Surrey Youth Games 2007 - results

Woking joined in the celebrations of the 11th Surrey Youth Games with a number of very impressive performances as over 200 Woking youngsters took part in the Olympic style competition.

All eleven Surrey boroughs took part in the county wide sporting spectacle which took part in Guildford on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June. Two hundred children represented Woking in nine different sports including athletics, badminton, boccia, basketball, football, hockey, judo, netball and fencing.

For many of the competitor´s this was their first experience of competition on such a grand scale and this was shown by the varied results of the Woking team.  Many of the teams still managed to finish in medal positions within their respective sport, winning three gold´s, three silvers and two bronze medals.

• GOLD - Girls´ Junior Judo, Girl´s Senior Judo and Girl´s Hockey
• SILVER - Athletics, Senior Boccia and Junior Netball
• BRONZE - Junior and Senior Badminton

The performance of all the teams contributed to Woking´s final position however, unfortunately, late withdrawals of two of Woking´s teams resulted in the Borough being penalised points and therefore dropping to joint eighth place. The penalty was unfortunate on all the participants who all competed so well. Despite the finishing position, the Games provided every child with an enjoyable sporting experience with hopefully many of the children going on to join local clubs.

The Surrey Youth Games provides children with a great experience of taking part and competing in a new sport.  As a result of the training in the build up to the Games, the children have had a taste of what being part of a club is all about and hopefully many will continue their interest by joining local clubs which will develop their skills further.

Event	Placing	Points
Athletics Mixed	2nd	10
Badminton Juniors	4th	8
Badminton Seniors	4th	8
Boy's Basketball	9th	3
Girl's Basketball	2nd	N/A
Boccia Juniors	5th	7
Boccia Seniors	2nd	10
Disability Football	5th	7
Hockey Juniors	8th	4
Hockey Girl's Seniors	1st	11
Judo Junior Boy's	9th	3
Judo Junior Girl's	1st	11
Judo Senior Boy's	10th	2
Judo Senior Girl's	1st	11
Netball Juniors	2nd	10
Netball Seniors	7th	5

Athletics:

The athletics event was a big success on a very mixed day for weather for both athletes and spectators alike.  The years 5 & 6 team finished in 2nd place overall just narrowly being beaten by Surrey Heath.  The squad had trained hard in the weeks leading up to the competition learning about each of the different events and gaining valuable free coaching from the experienced coaches from Woking Athletic Club.  There were many great performances and the team picked up 6 first places and 4 second places during the competition.  The results are testament to the facility managed by Woking Athletic Club in Sheerwater and the excellent work from all of the coaches involved throughout the training including Sam Colgate, Craig Holder, Les Calder, Barbara Hourhan and Olia Inak-Price.  The team consisted of:

Senior Badminton:

The Senior team got off to a great start by beating Guildford 3-2, with some very close games. Pranav Agrawal and Natasha Graham both winning their singles, Sean Robbings and Chris Bryan just missed out on their doubles game 21 - 19. Yasmine Yusuf and Paige Kennard fought hard but lost 21 -15, followed by Rishi Agrawal and Felicity Gallop with a strong desire to win, played a brilliant game of very long rallies and won 21 - 18! Our other team players, Sarinda Wijetunge and Georgia Beech took part in our next match against Tandridge, again winning 3-2. We went on to win against Elmbridge 3-2, Runnymede 3-2 and Surrey Heath 4-1, which put us through to the semi-finals! We came up against some tough opposition in this round and lost to Spelthorne 2-3. That put us in the play-off for 3/4 place, competing with our old rivals, Guildford again! Unfortunately, even though the team battled well, we lost the match 2-3, which put us in 4th place and enough to get us a medal!! The team managers, Ken and Sue Nurse, were absolutely delighted with their team´s efforts both in training leading up to the games and their achievements on the day. All of the players were so supportive of each other; it was a great atmosphere and a pleasure to coach!

Every team member improved throughout the day´s play, but a special mention should go to Sarinda for great determination and coming back to win his singles and also Georgia, who only started playing badminton recently, for giving 110% and winning her first singles match! Well done team!!!

Team report from Sue Nurse (Badminton Coach)

Junior Badminton:

The Junior team consisted of Douglas Paterson, Jack Popplewell, Luke Gauntlet, Edward Whorwood, Alex McColl, Zehra Palejwala, Emily Edser, Jessica Preston, Jessica Boyd and Sarah Aitchison.

