Category Archives: Report

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KING’S COMEBACK IN FINAL EVENT OF THE YEAR!

Last term, King’s played rivals RGS in the 2022 Superball. For a sports fan who lacks real knowledge of the sport of netball, this was my first experience of the most watched school netball game in the country.

King’s started off slowest in what was an even first quarter with RGS taking the lead by a couple of goals. By the second quarter, shooters Charlotte W,  Tamara M and youngster Maddie W were really starting to find their rhythm in front of the loud Worcester crowd. However, RGS took a 3 goal advantage at the half time interval, 16-13.

After a show of ‘brilliant’ shooting in the half time challenge from some of the U6 boys, King’s resumed their battle with the Grammar. The shooters continued to stay calm under pressure and Captain Emily D was ever present in all the King’s attacks, controlling the midfield for The Dots. RGS continued to lead through their Captain and held onto a 2 goal lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.

All was to play for in the final quarter as the ‘Green Army’ began to tire. King’s continued to battle through Jaz F and Emily D and some great defensive effort from Maggie M and Georgia H kept the RGS shooters at bay allowing the King’s shooters to capitalise, bringing them back level with 30 seconds left. Lower Sixth member Tamara M then sunk a close shot to give King’s the lead and the WIN WITH 5 SECONDS TO GO. The Arena erupted with delight from the Dots supporters and the girls had pulled off one of the biggest and best comebacks in school sport history.

Commiserations go out to RGS as that was a tough way to lose having led the whole game. But in the last big sporting event of the calendar year, King’s took the victory meaning a 2-1 aggregate win for the Dots (the football was a draw so doesn’t count). Congratulations to the girls and it was a great event rounding off a great day and year for the many U6 girls who leave the school at the end of the year. #WorcesterIsBlue

 

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KING’S ‘TRIUMPH’ IN LAST GAME

On a blustery Saturday morning before Christmas, the King’s players traveled to Cheltenham for the last game of the season and for many, the last ever game of their King’s career. However, for a certain U6 player this didn’t quite go to plan as he was ‘removed’ from the field of play early on in the 1s game. On the 2s pitch, the team were having better luck and had scored early through George H and the new Vice-Captain, James P. The 2s continued to dominate the Pates’ team but tries were hard to come by with the dreadful pitch and poor handling not helping our case. Nevertheless, the 2s went into HT with a 10-0 lead as the 1s continued to battle with only 14 men.

On the boggy 2s pitch, King’s continued to struggle to finish off brilliant moves but eventually Pates were breached again through Shrav R. It wasn’t long until Pates got one back but, with the last play of the game, our mighty Vice-Captain James P scored a fantastic solo try to finish off a fantastic season. Sadly, the firsts ended up losing 12-8.

Overall, the season was very positive for both senior teams with the 1s having a great run in the National Plate and the 2s remaining unbeaten at home and only losing 2 games overall. For many players, this was their last season in a King’s rugby shirt but for others they look to take the positives into next year.

The Mighty 2s

Big thanks to overall Head Boss, Mr Mason, Essex’s finest Forwards Coach, Mr Greenall, and of course the Mighty 2s Gaffer, Mr Wilson.

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SUPPORTERS FLOOD 1ST XI HOCKEY VS RGS

After an eventful day of running around from captains Jess W and Charlotte M and the lovely Miss Oliver, King’s were finally allowed a somewhat limited amount of spectators for the game against RGS. The game began on the brand new floodlit RGS and Worcester HC pitches and it was eventful from the off. Both teams seemed to want to let the other team attack but they each had their first looks at scoring in the first quarter. After a bombardment of short corners, one of which resulted in an injury to England youngster Bryony G, RGS finally broke the deadlock just before half-time.

Amy H @chrishamphoto on Instagram

Louisa D-V@chrishamphoto on Instagram

After the interval, King’s continued to battle but struggled to find any real opportunities to hit the back of the RGS net. Good saves from Jaime L and Amy H and brilliant ‘wheels’ from speedster Louisa D-V kept King’s fighting in the third quarter. When the fourth quarter began, King’s looked likely to score against the weary RGS defense. Constant pressure from Milly C, Hannah W and Henny A meant chances were in abundance but King’s still couldn’t find an opening.

