Football
Since September, the boys have played 26 competitive football fixtures against Schools inside and outside of the Chester District in different competitions. Year 9 and Year 10 both played Chester & District 7-a-side competitions at Upton High School but failed to clear the group stages. Year 7 did extremely well and were crowned Chester and District Champions winning every game at Abbeygate and winning a close final 1-0 against Upton High School. Goalkeeper Kelnei Jones didn’t concede a goal and captain Charlie Evans was excellent in midfield. The Year 7 lads did reach the finals of the Year 7 indoor 5-a-side competition but finished in third place. Highlights were Leon Duckers who scored the winner against Kings, and Callum Cooper who made two penalty saves against Christleton. The Year 8 and Year 11 Chester and District 7-a-side tournaments will be played in the New Year.
Girls Year 7 5-a-side
The girls played in the Year 7 indoor 5-a-side tournament held at Christleton on Monday 24th November. We entered 2 teams into the tournament as a lot of girls wanted to take part.
Blacon A
Lillie Woodiwiss
Lacey Buckingham
Taylor Guest
Emily Shrigley
Anais King
Blacon B
Lilly Banks
Chloe Jones
Ashlyn Young
Megan Wightman
Macey Holland
There were 10 teams entered in the tournament which were split into two groups of five members. Within our group, we had Christleton A & B and Heber. Both teams played really well and Blacon A managed to go through to the final round as winners as they won three games and drew one. All players played really well in the tournament with standout performances from Lacey Buckingham and Emily Shrigley (goalkeeper). Blacon B team put up an excellent fight but unfortunately did not get through to the final. Stand-out players were Lilly Banks and Chloe Jones.
The final was held on Monday 8th December at Christleton. The teams involved were Blacon A, Christleton A, Tarporley and Queens. The girls once again played well with outstanding performances from Anais and Lillie Woodiwiss. The girls lost one game and drew the other two but overall a great experience for our young girls’ football team.
In the ESFA National Small Schools Cup competitions Year 8 lost an incredible game; 5-4 in extra time to Bluecoat from Liverpool in extra time with Harry Whitehouse and Joe Thompson as the stand-out performers. Year 9 also lost in round one to a strong Oasis Academy team from Salford despite goals from Liam Davies and Robbie Davies. Year 11 were impressive, winning 3-0 against Howthornes School thanks to goals from Tom Crawford double and skipper Liam Roberts. They beat ESLA 3-1 thanks to Trey Lattie (2) and Lewis Coppack goals in their best ever performance as a school team. Year 11 went onto reach the last 16 of the ESFA cup but lost away in Leeds to Bately Grammar School.
The Year 10 team has started this season successfully well in both the Cheshire cup and ESFA cup. They have gone through four rounds of the national cup and due to play our quarter finals game against The St Lawrence Academy in January. In Round 1 we were awarded a bye due to reaching the final last year, and in Round 2 we played Blue Coat School from Liverpool and we beat them 6-1.
We then played the Kings School and beat them 5-0. In Round 5 we come from behind to win 7-2 against ESLA. In the National Cup, we have scored a total of nineteen goals and conceded only three. We look to reach the final for a second consecutive year. The top scorer in this competition is Kieran Ball with seven goals. In the Cheshire Cup, we are in the last sixteen and have beaten the Birkenhead Academy, Pensby High School and are due to play Oldershaw. In this competition, we have scored ten goals and conceded only three. The top scorer is Kieran Ball with six goals (Year 10 report written by Jake Dean).
Only Year 8 and Year 10 have played round one Chester and District Cup games due to Year 7, Year 9 and Year 11 having byes to the quarter finals due to be played in February. Both Year 8 and Year 10 played Abbeygate College at Blacon High School with Joe Thompson scoring a double in a 4-1 win for Year 8. Year 10 were too strong for Abbeygate and comfortably sealed their place in the quarter finals, meaning all year groups have quarter finals to look forward to in the New Year.
