Paul Bowden reports:
Following on from last year’s inaugural festival involving three schools, on 20th January 2015, 40 girls ranging in age from 10 to 18 from five schools gathered at Berkhamsted for an afternoon of fun Fives. Schools represented were Aldenham, Berkhamsted both Senior and Prep, Oakham, Shrewsbury and Stowe.
There was a great variety of both age and experience but all the girls were keen to learn and showed improvement, and above all else they smiled and enjoyed themselves. Initially the older girls went to the beautiful new courts at the Prep School but as the standards became clearer there was some switching between the courts so that, in the course of the afternoon, all the girls were able to enjoy some well-matched and competitive games.
The Shrewsbury Under 14s (the first time that Shrewsbury has had girls below the Sixth Form) were an athletic and very talented group, as were the much younger Berkhamsted Prep School girls. The Stowe pair were also very promising with fast reactions. The Berkhamsted and Oakham seniors though less experienced clearly enjoyed the afternoon and made good progress as did the least experienced group from Aldenham who were keen to learn and picked up new skills quickly. Let us hope that most of these girls continue to play and to enjoy the game.
A warm thank you to the Masters in charge who brought the girls, in some cases, considerable distances and to Anthony Theodossi for his organisation. Next year he is expecting to organise two such events, one before Christmas and one after and we are hoping for at least seven schools to participate.
If any other school is willing to host a similar fun event, then please get in touch. The outlook for Girl’s Fives is getting brighter.