Brilliant midfield runs from Charlotte M, Jess W and Lucy W and a great save from Amelia T made King’s look like they could snatch a late one, however their final efforts were in vain and RGS gained the victory. All the players should be really proud of themselves as they showed great heart to keep fighting till the end. This first loss means Kings still hold a 2-1 advantage over RGS in the ‘big games’ with the Super Ball and The Challenge Cup still to come.

Player of the Match- Louisa D-V.

#UPTHEDOTS

The squad

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KING’S DISMANTLE VESEY’S + OSH

After living off the buzz of the derby win for the past week, King’s headed to Birmingham for what was the earliest start of the season. Having had what was a rather lazy warm up, the boys kicked off and the 2s took the lead first through a well worked forwards try. As was becoming normal for this season Charlie L scored, taking his tally to 8 trys in 5 games.

Having some boys stupidly deciding to head to Twickenham instead of playing under His Royal Gafferness, Mr Wilson, this meant some of the 2s members played out of position. The standout fill-in was Sam N at 9 who not only set up Ben W with an outrageous offload but also riled the Vesey’s players and coaches up so much that they used some very ‘pleasant’ language to describe our new scrum-half. Actions speak louder than words, of course, and the King’s 2s dominated the rest of the game and convincingly won 34-0 with added tries from Marcus R, Shrav R, Ed J and Elliot F. The 1s had a much closer game but still ended victorious, winning 26-12 with Mr George T getting another yellow card!

Home, sweet home!

The following week, Kings hosted OSH at the hallowed Slingpool Walk. Both KSW teams looked to continue their winning streaks but alas for one team this wouldn’t be the case. The 2s continued their dominance of all the other sides in the world and started well in the incredible 30mph winds! Three early first-half tries put the Mighty 2s up 17 points to 0 against some rather gobby Swinford fellas. Despite starting the second half into the wind, King’s scored via a sensational Ben W cross-field kick that was touched down by speedster Barnaby T. King’s continued their fantastic form and ended 29-0 victors.

On the First’s pitch, the game was much closer as tempers boiled over between the 2 sides. OSH ended up winning 12-0 but that didn’t reflect the brilliant second half efforts from the Worcester side. Next week the boys face their last game until Christmas before a hard test against Solihull in January.

#UPTHEDOTS

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Playing the Squid Games (Part 1)

If this guy challenges you to a game of ddakji, run!

Whether from a friend or the internet, it’s hard not to have heard of Squid Game. This hit South Korean Netflix drama has been Netflix’s #1 show in 90 countries, as it attracts fans across the world with its insane concept.

In this hit series, 456 ‘players’ are given the chance to earn enough money to pay off all of their debts and live the rest of their lives in luxury by simply playing a set of 6 games with 40 billion Korean won (£30 million) as the cash prize. However, the price of losing is … death.

This year’s King’s Speech writers decided to try out the games ourselves in order to see how we would fare were this nightmare world real.

The first game was ddakji, in which players try to flip an opponent’s paper tile with their own. This game is introduced in the first episode of the series, in which the main character (Gi-hun) is scouted by a man from the Squid Game organisers who then challenges Gi-hun to a game of ddakji.

If Gi-hun is unable to flip his ddakji tile, then he is slapped across the face. If Gi-hun manages to flip the tile, then the man owes him 100,000 won (£60 pounds). This game is used in the series to lure people that are in debt into the idea that they can play more games like this and win a massive cash prize.

Thora playing ddakji. Photo by Magnus.

We played this game in 10 rounds. Grace was the best player, managing to flip the tile in half of her 10 tries. We assigned points to each player according to their rank in the game. These points will go forward to the next round:

Grace: 7
Mary: 6
Magnus: 5 (joint)
Ben: 5 (joint)
Thora: 5 (joint)
Elliot: 5 (joint)
Alfred: 4

Game difficulty: 8/10

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KING’S DO DOUBLE OVER RGS

Cartoon by Elliot 

After Open Morning had come to a close, the 2s embarked upon the long and strenuous trek to the other side of town. Having had a top class warm up, the King’s boys left the RGS boys napping and scored two quick trys through Ollie E and another from Charlie L (who was then picked for the 1st team game later that week). King’s controlled the rest of the first half giving them a comfortable lead going into HT. The massive King’s crowd were loving life.

