With the half-term break a distant memory, our enthusiastic sporting students have been out and about, mostly in the great outdoors!  Head of PE Miss Sykes gives us the news:

Netball

The last few weeks has seen a steady stream of netball fixtures with all our Key stage three teams in action and a lot of early season success! The fantastic attendance at training night has made picking the teams especially difficult, so a massive well done to everyone who has represented the school and been doing their best competing for places.

Year 7 started their competitive season with a draw against Arden Academy before losing to Lode Heath. Excellent displays all round, but with special mention going to shooters Libby and Catherine for their performances in the goal third. Year 8s took a convincing victory against Lighthall, winning 15-0 in a great team display, whilst our two Year 9 teams have had a range of challenges with 9X taking a heavy defeat to a super strong Arden side (38-8) and brilliant win against Lighthall (10-8) as 9Y dominated from start to finish to convincingly beat Lode Heath 21-9. Well Done Girls!

Football

Despite several matches being cancelled mainly due to heavy rain, most teams have had got some competitive games under their belts in the first part of the season. Well Done to all our footballers who have attended training, trials and competed for the school so far!

The u13 girls side took to some very wet muddy conditions magnificently against Alderbrook School, with a variety of players getting on the scoresheet with fine debuts from some Year 7 and 8 players. The score finished 8-5 to Alderbrook, in what was a great outing for the team with a lot of new faces. A week later many of the same players and some from Year 9 played Arthur Terry School in the West Midlands Cup and were a great credit to the school. The girls eventually lost 7-3 in a fiery, well contested competition, especially in the latter stages. A hat-trick was scored by Eva who put in a great game up front.  Jess stood out at the back for her composure under pressure.

The Year 8 Boys team faced a good team from Lode Heath in the Birmingham Cup, which saw them follow a similar fate to the girls, remaining competitive until the latter stages when the result went against them. The boys lost 3-1 with a stand out performance from Alex.

The Year 10 Team have had a couple of outings which did not go their way either though last week saw a welcome change in fortune. The team put in a sterling display which saw top-quality finishes from Dylan and the boys beat Pegasus Academy 5-0. The team remain our only side in any of the cup competitions, so good luck boys!

The Year 11 boys football team have had a hard start to the year facing some quality opposition which put their character well and truly to the test. The boys lost to convincing winners Tudor Grange in what was a competitive first half. Similarly, The Birmingham Cup the side travelled to North Birmingham Academy where again, despite some solid displays individually the score line ended with little doubt as to who was going through to compete in the next round.

All football will resume with a return of daylight after February half term.

Cross-Country: West Midlands Championships, Sutton Park

On Saturday 19 October, ten of the twenty Heart of England runners who qualified for the West Midlands Schools’ Cross-Country Championships turned out to represent Solihull schools in races varying in length from 3km to 5.5km. All ten athletes gave 100% on an undulating course with the finest runners from across West Midlands battling it out to gain a top 15 spot and a place at the Inter-county schools race in November. Performance of the day went to Freya who finished 4th in what was a wonderful display of cross -country running.  Other notable performances came from Euan at the bottom of his age group and the intermediate boys Tom, Regan and Ben, also racing students a year older. Congratulations are extended to Alfie, Caitlin, Georgia, Kaitlin and Kirsten for their excellent efforts.

Dave Sunderland Schools Inter-county Cross Country Championships

This weekend saw Freya represent West Midlands Schools at the annual Inter-county schools’ fixture, this year staged at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in particularly wet conditions on a testing course. Freya matched her performance in the trials last month to come back 4th scorer for West Midlands and a magnificent 11th place helping the team to overall team victory! The team competed against squads from Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Hereford, Surrey, Merseyside, Cheshire, Cumbria and Shropshire, with West Midlands finishing the day 4th overall after all six races. A Massive Well Done to Freya, and all the best for the second half of the season in January!

Athletics

Following last month’s Street to Stadium Athletics talent ID day at Birmingham University, Twenty athletes were chosen to go forward to receive support from British athletics of which four were Heart of England students! The four athletes: Jake, Abigail, Erin and Lilla are all due to meet up with Paralympian and para athletics ambassador Dean Miller to receive their scholarship supporting their development at a local club. The scholarship is a fantastic achievement and is just the start of an exciting journey ahead!