There has been many friendly football matches during the autumn term for all of our boys teams. Against Queen’s Park High School, Year 7 won 11-2, Year 8 drew 3-3 in a great game and Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 all recorded impressive victories. Year 7 and Year 8 both lost to Kings School with lessons to be learnt but Year 10 were impressive with a 3-1 win. Against Catholic High School, Year 9 drew 2-2 due to Jack Lockley rescuing a draw with a late strike but Year 8 lost 4-2 in a game they should have won. Year 9 lost a close game against Upton High School 5-3 and it was a day to forget for our Year 11s who also lost. Against Bishops High School, Year 8 won 7-2 and Year 10 won 3-0 in fantastic team performances. The Year 9 had a game to remember drawing 5-5 in a ten goal thriller but Year 7 lost 7-2 against a very strong Bishops team. Not to be beaten, Year 7 finished autumn off with a win against UCEA 5-2 with Leon Duckers (2), Callum Quinn (2) and Brandon Spilsbury scoring the goals. Year 11 bounced back from their disappointing defeat in Leeds to beat John Summers High School from North Wales 4-2 with Trey Lattie (2), Lewis Coppack and a rare Dwayne Smith goal completing the win.
The following players have been stand out players for their respective teams:
Year 7 – Charlie Evans, Leon Duckers and Mason Picken
Year 8 – Louis Harrison, Joe Thompson and Harry Whitehouse
Year 9 – Charlie Cottis, Marcel Aziamale and Robbie Davies
Year 10 – Brandon Burrows, Kieran Ball, Harley Bennion and Layton Ashford
Year 11 – Tom Crawford, Lewis Coppack and Liam Roberts
Netball
Since September, the girls in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 teams have played competitive friendly matches against Bishops Heber, Bishops High School and Kings School. The girls played some decent Netball and have worked hard in clubs with Mrs Wright and Miss Flynn to perfect their skills. The effort in clubs is paying off with Year 9 and Year 10 recording high quality wins against strong Bishop Heber teams. All teams lost close matches against Kings and Bishops High School but have improved their knowledge and skills as a team and all teams are looking forward to Chester and District Netball tournaments.
The following players have been stand out players for their respective teams:
Year 7 – Taylor Guest, Lillie Woodiwiss and Lacey Buckingham
Year 8 – Chloe Brisbane, Freya Clutton and Hannah Sconce
Year 9 – Alisha Heap, Ellie Challinor and Hollie Burrows
Year 10 – Chloe Carswell, Elisha Cox, Lacey Graham, Amber Sconce, Amber McGrady and Shannon Watson
Year 11 – Kayleigh Spencer and Claire Jones
Basketball
The Year 10/11 boys’ basketball team played five Chester and District league matches, winning two games and losing three games meaning they finished the season in fourth position. In our first league game we beat Queen’s Park High School 39-26 with Trey Lattie the top scorer with twenty six points. The match began at a fast pace with Blacon High and Queen’s Park trading two points to level the first quarter at 8-8. Blacon finished the quarter the stronger of the 2 teams with the score at 12-10 with Number 10 Trey Lattie scoring ten points for Blacon. The second quarter was dominated throughout by Blacon who took a commanding lead 22-12 up. Trey Lattie scored another eight points whilst Lewis Bridges added a further two points. The third quarter saw a strong response from Queen’s Park High who started the quarter with two points from their Number 4 James B. It proved to be the last action James would see during the match as he received his fifth and final foul and was removed from the match. However, it didn’t affect Queen’s Park who won the third quarter by 12 points to 8 leaving the score perfectly poised at 30-24 to Blacon going into the final quarter. However, Blacon took complete control in the final quarter thanks to a brilliant 3-point shot by Liam Roberts. A further six points was added by Trey Lattie whilst Queens Park High could only respond once meaning we comfortably won our first game.
In our second game, we lost 29-16 to a well organised and efficient Kings School Basketball team. The match started at a very even tempo with neither team able to take control of the match with both defences proving difficult to break down. The first half ended 10-8 to Kings High School despite Ty Wright and Trey Lattie scoring impressive baskets. Kings went on to take control of the second half adding a further 19 points whilst proving to be very difficult to break down in zone defence despite some tremendous 3-pointers from MVP Lewis Bridges, leaving the final score at 29-16 to Kings High School.
