St Mary’s School in Cambridge celebrates success on netball court and hockey pitch

St Mary’s School in Cambridge has been celebrating two sporting triumphs in recent weeks.

The school’s under-18 hockey team were crowned county champions on September 20, which came on the back of netball success in the Girls School Association Senior Tournament.

In the hockey, St Mary’s played a host of other teams from across Cambridgeshire, starting at King’s Ely where they defeated the hosts and Wisbech Grammar – both 5-0.

They then recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Saffron Walden in the semi-final at Ely City Hockey Club before beating Wisbech again – this time 3-0 in the final – to get their hands on the trophy.

The team will now advance through to the regional rounds of the competition, which will be played against schools from neighbouring counties on November 10.

Meanwhile, on the netball court St Mary’s chalked up five straight wins to be crowned champions.

The started with an 18-13 win at the expense of Notting Hill and Ealing A before overcoming Francis Holland (17-9), Queen’s College London (17-0), Sydenham (12-10) and Notting Hill and Ealing B (13-11).

The triumphant team also got to take part in a question and answer session with England netball player Beth Cobden.

Louise Powell, who is the director of sport at St Mary’s School, said: “At St Mary’s our ‘sport for all’ mantra ensures that each of our girls has the opportunity to take part in physical activities that are of huge benefit to their physical fitness and mental health.

“Sports participation at a young age is vital and teaches young people valuable life lessons relating to leadership, motivation, teamwork and respect. At St Mary’s we recently completed the final element of our state-of-the-art sports ground at Long Road, which features 3G rubgy and football pitches, artificial all-weather pitches for hockey, netball and tennis courts, athletics facilities, a grass pitch for football and athletics, as well as cricket nets.

“The ambitious development has propelled our sports provision to the next level and provides a fantastic place to train for competitive competitions such as these.

“A huge congratulations to both winning teams, who should be very proud of their fantastic team efforts and sporting prowess. Best of luck to the hockey team for the regional rounds in November.”