The Chronicle January 2020

42 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Squash By Gwendoline Davenport

Squash has flourished this term, with the representative teams performing brilliantly, especially considering that the opportunity for pupils to elect this as their sport here is generally limited to Sixth Formers, meaning that we have a relatively small pool of players from which to select. And yet, Teddies managed to notch up victories against Stowe, Cheltenham Ladies College, Winchester, Rugby, Bradfield and Oratory, with the top boys also beating Marlborough. On the back of this record, it is easy to say that, with determination, we have all improved as a team and we have had a lot of fun! Being a co-ed team, we are slightly different from the other sports teams at Teddies, but this opens us up to more fixtures and also means that we are extremely competitive.

This term, we even played a touring team all the way from St John’s School, Zimbabwe! It was an opportunity to face opponents who play at an almost professional level (their best player gave our England-capped coach a run for his money!). Although we were somewhat thrashed, it was a challenge that we all very much enjoyed. Thanks to our senior players, notably Giles Wordsworth who has shown great leadership and continuously encouraged all of us to do our best, team spirit has never been at such a high. We support each other both on and off the court, and celebrate wins and reflect on losses together as a team. The regular team players this term have been: Giles Wordsworth, Hamish Smart, Kunal Barman, Phoebe Taylor, Luke

Charlesworth, Gwendoline Davenport, Clare Simkin, Xan Lytle, Aimée Joubert and Lola Mora Balil. While expert coach Ross Gore gives us excellent technical and specific advice in our training sessions, coach Mr Palferman supports us by coming to all our matches and calming us down in stressful times, as well as giving advice on how best to overcome our opponents’ strengths between games. With 12 schools booked in for home and away fixtures next term, we are looking forward to continuing our almost untarnished winning streak, with new players potentially joining the team. The Teddies team is pictured with squash professional Ross Gore and the touring side from St John’s School, Harare.