Sport

County Cup Final – Wednesday 11 September 2024

Our Year 8 football team became 2023-24 County Cup champions with a fantastic 3-0 victory against a strong Spalding Grammar team at Sleaford Town FC on Wednesday.

Alongside the quality of their play, the boys displayed a togetherness and determination to win the trophy in a final that was played in a great manner by both sides whilst still being highly competitive.

Every single player contributed to the victory. Special mention to Alfie R, who was calm and composed in goal, making some vital saves; Sam W, who led a fantastic defensive unit with a dominating display; and finally, captain Milo B, who was tireless in midfield and produced real quality in difficult circumstances, scoring a very impressive hat-trick.

We are very proud of all the boys.

PE Sports trips/ visits review Summer term – 2024

Madrid Football Tour – April 2024

Day 1

Day 1 of the Madrid tour started with a 03:30 meet at SRPA before our journey to Gatwick to catch our late morning flight.

We arrived in Madrid on schedule and once we had cleared passport control and collected our luggage, we headed to a shopping mall on the way to our hotel for a brief stop to allow students some time to grab a snack.

Day 2

After breakfast we headed to Madrid for a brief stop. Students looked around the shops surrounding the main square. We then headed back to the hotel for some lunch before leaving for the Metropolitano Stadium for the Atlético de Madrid and Girona, La Liga match. This was an awesome experience for the students. Seeing a top La Liga game, with a great and extremely loud atmosphere. Despite going behind to an early goal, Atlético won 3-1 with France World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann scoring twice. Following the game, we returned to the hotel for a brief chance to relax before dinner.

Day 3

Day 3 started with 2 of our 3 games against C.D Yepes, a local side from just outside Toledo. This was about an hour’s drive south of Madrid. The Year 8 and 9 students were the first to play, with fantastic support from our other teams, we were narrowly defeated 2-1 in a very close match. Harry S score our goal with Oliver D picking up the player of the match award.

Immediately after the first of our Year 10 and 11 sides kicked off, Jake S gave SRPA an early lead which led to euphoric scenes from the crowd. Bailey B doubled the lead just before half time. The second half was extremely competitive with the opposition pulling a goal back leading to a tense finish. Player of the match was awarded to Dylan M for a solid performance in defence.

Following the games we headed back to the hotel for lunch before transferring back to the Metropolitano Stadium for a behind the scenes stadium tour and a visit to the Atlético de Madrid Museum and club shop.

Day 4

Early start today, 06:15 wake-up call followed by breakfast at 06:45. We then travelled to the Real Madrid Sports City for the first of our training sessions delivered by the Real Madrid coaches. The students were in awe of the facilities and the level of football performed in training was fantastic. This was followed by a tour of the training facilities. After a quick lunch back at the hotel we returned for our second training session of the day. In this session, the students had the honour of wearing the famous all white kit of Real Madrid.

We then headed straight off to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for a museum visit, stadium tour and an opportunity to buy souvenirs from the club shop.

After dinner, we headed back to C.D Yepes for our third and final game of the tour. This time it was the turn of our second Year 10 and 11 team to take to the field. The locals had turned up to try and rival the support of the SRPA travelling fans. There was a tense atmosphere and following two hard training sessions in the heat, SRPA competed well but went into the interval 2-0 down. Following half time, SRPA battled back. Cameron M pulled a goal back before the opponents again restored their 2-goal lead. Fraser I scored the second SRPA goal setting up a tense finish. The opposition score a breakaway goal against the run of play. Lennon S, up from defence from a corner slotted into the bottom corner to immediately pull another goal back. With SRPA on constant attack, the final whistle sounded. With an extra couple of minutes there was no doubt SRPA would have equalised, if not won the game. Player of the match was awarded to Joe C for his unbelievable work rate and disciplined performance in various positions. An hour journey back to the hotel for a late return and an end to an extremely busy day.

Day 5

Another early start on the final day, 06:15 – wake-up call followed by breakfast at 06:45. Again we headed to the Real Madrid Sports City for an early training session. Despite some weary eyes and tired legs, the students again performed admirably.

We then headed back to the hotel for room inspections and to check out before heading back to the training facility for our final session.

We then headed to the airport to catch our evening flight, eventually arriving back at SRPA at approximately 2am.

The pupils had a trip of a lifetime. Throughout the whole tour their behaviour was exemplary, We and they are thankful to their parents and carers who supported the trip and anyone who donated to the fundraising that was carried out to purchase a tour kit and match tickets.