The team travelled to Bishops Bluecoat to play a tall and physical team who were dangerous on the fast break. The game started at a very high pace with both teams looking dangerous on the attack trading points in the early stages of the game. However, as the game went on, Blacon struggled to find a rhythm going forward and missed several opportunities whilst Bishops took advantage of theirs. Blacon’s cause wasn’t helped with the injury to Trey Lattie which forced the number 10 off the court early in the second half. Despite a late onslaught by Blacon, which saw 8 points scored without reply, Bishops had done enough in the early stages of the game to see the match out and come out eventual winners 33-26.
The team travelled to Upton High School who are a very strong Basketball school and boasted some excellent players. Ty Wright, Trey Lattie and Lewis Bridges scored some excellent baskets but we could contain their impressive offence and lost 69-30. The team were not downbeat as we had chances to score even more points and make the game a lot closer, but lessons were learned.
With the match against Catholic High being the final match of the season, Blacon really wanted to come away with a victory and it showed with Blacon High scoring 4 points within the first twenty seconds of the match courtesy of Trey Lattie. Despite the strong start Catholic High responded well and went on to finish the first quarter 10-4 up. Blacon went on to dominate the second and third quarter of the match with Trey Lattie and Lewis Bridges being highly effective in attack leaving the score perfectly poised at 32-27. The final quarter saw Catholic High press higher and higher putting Blacon under enormous amounts of pressure but due to the immense performance of Blacon’s defence and most notably the MVP Tom Dalton, Blacon held out to record a 33-31 win in the final match of the season.
Badminton
The Year 8/9 boys Badminton team of Marcel Aziamale, Charlie Cottis, Jack Lockley and Joe Thompson competed at the Chester and District Badminton tournament at Bishops Heber School. We played six schools in seeded doubles matches, one game first to fifteen points against Abbeygate, Upton, Bishops Heber, Kings and Christleton. The lads did extremely well playing against some well established club players in competitive matches and it was a good experience to play high level doubles matches. Highlight was Jack and Joe beating Abbeygate and Marcel and Charlie playing a close match against Upton.
Indoor Rowing
The Year 9 and Year 10 girls and boys entered the indoor rowing competition at Queen’s Park High School. The boys were Lochlan Hardy, Jake Sconce, Layton Ashford and Marcel Aziamale, and the girls were Amber Sconce, Chloe Carswell and Ellen Quinn. All took part in individual races against Queens School, Queen’s Park and Catholic High. The boys competed in a team race over 1430m and the girls competed in a team race over 1275m. Both teams enjoyed the experience and found rowing a physical challenge.
Autumn Year 7/8 and 9 Inter form
The PE department have launched termly inter-form competitions for the first time in six years to complement the Whole School Sports Day. Girls and boys are put into the following 4 teams: Europe, Africa, Asia and Americas, and all continents represent the Olympic Rings.
Autumn term inter-form competition was Football for boys and Netball for girls. All tournaments and games were played in good spirits with fair play and respect shown by all students. All teams were mixed and the students enjoyed playing competitive sport. Winners were:
Boys Football Girls Netball
Year 7 – Americas Year 7 – Americas
Year 8 – Americas Year 8 - Africa
Year 9 – Europe Year 9 - Americas
Reward Trips
Girls’ Netball Trip
Manchester Thunderdome to watch Coronation Street vs Emmerdale in support of Text Santa charity Saturday 22nd November
Miss Flynn and Mrs Wright took twelve pupils from Years 7, 9 and 10 to watch the game for a reward. This was for excellent attendance at extra-curricular clubs. The girls enjoyed watching the game and managed to meet some celebrities, get their autographs and also have pictures taken with them. This was a great opportunity for the girls to see netball played at a high standard as professional players also took part in the game from Manchester Thunder and Yorkshire jets.
Boys’ Football Trip
Mr Sabri organised two football PE trips to watch Manchester City play against Roma and CSKA Moscow in the Champions League with Mr Stroyd and Mr Cairns. 54 students attended the trips for their attainment and behaviour in PE and commitment to extra-curricular activities. It was a great opportunity for the lads to watch high level football with world class footballers.
