As always, it’s all go in the Sports Department and CHS’s active young athletes have seen a lot of action this term; here’s an autumnal news round-up of the headlines so far…
16 December 2020
England Spin Bowler helps CHS Cricketers
Former England and Lancashire Spin Bowler, Stephen Parry, came to CHS for a couple of Saturday mornings before Christmas to help CHS’s spin-wizards! The School’s U13 and U16 age groups have a number of talented bowlers who have represented Cheshire or Lancashire and they looked forward to picking up tips from a player with experience at the highest level.
CHS 1st XI Coach and former teammate of Parry’s at Lancashire, Mr Brown said: “It was great to have Stephen at CHS running two specialist spin sessions with some of our Year 8 and 11 cricketers. They were able to work on specific technical aspects of bowling that will help them spin the ball and become more consistent. I’m sure the skills learned during the sessions will inspire our pupils to work hard during the Winter months and produce some match winning performances during the Summer.”
27 November 2020
Staff Never Stop Learning
CHS Director of Sport, Mr Higgins, met with England Netball’s Performance Pathway Coach Developer, Sarah Green, to share ideas and good practice this week. He explained: “It’s great to talk to people who recognise the strength of our Netball programme and we’re continuing to look at ways to further enhance opportunities for our students.”
Following the theme of CHS staff continuing to work on themselves and strive for becoming even better, Mr Clinton spent much of this week participating in the ECB’s Specialist Coach Programme. He said: “We covered some exciting topics supported by the latest research including Talent ID, Development Frameworks and Performance Analysis. Ultimately it reaffirms our job is to keep as many children enjoying the game for as long as possible.”
20 November 2020
Sixth Form Sharks!
Lower Sixth students Charlie Mallinder and Henry Harper have both been selected for the Sale Sharks U18 Academy.
CHS Athletes join University Sports Scheme
Upper Sixth students Lucy Roberts and Henry Harper have been accepted onto the Junior Talented Athletic Scheme (JTAS) at Staffordshire University in partnership with CHS. Further enhancing the academic and high-performance opportunities for our School’s atheletes, the programme enables students to receive support and guidance in their academic and sporting commitments with a route into professional sport.
11 November 2020
England Hockey Success
Will Grant (Year 10) and Felix Tully (Year 12) have both been selected for the next round of the England Hockey trials. Head of Hockey Mr Ray-Hills said: “It’s fantastic to get through to this stage of the process and to put themselves against the best age group players in the country.”
4 November 2020
CHS Girls at Manchester Thunder!
11 CHS girls were selected for the Manchester Thunder netball squads after attending trials over half-term. Girls ranged from Year 7 to Year 12 and Director of Sport Mr Higgins said: “It’s a tribute to the hard work and commitment of the girls and the expert coaching they receive inside and outside of school.”
Cricket Practice Gains Momentum
Following a successful first half-term of cricket for the Year 7 and Year 8 girls, the boys started their own preparations for 2021 this week. The Year 8 boys got together and looked at how physical literacy links with cricket. “If children develop their movement skills at a young age, it’ll help all their activities as well as their fielding prowess!” explained Mr Clinton.
16 October 2020
100+ Year 7 Hockey Players!
Clark won the Year 7 inter-house Hockey tournament before half-term. Head of Hockey Mr Ray-Hills enthused:“It’s fantastic to see so many students playing and enjoying Hockey on a Saturday morning. It was impressive to see the students transfer the skills learned in Games lessons to a more competitive environment.”
Netball & Hockey’s Christmas Cup
Preparations are complete and the prestigious Christmas Cup has begun. These intra-school fixtures will take place across Years 7 – Year 11 across both Netball and Hockey. Head of Netball Miss Thomas proclaimed: “It’s a great opportunity for everybody to get involved and showcase their talents. There’s a lot of competition between the four teams, of which the Thomas’ Tornados are the current favourites!”
9 October 2020
The Casson Cup
The whole Senior School have kicked off the new Casson Cup. Named after Old Waconian Oliver Casson, Class of 2020, this competition features competitive intra-year Rugby fixtures, with results aggregated across year groups to provide a single winning team. There has never been more to play for!
EPP Cricketer
Year 8 cricketer Liam Grindlay has been selected as one of 7 players from the whole County for the Cheshire Emerging Player Programme (EPP). This follows his impressive form over the Summer holidays as he averaged 72 runs across 6 fixtures for the school u12-15 teams.
Staff Education
Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach Miss Calderbank demonstrated an outstanding desire to keep learning as she has achieved a Distinction for her Masters Degree. Miss Calderbank leads the way for a number of the PE & Games department who continue to study alongside their work.