Nottingham Open – Tennis

On Tuesday 11^th June we took fourteen students to the Nottingham Tennis Open. The students were treated to some excellent tennis, watching Dan Evans, Emma Raducanu, Ons Jabeur (World Number 1) and Cameron Norrie (British Number 1). Excitement was high throughout the whole day, especially when our pupils met Cameron Norrie and Heather Watson getting signatures from them both. Harry was exceptionally happy when he caught one of the match balls. The opportunity to play tennis was taken by our students as they just can’t seem to stay off the court. All in all, a fantastic day!

Wimbledon 11 July 2024

On Thursday 11 July we took 8 of our students to Wimbledon. We had tickets for court 1 and got to see both gentleman’s doubles semi-finals and the first set of a mixed doubles semi-final.

We had the opportunity to visit the Wimbledon museum, had lunch sat on Henman Hill (or Murray Mound!) and visited the shop.

Despite an extremely early start and late finish, the students had an amazing day and behaved perfectly throughout.

Fixtures review – Summer 2024

Athletics

8 students competed in the district athletics trials on Wednesday 8 May. 5 of these students have qualified for the County championships on Wednesday 5 June.

In term 6 we have the Count Athletics Championships on Wednesday 5 June and the District Championships on 3 July.

On 5 June, four of our students attended the Lincolnshire Athletics Championships after qualifying through the district trials. All four students performed extremely well in a very high standard of competition. The standout performance was from Joshua C who won the junior boys javelin competition to become the county champion. What a great achievement by all four students.

Rounders

The academy hosted the south of the district rounders tournament on Monday 13 May for the Year 9 girls.

The Year 9 team were extremely enthusiastic and supportive of each other during each of their matches. Some strong bowling and batting from the team in each of the games.

The girls displayed great resilience in each of their performances with them finishing the tournament in third place.

The academy looks forward to hosting the second south of the district rounders tournament for the Year 8 girls on Thursday 23^rd May.

Tennis

Our first year in the LTA Schools Tennis League has seen some amazing matches so far!

Our first match came against William Farr. The Year 7/8 Boys & Year 9/10 Boys fought hard against a very experienced side but ultimately losing a very competitive match. However, our 7/8 Girls team came out victorious winning 8-4. For most of the players this was their first ever match!

A long journey to Bourne Grammar School was next. The experience gained from the Year 7/8 boys first match was on show with very close sets being played out. Unfortunately, the boys couldn’t convert their chances having multiple set points, the final result was 8-4 to Bourne Grammar. The Year 9/10 Girls were excited to be playing their first match. Ruby I represented the school in her first ever fixture and showed great determination throughout the match.

Our second home fixture saw our Year 7/8 Boys & Girls take on Louth Academy. The girls carried the momentum of their first win into this game winning 12-0. Lily O was a standout performer achieving her first ever singles win 7-6 on a tiebreak. Unfortunately, the boys narrowly missed out on their first win. However, with half the team unavailable Finley M stepped up into seed 3 and won his singles match.

Going into our final match of this term our Year 9/10 Boys team came up against a strong Somercotes Academy. Led by Cameron M the team started well with a newfound confidence following their recent experience in the competition. The final result saw SRPA take victory 8-4. Year 8’s Elliott T and Dylan C were standout performers playing against students two year groups above them with an excellent win as second pair.

Next term we look forward to travelling to King Edward VI Grammar School and we are excited to compete in the Eastgate Invitational Schools Y7/8 Doubles Tournament.

Eastgate Tennis Club held the first Interschools invitational tournament on Wednesday 26^th June. We participated against schools such as Louth Academy and Bourne Grammar who have a a strong focus on tennis. The first set of tournaments were the boys doubles and girls doubles. Our boys team put up a great fight but ultimately finished in third place narrowly missing out on second. The girls started incredibly well beating Louth Academy but fell away as the tournament progressed finishing in second to an experienced Bourne Grammar. The last part of the day was the mixed doubles tournament, an area our students had only started practicing a few days prior. It was incredibly tight in our match against Bourne Grammar but we were able to come out victorious. Amelia had only picked up a racket for the first time the day before and finished the day as our most improved player and as a mixed doubles champion. Congratulations to Bourne Grammar on winning the Boys and Girls events, including being the overall winners.  A massive well done to our mixed team for winning their section of the overall tournament. Finally, a huge thank you to Jenny (Eastgate Chair) for organising the day and providing refreshments. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the day.