SOUTHPORT AND FORMBY GIRLS’ ROUNDERS

Due to the fabulous weather we’ve had almost all the way through the summer term until the start of July, we managed to fulfil all of our Rounders fixtures – hooray! Every single Monday and Tuesday, Rounders practice was well attended by pupils from all year groups so we managed to have some very competitive training games! It also gave Miss Plummer and I the opportunity to reinforce some sneaky tactical play and clever game plans we could use to enhance our chances of beating our opponents.

In our fixtures we played against Stanley High, Scarisbrick Hall, Range, Meols Cop and Greenbank. As we were experimenting with batting order and fielding positions in our fixtures, we had a mixed bag of results but we were really pleased with the skills on show and how our girls worked together as a team and our sportsmanship.

We saved our best play for the Southport and Formby Girls’ Rounders Tournament held at Stanley High School on Wednesday 10th June 2015. It was a very hot day and our girls played 6 games so were both mentally and physically exhausted by the end of it! Miss Plummer and I were on umpiring duty all afternoon so we hoped that all of the hard work we’d put into the training sessions at school and the lessons learned from our fixtures would pay off without our coaching on the day.

We needn’t have been concerned as our girls were a credit to themselves and the school, arriving for their matches at the right pitch and at the right time and knocked up some great results against very strong opposition. Our Year 8s batted really well and scored lots of rounders yet realised they had to work a little on their fielding skills for next year. Our Year 9s played some fabulous rounders and were unlucky to lose a few games - frustratingly by half a rounder only. They did however win the Fair Play award, nominated by the umpires in their competition which was a proud moment for Miss Plummer and me. Our Year 7s played their socks off and were so impressive that a few teachers highlighted them as the team to watch in the future as they increased their knowledge and ability in the game. They were awarded for their hard work with third place overall. Well done girls, well deserved!

With a depleted team of only 6 players (3 girls down) Miss Plummer and I were fearful that we didn’t have a squad to take to Stanley to defend the title that the girls had won in the 3 previous years as Super 7s, Epic 8s and Nifty 9s! After consulting the rule book, we were delighted to discover that six was the minimum number that we could field in a team and our girls didn’t let us down by showing the determination to go out there and show their opposition that 3 girls down or not, they were the team to beat. Unsurprisingly, with the right attitude and superb skill and tactical prowess, the 10’s came out victorious again, thrashing the opposition who had 3 extra batters with 3 extra pairs of lungs to run around the bases to score rounders and 3 extra pairs of hands to field the ball. Fantastic result girls - yet again, against the odds, you proved your worth as Tenacious 10s to take the trophy again in front of an admiring opposition!

An excellent season all round – we are still playing on a Tuesday after school up until the end of term for fun and fitness – everybody welcome!

Mrs Summers White

#Sports