play in different positions to create the strongest combination. They welcomed back Talia
Johnson to the team who made an immediate impact and Lexie Miller and Darina Martynyuk
provided excellent support in defence. The highlights of the season were a fantastic 10-2 win against
Priory and an 8-7 win over Claremont Fan Court. Annie Whitehouse captained the team superbly
and many thanks to Sharon McCabe for coaching the girls.
U15 Netball
The U15 netball team is a full squad of excellent players; captained by the skilled and reliable
Annabelle Douse. The team have worked well together this season to develop their ability to pass
the ball securely to one another. At times they have played too fast and lost possession, which has
led them to become frustrated and lose focus. This has meant the girls have had two loses. However,
they have also had two draws and two resounding successes when their focus and ability really
shone through. As we draw towards the end of this season, half colours will be awarded to
Annabelle Douse, Elle Crawford and Dilly Mungeam-Tizzard for consistently exceptional performance
and a good team attitude.
U16 Netball
This term the girls have shown great verve and tenacity in their matches, working much better as a
team through effective communication. Spurred on by an inspired Team Captain, Katie Maiklam,
whose rousing speeches and encouraging words were an inspiration to the girls. The girls fought
hard to work on their areas of weakness during training and their development in these areas was
demonstrated as they gained momentum through the season. The girls were triumphant against
Kind Edwards Witley, winning the match 20-13! In other matches they had some very close losses
against City of London Freeman’s, Therfield School and a nail biting final match against Christ’s
Hospital Girls School.
This season, many of the girls stepped out of their comfort zones to develop skills and play in
positions that they were not as familiar with than others. Adreana Petrova became a better centre
player through her experience playing in wing defence, Yasmin Thompson-Lamont played excellently
as goal shooter after developing her shooting skills, whilst Isobel Goudie and Ana Popovic were a
dynamic defence duo intimidating the offence of the other teams. Our offensive team of Kirsty
Baguley and Olivia Jones, with support from Yasmin, racked up an impressive 86 nets, this season.
Katie was a focussed and energetic centre, with support from Adreana, providing the essential link
between defence and offence with our excellent wing players Phoebe Jones and Lydia Ivackovic!
Well done girls!
Senior Netball
It was terrific that the core of last year’s U16 side returned to form the Senior squad this year. We
also welcomed back Hayley Warboys and two new players (Olivia Pilling and Nastya Kravchenko)
who proved to be superb additions to the squad.
The season started with a brilliant 13-8 home win against Royal Russell. Accurate shooting by Millie
and Bethany, assertive attacking from Olivia, Ellie and Hayley, and dominant defending by Sasha,
Nastya, Natasha, Mia and Marcia, contributed to the performance.
Little did we know that this was to be our only win of the season! However, the girls’ enthusiasm
never waned. We suffered a defeat to City of London Freeman’s School but, bounced back the
following day to lose to them by a single goal in the District Tournament.
A special mention to Millie Shakeshaft for captaining the team and to Ellie Thorn for receiving the
most Player of the Match plaudits.
Rugby
U12/13 Rugby
The U13s have performed very well this term. At the start of the season, many year 7s were new to
rugby but took to the sport well and learnt the basics quickly. We went to St Andrews with an
experimental side who lost by a few tries. We grew into the game and scored a couple of well
worked tries through the backs, in the second half. We then visited Duke of Kent, hopeful of more
success; we came up against a very large and physical team but we were not intimidated by them.