The second half saw one lapse of judgement, which led to an undeserved Grammar School try, pulling the score back to 12-7. The last 10 minutes were definitely hard to watch for the brilliant King’s supporters as the referee had clearly changed his underwear to green in favour of RGS: 3 yellow cards were issued to King’s in as many minutes. Nevertheless, the boys held out for the win.

Later that week, the big game arrived. Hoping to follow the 2s in victory, the 1s headed to the pristine Sixways Stadium. King’s scored early through a penalty but RGS scored the evening’s first try from an unfortunate and undeserved charge down of a kick. King’s fought back almost instantly and scored through School Monitor, AKA ‘The Giraffe’, Will C. King’s continued to dominate just like the Mighty 2s and a moment of genius and pure athleticism from Captain Alex T gave King’s a comfortable 17-7 lead at HT.

After many fans failed to obtain food from the packed food trucks and bars, the second half began. King’s scored through ‘Baby Rhino’ Jack L but RGS replied with a very similar try. Will W then scored a well worked forwards try before young scrum-half protege George H scored an amazing intercept, much to the delight of his fellow L6 pupils who almost spilled onto the pitch in excitement. The game finished an astounding 39-12, which summed up an amazing performance. Special mention to George T who not only had an amazing performance with the boot but also decided to copy the Mighty 2s in getting a yellow card for some slightly naughty behaviour!

#Worcesterisblue

 

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Robbery at St Joseph’s!

After a splendid school lunch, the First Team Squad dispersed onto two minibuses ready to head to Ipswich. Before we’d even set off, Mr Gillgrass was heard questioning his bus’s top speed as the majority on the squad’s ‘larger blokes’ had ventured onto his bus. However this turned out to be rather ironic as it was Mr Greenall’s bus which experienced a slight issue. Having barely ventured outside of Bromsgrove, the bus’s power was lost and half the squad were left stranded in a field on the side of the M5. The boys were in good spirits nevertheless, and the creativity of many of my fellow squad members led to the creation of ‘Roadside Olympics’.

After a long delay, the second bus eventually arrived at the Premier Inn outside Ipswich. The rest of the evening was spent at a shopping centre where many of the boys obviously lingered in the vicinity of McDonald’s, Nando’s and Ask Italian.

The situation on the M5 roadside.

Saturday morning brought more problems. ‘El Capitan’ Alex T was forced to pull out due to unforeseen circumstances, meaning Head Boy Josh R was pushed into the captain role and young George H was left as the only out-an-out scrum half. Nevertheless, Kings’s tournament kicked off against the hosts St Jo’s later that morning. The boys fought strongly against the opposition, which included a ridiculous drum from the home fans and a few England U18s, and were unlucky to lose 5-0 in the short 25 min game.

The following two games saw rotation implemented as Sunday was the main focus point for the squad as silverware was possible. King’s battled strongly and never gave up against Brighton and Millfield, which the scoreboard didn’t suggest, but credit to the squad as both Millfield and Brighton ended up meeting in the Trophy final where Millfield won narrowly and claimed their 7th St Jo’s festival title.

After a tough day, the players returned to the hotel where ice baths were done and we then returned to Ipswich town centre. This time however, the food options were different. Head Coach and proud Yorkshireman, Mr Mason was over the moon when he saw the Toby Carvery windows pasted with the message, ‘Yorkshires measured to perfection.’ Other squad members ventured into Mexican restaurant, El Chiquito, which their roommates weren’t best pleased about when returning to base.

