The Chronicle 682

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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Golf By Simon Roche, Head of Golf

Squash By Simon Palferman, Head of Squash, and Carolina Ramirez Cabal

Teddies had a strong team out this year with five players ranging between a seven and 12 handicap. The team worked hard all year with Mr Roche, Mr Reid and Dean Davis (our Golf professional) to hone their skills. Sessions were held at The Oxfordshire, North Oxford, the Botley Road driving range or on the School's own six-hole course. Sadly, we were unable to play as many fixtures as we would have hoped due to Covid, but there was a notable win against Bloxham. The Links Trophy is an annual golf competition vied for by the School's best golfers. This year’s final was staged at The Oxfordshire in the last week of term. Josh Thomas and Jack Parry fought it out in a very close match. Josh was level over after nine holes and three up at the turn; Jack clawed his way back into contention and the boys were all square with three to play. Jack eventually won a very close match that featured golf of the highest quality.

Over the past few years, squash has been growing at Teddies, with fixtures for boys’, girls’ and mixed teams against a host of other schools. Sadly, the Covid pandemic restrictions forced us to cancel all our fixtures. However, our coach, Ross Gore, put a great deal of emphasis on improving our skills and our use of the court, and we have put this all into practice through our own mini tournaments within Teddies. Improved skills range from honing our boasts and drop shots to analysing our competitors’ posture and predicting which way the ball will travel. Constant high-stress drills, such as rallies down the court, have also allowed pupils to

learn to cope with match pressure while learning some tips and tricks to attack opponents. All pupils have seen improvements to their skills and have grown closer together as a group. Just before Half Term, we even managed to arrange a small friendly session against regional county players, which allowed the girls to be put to the test! To celebrate, the team dressed up in their kit to take a picture of the Summer Term Girls’ Squash Squad! Next season, squash will be a sporting option for pupils from all year groups, and with a full fixture list already in the calendar, we are excited about rebuilding the size and profile of the sport at Teddies.

Grace Kasintorn, Chimdi Okonkwo, Coach Ross Gore, Helene Traem, Hannah Hohage, Carolina Ramirez Cabal and Kalyn Mussa

Omar Faruq in action against Bloxham