This season has seen a wealth of growth, opportunity and excitement within lacrosse at St Helen’s.
Overall, we have played competitive block fixtures against Berkhamsted, Queen Anne’s, Cheltenham Ladies College, Godolphin and Stowe. With each fixture weekend bringing a new challenge to test our skills and develop our team cohesion, the HelKats have brought the fire to the field. A special mention goes to the U12s, U13s, U15As and the 2nds for winning the majority of their games so far!
A particular highlight of the term has been the annual senior matches against Radley College and the first-ever mixed lacrosse school match combined with Radley College versus Cheltenham Lacrosse Club. Hear what our captains have to say about each experience:
On Sunday we had the first mixed match with Radley against Cheltenham Lacrosse Club. Although it was a challenge to play with people who we had never played with before, this didn’t faze us and we took on the match with lots of energy and determination. We started off strongly by scoring the first goal which was just two minutes after the whistle went. This further motivated us to keep the energy and vibes high. In the second quarter, we had some goals conceded against us which was not helped by the gloomy weather and having to give the opposition some of our own players. Regardless of this, we kept the morale high and had some great tactical plays. We began the second half with renewed energy from the RadKats. As the game progressed, we became more fluid with our skills and played in better unity as we got to know how each other played. The persistence with the loud defensive vocals paid off as we managed to turn over the ball and covert these to fast goals on numerous occasions. The match concluded with a 7-7 draw, which was an amazing result for a first mixed match as RadKats. Hopefully, we will continue to have a few more matches and more success.
Kitty S, Upper Sixth (Sports Captain)
On a Tuesday evening this term, the 1sts and 2nds headed to Radley for our annual fixture against the boys. The 1sts had a strong start scoring two goals within the first five minutes. Even though it was a very physical game with Verity on the floor several times, we managed to stay strong and composed and pulled together some tactical goals. At half-time, the score was 5-4 to Radley and after a motivational pep talk, we came out with more energy which translated to some great team goals from our midfield and straight attack. Despite our unity as a team and some amazing play, the final score was 9-7 to Radley. Nevertheless, it was a really fun match which was super close and competitive.
Katie F, Upper Sixth (Lacrosse Captain)
On the tournament front, St Helen’s went to the South West Rally at St Swithun’s in October. The 1sts narrowly lost out on the quarter-final by a single goal scored by Godolphin in the last three seconds of the game and the 2nds put in a good fight in their group stages. However, it was the 3rds who came out victorious by winning division 1 of the 2nd team part of the competition! Whilst our senior squads are looking to make their mark in the upcoming Five School’s tournament and Senior Top Test, we wish the best of luck to the U12-U15s who will soon be competing in their own South West Rally competition.
When not playing fixtures at the weekends, we have had the privilege of learning key skills from Iona Dryden (GB and Wales Lacrosse), James Lloyd (Wales Lacrosse) and Zoe Lovibond (England Lacrosse). The players have enjoyed developing their tactical awareness and pushing their technical capabilities in a range of fun games and drills, such as fast breaks, partnerships and shooting. Our U14s and U15s have also enjoyed developing their game by taking part in the Supercounties tournament to be scouted for Regional team trials. We had a record number of girls playing in the tournament (20 out of the 60 who attended!).
Player Spotlight News: Congratulations to the following students on their acceptance onto national team pathways this season: Kitty S, Upper Sixth (England National Academy), Freya H, Lower Sixth (England National Academy), Verity L, Upper Sixth (Wales Dragon Academy) and Olivia M, Upper Sixth (Scotland U20 performance squad).
Miss Walters, Head of Lacrosse