A photo from the St Jo’s game. (King’s pictured on the left in the white/pink strip)

Sunday was an early start where King’s met Cheltenham College in their first game of 3. The early start didn’t bode well for King’s as we ended up losing 10-5 in the even shorter 20 min game. However, better things were to come as the boys met Eltham College next, who were also yet to win a game. King’s dominated the whole game and finally managed a victory as the game finished 7-0. This left many of the King’s players optimistic of a rematch with the St Jo’s boys. Walking back to the buses, we saw that St Jo’s were in a shootout with QEGS Wakefield, with the Ipswich school coming out victorious.

Onto the last game of the day and of the tournament for both King’s and St Jo’s. King’s started the strongest and scored in the first 10 mins meaning it was 5-0 to King’s at the interval. In the second half, King’s continued their pressure and managed to silence the home supporters. However, towards the end as the boys began to tire, gaps opened up which began to be exploited by the St Jo’s back line. Some great try saving tackles and turnovers from Laurie C and Ben A, just to name a few, kept St Jo’s at bay, but the sustained pressure eventually led to a St Jo’s try that lit up the Ipswich crowd. Full time came and the scores were level. The players wondered around not quite sure what was about to happen until suddenly King’s were told by the referee that they had won due to them scoring first. The boys were elated and celebrations began…

But then suddenly, the St Jo’s coaches (of course!) alerted the ref that he was wrong and we would go to a shootout. (Quick side note: Ever since the tournament started in 1987, finals have always been decided by the first team to score. This year ironically was ‘different’). King’s were angry and confused amongst other things. After a period of waiting, the takers were decided but due to not finishing on the pitch, front-rower Joe C’s chance to show his kicking skills, were scuppered. The shootout finished 5-4 to St Jo’s but the result didn’t matter to Mr Mason and his boys.

Finally, credit to all the boys who took part in the shootout as they showed great courage.

All the games were filmed with commentary and can be watched on the NextGenXV YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/NextGenXV

Pitch 2, Day 2: King’s vs. Cheltenham College and Eltham:

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King’s vs QEH + KES Birmingham

The boys woke up on Saturday, brimming with confidence as they headed down to the fields for what they thought would be a 2.30 KO against QEH. As has been usual for this season, the opposing team turned up late, leading to a delayed start. On the mighty Seconds’ pitch, King’s were the first team to score as Joe W broke through twice to score an early brace on debut. The 2s would finish the first half strong, leading 25-7 at the interval. The 1s were also dominating, taking a commanding lead at HT.

The second half was similarly impressive for both King’s sides: the 1s ended up winning 39-18 and the 2s 39-22. Stand out performers include Oli E, who was called over to the 1s pitch mid-way through the first half and scored within 30 seconds, and ‘The Machine’ Charlie L, who continued his fine form and scored a beautiful brace to become the Senior Teams’ top try scorer. Not bad for a prop!

The famous shirt of the ‘Machine’ Charlie L

The following Wednesday, the 1s headed to Abingdon School and so the 2s had the pleasure of hosting KES Birmingham on the sacred First Team pitch. Due to selection issues, fan favourite Giles H managed to use his ‘charm’ and ‘good looks’ to persuade the Gaffer to give him a full game.

After an inspirational team talk from captain Felix S (and a few words from Giles ‘The Bullet’), the boys scored early through a Ben W cross field kick which was collected by yet another debutant, Ed J. Just before the interval, King’s scored one of the best team tries ever to be scored on the First Team pitch. It started with an outrageous offload from Pete D to his ‘Deadly Duo’ partner, Charlie L who then fed the ball to Cam J who used Mr Wilson and Mr Williams’s handling drills to pick out another fan favourite. Will M. ‘Moorsey’ then showed sublime skills for a prop and put fellow ‘speedstar’ Ed J into the corner for his second of the afternoon. That would leave the score 12-0 at HT.

The second half brought more of the same as King’s continued to dominate. Two more tries from the unstoppable Charlie L and fellow forward Jonah K-C, led King’s to a comfortable 22-7 win. In the huddle after the game, the Gaffer was quoted saying:

I am happy with the result but we still have lots more to improve on after half term as we look to build towards the RGS game

‘The Theatre of Dreams’ AKA Slingpool Walk.