We took the game to them and briefly led in the first half. Size and speed overcame us in the second
half and we struggled to stay in touch, losing narrowly despite a couple of good, solo tries by Joss
Hunt. We then played St Andrews again and this was the game that we really came together. We
started positively and the tackling was solid. Our defence saw us through and some fantastic solo
tries from Morgan Meeks-Cleave gave us our first win. We then played host to Lingfield Notre Dame
who found are running backs: Morgan, Joss and Xavier Taylor too much to deal with and we won
comfortably. We then visited Therfield and celebrated another easy win; this game was dominated
up front by George Britten, Louis Lepere, Daniel John and Alex Karpeta. We then came up against a
very strong Ashcombe side who made up the entire Dorking rugby club. They were large, physical,
quick and we struggled to contain them. The boys stuck to the task, putting in some big tackles but
were well beaten. The final game was against a tough City of London Freemen’s side who were
skilful and well drilled. We started slowly and conceded a couple of early tries which put us on the
back foot. We improved as the game went on and it was great to finish the second half strongly,
scoring 3 tries with impressive strength and speed from Morgan Meeks-Cleave and Joss Hunt. Xavier
Taylor was a formidable playmaker and tackler; setting the example for others. We finished with a
respectable loss and the boys can hold their heads high, having put in a committed performance to
finish.
Overall, it has been a huge learning curve for many and the boys can take great heart from a number
of wins; it has been an extremely positive season and one that I have particularly enjoyed as coach,
watching them grow as a team. The new year 7s acquitted themselves admirably and they will enjoy
more game time in year 8, next season.
U14/15 Rugby
The U14/15 rugby season was one filled with learning, fun and memorable moments. Whilst the
results will not speak an amazing story of success, there were many other measures where we
consider the season one to look back on fondly. There were some factors that made the season a
challenge from the start. We had many new players to the game which counted against us when
playing more experienced opposition. As a combined Year 9 and 10 team we also encountered some
larger teams, meaning it was more difficult to muscle up at the contact zone. However, the ultimate
outcome was that we learned to play with more heart and not give in to these sides. Furthermore,
our skills showed improvement as the season progressed and we could attack defensive lines with
more options. Every player had some excellent moments throughout the season; it is up to them to
play with more consistency next year so the team is gaining strength as a unit. Captain Daniel Fitton
led from the front and was ably supported by all. Congratulations go to Charlie King, Josh Matthews
and Sam Sarkaz (The Missile) who were awarded Half Colours at the end of the season. Thanks to all
who played and we hope that you come back next year with more love for the great game of rugby!
U16 Rugby
The under-16 Rugby team started the term with several weeks of mock exams and this affected
team cohesion at the outset. That said, Sam Davies, Jack Clarke and Guy Butler-Manuel stepped
forward to naturally lead the boys through the coming weeks. In their first match they played a
‘mature’ Wilson’s School side who were just a little bit too strong and quick for our players – they
went down heroically 31-5 with Davies, Clarke and Butler-Manuel bravely ‘manning up’ to our
Croydon opponents. We moved on to our next match against our Leatherhead local rivals Therfied
School needing to improve our fitness levels and defensive skills and organisation. Unfortunately for
us we were told that the Therfield School under 16 team was their best side at the school with them
all playing for Effingham & Leatherhead u-16 team on Sunday mornings. Our boys were less than
impressed with the cool welcome as we arrived there for our away fixture and on top of this the
pitch was so boggy that it resembled a wetland wildlife reserve! Although the boys generally
‘manned up’ and put up a spirited effort we were soundly beaten 49-0. The next match was a
turning point in our season as we were desperate for a chance to play on the front foot showing off
the silky skills of the backs including Davies, King, Bicknell, Ronald and Brough and we desperately
needed a win too! We travelled across the parish to Priory School Dorking where we attracted our
biggest crowd of the season and even faced with a partisan crowd of Priory supporters we achieved
our target and won the match 22-12. We ended our small season with a Rugby sevens match against
Duke of Kent School who could only bring over 7 players from their Year 11 male population.
Unfortunately they brought over 7 able Rugby players with pace, good tackling and rucking skills and
we were beaten 21-0. Mr Sequerah and I would like to thank all the boys for their efforts this season
and we hope to see a number of them putting on 1st XV BHS jerseys next academic year!
1XV Rugby
With a relatively small sixth form and several foreign students who are unfamiliar with the
beauteous warrior spirit of rugby (not to mention the complexities of the offside laws), trying to find
and mould 15 experienced and competent rugby players was always going to be a challenge.