We played 4 matches in our group, the first against Surrey Heath. There were some very close games with all of the players giving their best but we lost that 4 - 2. The team came out fighting against Epsom and Ewell and won 5 - 1, 4 of the games finished 21 - 19 or 21 - 20! Our next match was against Guildford/Waverley which we lost 4 - 2, but with a difference of 4 points, so again, very close. We went on to win the last match of the group 6 - 0, with Douglas and Jack winning their singles 21 - 20!!  Our last match of the competition was against Mole Valley for 5th/6th place.  The team had improved so much during the day and they definitely enjoyed their success, that they won the match 7 - 0! It was agreed to add a 7th game so that all the players could take part in the final match and Alex and Sarah finished off with a 21- 20 win!!! We took 5th place!

Team managers Chris Thompson and Sue Nurse were very impressed with the player´s commitment to training leading up to the Games and their performance on the day was outstanding. They were so enthusiastic for the whole day, even during the long waits between games. They supported each other and cheered on the Woking team all day! We cannot comment on any one player that improved more than anyone else, they were all brilliant, but I will mention that Zehra won all of her games, only giving away 10 points in her last game. Exceptional play, well done to the Woking team!!

Team report from Sue Nurse (Badminton Coach)

Boy's Basketball:

The Woking team were ever the underdogs, lacking in height and experience but not in the ability to see and exploit opportunities during the game.

Although we physically were smaller than the other teams we definitely gave them a run for their money, surprising some to the point where they called a time-out and changed tactics. We played very much as a team and although some guys had only been playing together for 3 weeks, this was not evident on the day. Special mention to Rob Hollinshead, Tanya Ndongwe and Chris Pegg from Winston Churchill, new to training with the Woking Blackhawk´s and worked well as a unit on the day, they definitely could earn places in the Blackhawk´s squad if they join the club next season. The Blackhawk´s usual suspects also did well especially James Allen who I'm sure led the tournament in steals and defensive plays. It was an enjoyable day for all and a great opportunity for non club players to get a taste of what basketball in Surrey has to offer.

Team report from Emeka Okorocha (Boys Basketball coach)

Anyone who is interested in playing Basketball should contact the Woking Blackhawk´s via the website http://www.wokingblackhawks.co.uk, they are always looking for both boys and girls from age 12 to senior to join their club.

Girl's Basketball:

Success was achieved by getting back in defence to pick up the silver medal position. Woking & Guildford girls had less than 10 players therefore needed to make up a deficit of 5 points per game. 

The girl´s came out fighting and the whole team put a lot of effort into each of their matches. Welcoming two girls from Guildford (Imogen Power and Sophie Davies) together with the rest of the team Jessica Lawrence, Zoe Cooke, Charlie Slawny, Charlie Rousell, Sam Betts, Laura Cox and Hannah Jarvis first finished off a win against Mole Valley. With tougher games against Runnymede and Elmbridge they rose to the challenge beating both with a final win over old rivals Spelthorne. However, a thorn in the side was the 5 point deficit which enabled Runnymede to steal the cup with a better point´s difference by 25. Good performances by everyone with only letting in 9 baskets over the whole tournament. Jessica scoring just over 50% of the total of 60 points over all the games was the MVP, but detailed statistics would have shown that many of the players contributed tremendously with steals, rebounds and assists to make this happen. Well done everyone.

Team report from Keith Jarvis

Boccia:

Led by the enthusiastic members of staff from The Park School and co-ordinated by Liz Morely and Jan Page, the Boccia teams thoroughly enjoyed their day and had some excellent matches winning one game 6 - 0.  The standard of competition and sportsmanship was very high. Throughout the competition the team congratulated and supported not only their own team but also all of their opponents to show some superb sporting behaviour. They will continue to play throughout the year at the school and may play some matches next year against some of the teams they met at this year´s event.

Fencing:

Woking Fencing Club fielded a very young and inexperienced team who were all competing outside the club for the first time.  Duncan Robinson, Michael Gormley, Ashley Kendal and Reuben Wilde fenced from 10.30am until 4pm with a few short breaks and demonstrated an impressive competitive attitude coupled with great team spirit.  Without exception their coaches were proud of them all and impressed with their 3rd place seeding after the qualifying rounds.  They eventually finished 4th losing 45 - 44 to Reigate and Banstead B Team having trailed behind by at least 5 hits for most of the match.  We are all looking forward to next year when their results may contribute to Woking's final tally and when they may get an opportunity to further improve their experience of team competition.