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King’s Rugby vs Sir Thomas Rich’s

Not that gaffer…

On Saturday afternoon, after many of the boys had enjoyed a morning’s work at Open Morning, the 1s and 2s headed on the coach to Gloucester. The players arrived to surprisingly scorching heat and ‘desert-like’ pitches for some, much to the displeasure of the 2s front-row.

Also on the eventful 2s pitch, the mind games had already started as one of the Tommy Rich’s coaches tried to get the Gaffer (Mr Wilson) to start the game after only 5 minutes of warm-up. (Side note, Tommy Rich had been training for hours before!)

Having superbly turned the Tommy coach down, Mr Wilson was also impressed with what he saw early on as his 2s had the brightest start by far. James B finished off Charlie L’s hard work to mean KSW’s 2s took an early 7-0 lead. Over on the soft and lusciously-grassed First Team pitch, the game was certainly living up to the hype as both teams started strong, trading blows but staying scoreless.

The tables were very much to turn. The Sahara heat and hardness was soon to get the better of the 2nd XV as they conceded on the stroke of half-time meaning the game was evenly poised at 7-5 to King’s. Over at the 1s, Tommy Rich had broken the stalemate and taken a half time lead.

Not that El Capitan…

The second half started poorly for both King’s sides but worst for the 2s as they conceded straight from kick-off. Over on the green pitch, the 1s also conceded early putting them 12-0 down. Were comebacks on? For one team, yes. The 2s continued to fight till the end but conceded another try and a penalty which meant they ended up losing 18-7 on their opening match of the season.

However, the 1s scored two trys in the second, meaning the score was level at 12-12 coming into the last 10 minutes. With a matter of minutes left on the clock, El Capitán Alex T knocked over a long range penalty to win the King’s the game.

This meant that not only did the 1st XV continue their unbeaten run, but most importantly one of the travelling King’s teams won, as the U16s and 15s joined the 2s in losing as well.

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My Journalism Virtual Work Experience

During the February half term, I completed  Springpod’s Journalism Virtual Work Experience programme. Springpod is a platform that provides a wide range of virtual work experience opportunities for those who are keen to find out about potential career options.

Over the course of the programme, I had the chance to take an in-depth look at print,  broadcast and photojournalism as well as a variety of roles within the industry. For me, meeting professionals at the live webinars was undoubtedly one of the highlights because I was able to gain a real insight into what life as a journalist is like. Among these professionals was BBC News Presenter Martine Croxall, who shared that she started out in this challenging industry by interviewing a man dressed as a rubber tree!

One of the most memorable things that I will take away from this experience is the awareness that words have the potential to shape the way a topic is viewed by an audience. The importance of impartiality is key in quality journalism and it is essential for a journalist to report the truth as accurately as possible. Although a journalist cannot always guarantee the ‘truth’ of their sources, ensuring that the report of expressed opinions and information is accurate plays a huge role in producing work fit for publications. Whilst journalists produce articles that enable the public to understand and talk about complex, relevant issues, a journalist can also generate negative impacts if failing to stick to accepted ethical principles. This may consequently cause widespread mistrust in the media.

When choosing subject matter as a photojournalist, it is important to tell a story which closely relates and appeals to human emotion surrounding the issues at the heart of the media. Freelance MMA reporter for The Daily Mail Sports Team, Natasha Hooper, highlighted both the benefits and drawbacks to working as a freelance journalist instead of in a full time, contracted position. Despite the lack of security, there are endless opportunities for a freelance writer. You are not tied to one political stance or writing style which a publication relies on you to deliver and you have the ability to work anywhere, on a different job everyday. She also underlined the importance of discovering your niche early and carefully considering why this is exactly what publications should be publishing.

I was required to complete a variety of quizzes and activities including; creating my dream portfolio, writing a climate change article, planning a news schedule/live broadcast, writing a cover letter and action plan as well as choosing my photo of the decade. I learnt that knocking on doors, building contacts, finding work experience and staying curious are invaluable approaches to taking the first steps towards a career in journalism.

My chosen photo of the decade

 

Although I am still unsure about a future career, I would definitely recommend experiences like this and keeping an open mind by getting involved with anything that interests you, should you find yourself in a similar position to myself.