Sport Round Up - February 2020

In Athletics, the squad travelled to Cardiff for the Welsh Junior Athletics Championships. Lower Sixth Seb C achieved a new personal best of 2.03 metres in high jump as well as Jami S with 1.83 metres and Year 11 Lucy C with 1.58 metres.

Year 11 Amirah W became Welsh Champion with a winning jump of 1.68 metres.

On the track, Year 11 Lucy C won the Under 20s 400 metre event followed closely by Upper Sixth Lucy S in a fine 58.21 seconds. Upper Sixth Harry R won the Under 20 men’s event in an excellent personal best of 52.23.

Lower Sixth Jami S won the 60 metre hurdles in a new personal best of 8.06 before meeting his idol and former world record holder Colin Jackson in his medal ceremony.

Over half term Millfield students competed at the England Athletics Indoor Age Group Championships in Sheffield.

Upper Sixth Amy H took bronze in the Under 20 women’s pole vault equalling her personal best of 3.55m. Year 11 Lucy C ran in the 300m and two races saw her finish 5th in the final.

Lower Sixth Seb C competed in his first ever national championships and qualified for a place in the high jump final. High jumper Year 11 Amirah W jumped herself into silver medal position to win her first medal at national level. Upper Sixth Joe C ran three superb rounds to finish fourth in the 200m. Year 11 hurdler Harry B competed in his first national final and ran a brilliant personal best to finish 7th in the final. Lower Sixth Jami S competed in the under 20 category finishing 5th in his hurdles and 7th in the long jump.

In Badminton, Millfield hosted the Festival of Badminton which saw 41 games played and a number of students play their first matches and work as officials.

In Cricket, Year 9 Dominic K is continuing his cricket exchange in South Africa with St Stithians College, he scored his maiden century at the weekend in St Stithians’ win vs Parktown U15s.

Pupils from St Dunstan’s School in Glastonbury are coming in and being coached in the new Indoor Centre by the Millfield Sixth Form MAP Cricketers.

Millfield are hosting ECB Stage one Coaching Courses in March/April. We currently have eight Sixth Form pupils and a number of staff signed up to attend.

During half term, seven pupils travelled to Cape Town, Mumbai and Delhi respectively to attend training camps or head on County Age Group overseas tours with Gloucestershire Girls U15’s, the Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy, Somerset Academy and Somerset U15 boys’ teams.

Millfield is teaming up with England Test Captain Joe Root and the “R66T Academy” in an exclusive deal which will bring the world-class cricket programme to Millfield cricketers. The partnership creates the opportunity for young players to attend the R66T academy at Millfield for courses during the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays. There will be more information on this soon.

In Dance, our coaches enjoyed an inspiring two days at Rambert Dance School learning performance pieces for Rambert grades ready to bring back to the Millfield studio.

In Fencing, coach Antonia Cord has been selected for the UK coaching programme, designed to help coaches maximise their full potential.

In Girls’ Football, History was made in girls’ football as the first team qualify for the semi-finals of the English Schools’ Football Association U18s cup after winning their match against Cardinal Newman School on the Sir Gareth Edwards pitch this week.

Sports intern Andrew Head completed his FA Level 2 Coaching qualification.

Lower Sixth Millie Q gained her second cap whilst representing the Independent Schools Football Association for England in Edinburgh against Scotland.

In Golf, Year 10 Harriet L travelled to Portugal with the Welsh Elite performance girls’ team for winter training.

The Annual Millfield & Desert Springs European Schools Team Tournament 2020 was once again a success. Six schools with 63 pupils took part. Year 11 Alex C won the Individual Stableford on the final day and in doing so, helped her teammates of Year 11 Jo C, Year 9 Maddy B and Year 12 Oscar E to finish joint third in the Team championships. Year 13 William O’H returned a gross 72 (+1) to finish 3rd in the Individual on the final day.

The Millfield Team of Year 10 Harriet L, Year 10 Freddie T and Year 12 Tom G won the Regional Finals of the ISGA and qualify for the National Finals at the end of April at Formby.

In Hockey, Millfield’s boys’ U16 team won round 3 of the England Hockey Tier one cup, they are one game away from the National Quarter Finals.

The boys’ U14 qualified for the regional preliminaries.

Lower Sixth Julia S and Lower Sixth Kitty C have been selected for the England Hockey selections for test matches against Ireland at Lilleshall.

In Netball, our 1st and U15 teams have qualified for the semi-finals of the Smile Netball Cup (Independent Schools National Netball Cup.

Lower Sixth Olivia R has had a double selection for the U19 Swiss National Team and U17 Team Bath NPL squad.

In Pentathlon, Millfield hosted the Pentathlon GB Youth programme, a three-day programme which saw 16 young athletes attend over half term.

In Rugby, Upper Sixth Callaghan S has played for Bristol Bears U18 in the Premiership Academy League, even rushing back to school from one game to play the second half of our final school match on the same day! Upper Sixth Archie F has been selected for Independent Schools Lambs team having played for them as an U13 Moulsford Prep School pupil he has now played for them at senior level.

Current Millfield pupils have represented the following academies this season - Bath, Bristol, Harlequins, Saracens, Ospreys and London Irish. A great reflection of our diverse rugby programme.

Girls’ rugby is growing every week at Millfield. This term the Senior U18 team has played fixtures against Kings of Wessex school and Coleg Cymcoedd, this team will represent Millfield at the Rosslyn Park National Sevens Tournament at the end of March.

Upper Sixth Dan J has represented Wales in the U20 Six Nations against Italy and Ireland. In the Ireland fixture he played opposite OM Oran McNulty.

In Skiing, the Millfield race team of four skiers competed at the British Schoolboys Races in Wengen, Switzerland. Upper Sixth Thomas H was awarded the BASI Trophy, for the racer who best encapsulates the spirit of skiing.

Year 9 Harry B and Year 10 George B competed at the English Ski Champs Children’s Races during half term. Both brothers raced in slalom, Super G and Giant Slalom in their respective age groups, finishing 7th overall, they are positioned in the top 5 in U14 and U16 respectively. They will race next in April at the British Championships in Tignes, France.

Year 9 Amelie H won the French Junior U15 Girls’ Open Superseries, an excellent achievement against the best players in Europe.

In Swimming, Millfield hosted the first live parents’ workshop of 2020 which included sport psychology and effective nutrition, hosted by the Millfield swim coaching team.

Millfield took part in the Somerset ASA championships where Millfield students took home 31 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze medals across ten events.

Swimmer Year 9 Adam G raised over $10,000 Australian dollars to support three charities responding to the Australian wildfires. Read more.

Sixth Form swimmers Sophia, Rachel and Will represented Swim England in Nice in February. The annual meet gives top junior swimmers invaluable experience, testing themselves against the best in France and the world.

Millfield’s lead swimming coach Rachel Aldington has been selected for the UK coaching programme, designed to help coaches maximise their full potential.

In Tennis, doubles pairing Upper Sixth Annabelle and Alexa have both signed for two division one US universities. Annabelle will be attending the University of North Florida and Alexa will be studying at Presbyterian College in South Carolina.

Millfield Senior Performance Coach Nick Jones supported Team GB Girls’ U12 tennis team to victory at the Tennis Europe Winter Cup over half term. Nick is planning to bring his experiences to Millfield by helping to create a fun developmental environment both on and off the court. Read more.