Anyone who would like to try fencing should contact Woking fencing Club (based at Woking Leisure Centre) http://www.wokingfencingclub.co.uk

Team report from Sandra Rowles (Fencing Coach)

Boy's MLD Football Team:

The Boys MLD Football team was also selected from The Park School, thanks to the on-going support of the school and Liz Morely.  There was some excellent play from all of the boys and they came against some experienced opposition.  They finished in 5th place in a very tough competition but hopefully the boys came away enjoying the day despite the miserable weather.

Junior Hockey:

The Team Drew 1 and lost 2 of their pool games. The team was naturally disappointed in not qualifying for the later stages but despite the results the whole team enjoyed the experience.
 
The team played some of the best passing hockey in the group and was unlucky in all 3 of their matches. They often dominated long periods of play and used all their team members with the enthusiasm levels remained constant despite the results. This was a brilliant achievement considering the team had only 6 hours total training, and only 3 hours training together in their age group. Whilst creating but missing many chances in every game, the team never let their heads drop and never complained at anyone for making a mistake. The way they played will benefit them as they progress through the age groups.
 
In the first 2 games the scores remained level for a long time, then as Woking pushed for the winner, a couple of counter attack goals went against them and they ended up losing 3-0 and 1-0.

The final game again was a one way encounter but, unable to find the back of the net, Woking ended up drawing 0-0.
 
Thanks must go to the players for continuing to support each other and still trying, whilst at the same time having a lot of fun in the process. Extra thanks must also go to Hannah Davidson for assisting in both training exercises and helping out on the day, showing maturity beyond her years.
Team report from Craig Fruin (U11 Team Coach)

Girl's Senior Hockey:

Congratulations to the competition winners for their age group Woking Borough Girls Seniors U14 (school years 7, 8, 9).  Having played Elmbridge, Spelthorne, Reigate & Banstead and finally Guildford the score lines reflected 2 wins, 2 draws with 7 goals for and 3 goals against.  This is some achievement with only six hours of group training leading up to the competition held at the Varsity Centre Guildford on Sunday 24th June.  Despite the fact this years team did not have a natural out and out goal keeper to control play at the back Laura, Caroline and Megan maturely shared this responsibility while collectively the team produced quality team performances via hard graft.

The team consisted of Rachel Pryke, Caroline Heisig, Hayley Blythe, Kate Davidson, Katie de La Rosa, Amy Allcock, Saskia Ruys, Megan Smith and Laura Jarvis.  All of whom successfully topped pool A.  As the competition progressed the team started to believe in their abilities and not only were goals scored but with confidence from various angels and heights.  This must have provided the players with a positive attitude helping them to a marginal win over Waverley in the semi final.  It paid off to practice pushing the ball from the half line to the goal giving the team the ticket to the final.

The final against Runnymede proved to be a hard fought match with hair raising opportunities at both ends of the pitch.  The more experienced players calmly kept their heads and managed to keep the opposition at bay while securing their well deserved victory.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome any new player from 5 years to Woking Hockey Club.  To learn more details regards joining the club or to hear about the many new hockey/sport initiatives such as school holiday hockey camps please contact Jo Murphy Business Development Officer 07766 525298 jo.whc@btinternet.com www.wokinghc.com

Judo Teams:

The Woking Judo team also had some excellent individual and team results, finally coming away with two 1st place trophies in both of the Girls Competitions.  The Junior and Senior boys Judo teams came 9th and 10th place respectively with a third place in the under 30 kilo category.

Team Members included:

Elizabeth Jamieson, Francesa Giles, Alison Alexander, Lucy Maurer. Katharine Brockman, Amber Godden, Gabriella Giles, Catherine Jamieson, Jade Ledingham, Hannah Pegram, Claire Benktander, Emily Cole, Rebecca Giles, Fabio Aurlemma, Martin Woodhams, Cesar Falco, Tom Reed, James Dillon, Ben Ridler, Kingsley Earl, Oliver Noakes, Rhys Evans, Daniel Punter, Lawrence Barrott, Alex King

Once again we would like to thank Graham Hoptroff and his team of coaches from Pyrford Judo Club for their brilliant organisation and continuous enthusiasm in promoting Judo to young people within the Borough.

Netball Teams:

The Junior team were coached by Sarah Thornton-Pickering from Horsell Hotshots and Hoebridge School.  The Hotshots are a relatively new team but they are quickly becoming established as a good club in the Borough.  The girls played extremely well throughout the competition winning every one of their group games with some excellent flowing netball which was great to watch.  The team were only beaten in the final and picked up silver medals for their excellent play.

The Senior team found the level of competition very tough in an extremely competitive tournament, playing against some very experienced club level players.  However the girls enjoyed their day and finished in 7th place overall.