In September 2021, we marked the second year of moving towards fully co-education at Eltham College. Our Head of Girls’ Sport, Penny Caudle, outlines the success of our girls in a wide range of sports:
I have been impressed by the achievements of our girls’ sports teams and the opportunities they have had – just like those of our boys’ teams. All our girls’ take part in a range of sports including hockey, netball, cricket, swimming, water polo, athletics, gymnastics, skiing and rugby. These are run alongside fitness activities like jump rope, aerobics and dance which are a great way for our girls’ to explore different ways to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing.
It has been brilliant to see the enthusiasm and focus of girls’ across all year groups – mentored by our excellent teachers and sports coaches. Our Senior Netball team recently became Kent Netball Champions and then went on to come 3rd in the Southeast England Regional finals – a county-wide competition, with wins against St Catherine’s, Newstead Woods, Godolphin & Latymer, Highgate and Bancroft’s. This achievement came less than two weeks after our U13 Netball team won against Tormead School, qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Sister and Sport plate competition. Our Junior School girls’ have all taken part in competitive netball fixtures, with our U9 teams being triumphant recently against Merton Court. Our younger girls are looking forward to the first Lower School Netball Tour weekend at the end of the month which will include a London Pulse masterclass with Sacha McDonald. Our 1st, 2nd and 3rd Senior Teams will be travelling to Exeter for a tour weekend in March where they will have fixtures against Exeter School and Maynard’s.
The Hockey season has seen our girls’ deliver strong performances against James Allen Girls School, Bromley High, and Sevenoaks; and in November 2021, our Year 7 and 8 girls took part in a Hockey master-class session with GB Olympic Bronze medallist, Hannah Martin. All our Senior School girls’ play regular matches and fixtures on the newly-opened astroturf pitch and, under the expert guidance of Calum Giles, our Head of Hockey and former GB Olympic medallist, we look forward to furthering our hockey success in years to come.
In our co-curricular activities, our rhythmic gymnasts are currently rehearsing for their showcase performance in March and our first girls’ skiing team competed in the English Schools Skiing competitions this year. Looking ahead to the summer term, there will be a number of fixture opportunities in athletics, tennis and cricket.
It is fantastic to see all students involved with the girls’ sport programme at Eltham and I am thrilled with all their achievements to date. With the significant changes and amazing achievements achieved in the past two years, it certainly is an exciting time ahead for girls’ sport at Eltham College.
