On Saturday 11th June and Sunday 12th June Downside took sports teams across the South West for various matches and competitions.
Athletics
On Saturday 11th June we took seven students who, having qualified at the Mendips Open competition in May, were to compete in the Somerset County Athletics competition as part of the Mendips Team. Our youngest, Harry (Third Form) was the first to compete in the 1500m and despite a difficult start, ran a good race. The Intermediate and Senior boys competed in the afternoon across a variety of disciplines including High Jump, Long Jump, Discus, Shot Put, Javelin and 100m. Congratulations to Luke (Fifth Form) and Jamie (Fifth Form) who both took time away from their GCSE revision to compete and came 2nd in their events. Jamie has then been selected to represent Somerset in the Regional Athletics Competition in Exeter for 100m and the Relay Team – we wish him the very best of luck.
Emily Chapman – Head of Netball Development and Academic PE Teacher
Tennis
There was yet another important landmark for the tennis programme this year, as we had a repeat of our Tennis Festival at Clifton College with 120 students from both schools taking to the tennis courts at Abbots Leigh. The day of mixed tennis is quickly becoming a date to look forward to in the Summer Term, with 60 Downside students from Third Form to Upper Sixth representing the School in exemplary fashion. With 28 courts allocated for the fixture, there was plenty of challenge for our students and lots of opportunity to put their hard work into practice. The Director of Tennis at Clifton College and I remarked throughout the afternoon at how great it is that we can facilitate the event, which we have done now for two years, and how we must look to sustain this high interest in tennis. A big thank you to all of those who participated in the fixture, in particular those with examinations at the moment. I am looking forward to you maintaining the high standards you have set, right to the end of term.
Conor O’Rourke – Head of Tennis Development and Lead Coach
Cricket
We had four very enjoyable fixtures vs Warminster School on Saturday. The U18As chased down 138 for the loss of just one wicket. Nick scored a superb 71 not out and was well support by the captain Louis who finished on 49 not out. It was great to see such a complete performance with both bat and ball. The U15s bowled first and had some great moments with the ball, Freddie took a hat-trick which is an exceptional achievement in any form of cricket. Downside also backed up their bowlers well with some great moments in the field taking some brilliant catches from De Pelet and De Abiega Franyutti. Downside put in a good display with the bat but did fall 34 runs short of the 165 run target. Scores of note Pike 25 and De Abiega Franyutti 23 not out. The U14’s had a couple of great performances with the ball with Oscar and Charlie both taking two wickets for 17 runs. Downside battled hard with the bat but did fall short in the end in their quest to chase down a 152. The U13s had a bit of a tougher day after coming up against some experienced cricketers but battled hard for the entire game and without doubt took many positives from it and had a smile on their faces throughout. We now look forward to our last set of Saturday fixtures this weekend against Kings Bruton.
Alex Taylor – Cricket Development Lead and Coach