For quite a long time I was confused as to why my school takes sport so seriously, coming here I absolutely despised sport and dodged it at every chance I got. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve not suddenly become an aspiring Olympian, but on Wednesday I played in my first rugby match as a member of the Fyling Hall first team. And… I suppose I get it now, the passion, the adrenaline, the sheer excitement of it all that grips everyone so strongly that the coaches forget to keep track of the score.
On Wednesday the 8th our first team played against Scarborough College, losing 36 to 27. As cliché as this may sound, I don’t think anyone really minded that we lost, because we tried our best and had fun. Everyone who was there watching could tell you, the whole team acted and played as if they genuinely wanted to be there and wanted to win and there were some truly excellent plays (allegedly I’ve never played this sport before I’m just going off what Mr Coates and Justin said). A particular standout try came from one of our international pupils, a German lad by the name of Jonas Borner in Year 12. There’s something primally satisfying about watching a member of your team quite literally run straight through everyone on the opposing side. At one moment in the game our team scored a team try finished off by Harry Foster in Year 11, which Mr. Coates has described as: “One of the greatest tries I’ve seen in the last ten years at schoolboy level.” Every player on the team touched the ball at least once leading up; we totally avoided any tackles or rucks and there was an overall an atmosphere and confidence and co-ordination that are rather new to our First Team. Man of the match went to Roberto Matos in Year 13 for great linebreaks and overall excellent play.
While Rugby is very much a treasured past-time there’s a lot of emphasis on other sports and physical activity as well. On Tuesday several students took part in a cross country race held at Duncombe Park. Standout performances came from Luca Park in Year 7 as well as Sophie Ferrer and Fran Sutterby in Year 9; who got 3rd, 7th and 8th place respectively. This is especially impressive considering the top 10 go through to represent Scarborough at District Level.
Also on Wednesday the Under 13 Girls played a district Hockey Tournament held at Cademon College in Whitby, losing two matches, drawing one and winning one.
I am a firm believer that exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle and it really does help to build confidence and teamwork ability to play competitively with a team. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun sometimes. It’s nice to know that our tiny school can accomplish some genuinely big things when we’re passionate about sport, which we increasingly are.