However, the boys rose the challenge with enthusiasm, determination and just the right sprinkling of
aggression. Despite only playing four fixtures, with our finest hour being an 8 all draw against
Ardingly College, I sincerely have to say that I am incredibly proud of my boys and the efforts they
made, both in training and during fixtures. By our final match, we were showing the skill and
maturity of a far more experienced side, with sound rucking and strong running being particular
points of note. Individually, we have some outstanding players, many of whom are in year 12 so will
be here next season to build on this emerging team, and we look forward to being joined by many of
our current year 11s, who are staying on for the sixth form.
Hockey
Junior Hockey
The season has been a great success in terms of results and progression in skills and performance.
We started with a game against Lingfield Notre Dame and were clearly the stronger side, it was
pleasing to see the practice we had done on short corners come to fruition immediately with a fine
strike from Lukas Hill which gave the team more confidence to go on to win 4-1. This good form
continued with an excellent 2-0 victory over King Edward’s School. Our first loss came in the return
fixture against Lingfield Notre Dame, they were able to put out a stronger team this day and we had
a few noticeable absences in our side. We struggled to get the ball wide and suffered from not
taking the chances we created. However, this result did not get the boys down as we went on to win
our next two fixtures (Lanesborough School and King Edwards School). It was particularly pleasing
that we created an excellent team goal against KES; moving the ball forward from defence, passing
out wide to Cameron Scarr who dribbled to the end line and pulled the ball back to Jakob Meli to slot
home. Exactly what we had planned the day before at training! There was also individual excellence
from William Lee who scored that day and a constant presence in the centre of the field from Drew
Oram in both attack and defence.
Unfortunately, we our run of good results did not continue, drawing with Downsend (a fair result)
and losing at Frensham Heights even though we had the majority of possession. We struggled to
finish many opportunities which we created and conceded a breakaway goal against the run of play.
Both Oliver Rivolta and Ben Harman had a couple of excellent performances in goal, Ben kept us in
the game in the Downsend fixture with 2 reflex saves from short range shot. Daniel Rushton was
solid in defence throughout the season with the aid of the 2 Ben Williams’ and Cullum Pilling. We
did, however, finish the season with a hard fought win against Reigate Grammar School, 1-0. Again,
we dominated possession and struggled to find the net but Cameron Scarr popped up with an
excellent finish to secure the win.
Particular mention must go to William Lee for captaining the side excellently and to Cameron Scarr
who has been the most improved player of the season.
Senior Hockey
It has been another excellent season for the Senior Hockey team, who only lost one fixture during
the term. The team played 10 fixtures, winning 7 and drawing 2 with a goal difference of +14. The
team has been captained by Ken Headlam, who has led from the front scoring a number of crucial
goals. The squad of 16 was made up of boys from years 10-13 and included a number of
international students. The season begun in a positive manner with a solid 4-2 win against Christ
Hospital School, with excellent performances from Nico Rance and Lenny Lischke. A narrow loss to
KES Witley unfortunately followed, although later in the season, we played the same team and
inflicted our revenge with a 2-1 win. Other wins against Duke of Kent, Frensham Heights and St
James Boys highlighted the development the team has made during the term. The season finale saw
the team travel to Reigate Grammar School, to play their very capable U15 side, where despite going
ahead twice, the game ended in stalemate at 2-2.
Highlights of the season have included the superb attacking prowess and transitional play between
our two East Grinstead players, Ken Headlam and George Mustchin, who both have a bright hockey
future ahead of them. The goalkeepers Callum Letts and Enno Gramms have been stalwarts in
defence and have been backed up by the ever improving Ed Wilkinson. The team had a number of
players who have only started playing hockey a year ago and credit must go to their commitment
and determination to improve. The prospects for the future looks very good, as we only lose two
players from the side next year and gain a number of talented year 9 pupils.
Thank you to the players for their commitment to the team and to Box Hill School Sport.