Brentwoodian 2019

48 U13 D It has been a wonderful experience playing for the U13D team and for the School, although in the D team, we have learnt many new skills in the whole year, for example, learning how to play 11-a-side instead of our usual 7-a-side. One of the highlighted games was when we were against Dame Alice Owen’s School and half of the D team merged with the C team and we were against the opposition B team. We won 3-1 while it was pouring with rain, but we had a great experience as it was one of our wins in the first season. Hockey is one of the many sports that requires teamwork and cooperation, which has made all of our players work together and I think it is terrific that if the whole team cannot play one match, the next would be made up of the people who did not play the last, giving everyone the opportunity to play in the team and, most importantly, represent Brentwood. Our coaches Miss Hunter and Miss Panteli, are so hardworking and fun and they always support us; we wouldn’t be such great hockey players without them and they have always been with us whether it’s rain or shine. They have always made training fun and innovative, for example, bringing some of the old Second Year A/B team to show different methods of dribbling and different ways to score goals. We cannot also forget the precise tips on how to improve the way we play hockey from Miss Hunter and Miss Panteli themselves. We have had many great saves from Hope Striebig and Edie Bateman (both goalies) and obviously from our defenders Divya Barik, Tallulah Mootoo, Emily Pheby, Carissa Lee and Grace Sullivan. We also had many goals from our attackers and midfielders including Grace Boulton, Isabella Alder, Sophie Breathwick, Elaine Huen, Isabella Codling, Mobolu Olowoyeye and Danielle Olaiya. We never really have set teams as we sometimes swap players from D to C or C to D so that all the players could get a different experience of game play. The whole team has improved from the start of the year and where we are now also learning new techniques along the way. I am very proud of the dedication and the improvement the team has shown throughout the year. Thank you to all the girls in the D team who have played and contributed to the team’s success. By Elaine Huen & Emily Pheby U12 A The U12A hockey team has had a very successful year participating in matches and tournaments. We have played 11 matches throughout the season, winning 5, drawing 2 and losing 4. Some highlights were Coopers’ (4-2), Chelmsford County High (3-1) and Bancroft’s (4-3). We have played 3 challenging tournaments overall, one in particular, the Essex cup, which took us to the East regionals. We all played very well and just missed qualifying for the National finals. The first match we played as a team was against Sevenoaks School; it was a very memorable game as we lost 0-7; we had not even played as a team yet so we didn’t know our game plan and everyone had different ways of looking at the game. However in the next month we faced them again in a tournament only losing 1-2! This shows how much effort our team puts in for training and how determined we are to keep trying. One thing that we will always remember was the match against Forest School where we won 5-2. This was due to Amber Penman’s amazing saves, Sophie Cooke’s determination to get the ball, by tackling the centre forward before the whistle had blown, Florence Willett and Katherine Hak for their great tackling, Sophia Mitchell and Sienna Snodgrass for their strong defence, Zoe Smithers for her fast sprints down the wing, Amelia Dinning for her shots at goal and Evie Harris for her goals and great play on the pitch. Everyone in the team has earned their place as each has a skill which puts our team together. Over the season we have connected well as a team and have communicated well throughout all of our games. The team can easily adapt to the game. Everybody has improved so much from the beginning of the year; this is because of our amazing coach, Mrs Lazenby, who has taught us all so well and her determination and commitment is what every team needs. This season has been a wonderful experience and we hope that it will continue for our next year in hockey and through Brentwood School. By Jessica Philpot & Olivia Mitchell