Mr Cairns organised a football PE trip for thirteen Year 7 and Year 8 boys and girls to watch Everton FC vs FC Krasnodar in the Europa League. Again, this was a reward to watch a professional football match for pupils’ attainment and behaviour in PE and commitment to extra-curricular activities.
Touch Rugby Sale Sharks
Organised by Head of Year 8 Mr McDermott and Head of Year 7 Mrs Astley, and with support from the PE Department, Sale Sharks delivered two-hour Touch Rugby sessions to Year 7 and Year 8 to educate and engage all students about this new fast game. Sale Sharks were promoting budgeting and money handling in workshops but the practical sessions were carried out by ex-international rugby players and all students enjoyed learning about the sport.
Level 1 Dodgeball Leadership Course
All of our current Year 10 and 11 students studying GCSE PE undertook the Dodgeball Leaders Level 1 course; a leadership qualification to go towards their GCSE PE leadership marks. The course was held in the gym and it was supported by the Chester SSP who is promoting Dodgeball in Cheshire. Students learnt about structuring and planning skill sessions and how to lead them to groups of people safely and with a learning focus. The students played a competitive Dodgeball tournament to finish the course which was enjoyed by all.
BEV PE Sports Tournaments
Within the BEV, Mr Forbes and Mrs Carr have delivered high quality PE lessons to primary school and we hosted three Year 5 and Year 6 competitions during the Autumn term.
For the first time, in BEV Sports competitions we introduced a boys and girls football tournament. Highfield came out as winners in the girls’ tournament and JH Godwin won in emphatic fashion in all three matches to win the boys tournament. Tag Rugby was the second BEV Sports competition of the year, and it went right down to the final game to decide the winning school and it was St Theresa’s who came out as victors. Our third competition of the year was basketball and there was some fantastic basketball on show with lots of baskets being scored. The winning school was Highfield who were the highest point scoring team in the tournament, and so were more than worthy champions. In the New Year we look forward to delivering new activities across the Blacon Primary Schools getting children ready for our next BEV Sports competition which is Indoor Athletics in January.
We would like to say a big thank you and well done to all our Blacon High School leaders who have officiated and supported not only our BEV Sports competitions, but football fixtures within Blacon Primary schools. Certain leaders have really stood out this term, with Lewis Bridges in Year 9 who officiated ever so confidently in the Basketball competition. Charlie Cottis, Jack Lockley and Marcel Aziamale in Year 9 and Jake Dean in Year 10 have stood out for refereeing football fixtures in Blacon Primary Schools.
Extra-Curricular Clubs
Boys Football clubs on Mondays was popular with all year groups with Mr Sabri and Mr Cairns delivering sessions to lads when teams had no fixtures. Year 7 boys are our regular attenders and have made good progress as a team this term.
Mrs Wright has been delivering weekly Girls’ Climbing club to year 7 and Year 8 girls who are developing climbing skills on challenging climbs and improving leadership skills by belaying and communicating with each other up different routes. Mrs Wright has been coaching Years 7, 8 and 9 girls at a weekly Netball club with players refining skills and playing competitive friendly matches.
Wheelchair Basketball
12 students up to Christmas over 8 weeks have attended Anna Jackson’s Cheshire Phoenix Wheelchair Basketball Club every Wednesday evening. Hannah Sconce, Dylan Howell, Chloe Jones, Taylor Guest and Bobbi Taylor have excelled at this exciting new sport with Anna hoping for some School fixtures in the New Year due to their quality in skills and performance. All twelve students have received Cheshire Phoenix t-shirts and look forward to more Wheelchair Basketball after Christmas.
Girls Community Sports Club
Every Monday evening from 4pm – 5pm, girls have been attending the Girls Community Sports Club delivered by Hannah Dean, Leah Ashley and Emily Wakefield. The girls completed 10 weeks of football with up to twenty girls attending each week. The club is now focusing on netball and will continue after half term. The club has been a huge success by Hannah Dean who is determined and passionate about giving girls the opportunity to engage in different team sports and to help improve performance.