The week in sport

South Africa Sports Tour 2025

- By Mrs Rastall

Last week, Jeff Parker (Regional Sales Manager from Edwin Doran) hosted an online presentation evening, outlining the itinerary for the exciting sports tour to South Africa in August 2025. Having returned from a fabulous experience at the beginning of this academic year with the current Senior girls, I have reflected on our experience and have refined the itinerary to provide an even more exciting trip. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is open to all current girls in Years III - V.

The following short movie is a snapshot of what to expect on the South Africa tour. More importantly, it's also a chance to listen to the experiences of the girls who travelled there in August 2023.

Sign-up for this trip is via the Parental Portal and should be completed by Monday 26th February.

Any parents who wish to view the presentation from Jeff, please contact Mrs Rastall jrastall@queenmargarets.com

Round up of the half term

- By Mrs Rastall

It has been a very busy first half of the spring term, and it has been pleasing to see the amount of QM girls representing the school in fixtures. Congratulations to all of you who have played for the school for the first time.

Lacrosse

There has been some outstanding progress and play displayed on the lacrosse pitches this term, both exciting and closely contested matches against some very good teams. We've also seen excellent representation of QM by our girls placed in county teams, all of whom have had successful tournaments - a big well done to all of you who have represented Yorkshire.

Lacrosse - National Pathway

Well done to Elsa (LVI) who has been selected for the Scotland U20 Performance Squad. She will travel to the USA this Easter on tour.

Celia S (Year IV) has also done well to get into the programme this year in the U20 Development Squad.

Olivia B (LVI) and Elsa were also selected as part of the U18 North of England Super Counties squad, after being scouted at the county championships. The same process saw Isabel B (IV), Isabel (IV), Celia S, Freya F (IV) and Izzy A (III) getting a call-up to the U15 North of England Super Counties squad.

We have a number of girls from this list also attending England Regional Lacrosse Academy training over half term.

Well done all!

Netball

The Netball season is well underway and there have been some very exciting matches for both Mavericks teams. It is wonderful to see our girls rise to the challenge, compete, and stretch their playing standards. League positions are still all to play for, so these games will be hotly contested right up to the final match. Several girls throughout the year groups have represented the school for the first time in sport and it is important to provide these opportunities for all.

Swimming

There have been a couple of exciting swimming matches with girls showing true QM spirit and helping each other throughout their galas. Congratulations to Emilia (Year II) who competed in the Yorkshire Swimming championships last weekend.

Horse Riding

Away from school, there are many girls training and competing to a high standard.

Congratulations to Alexandra (UVI) who has been selected to represent England at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May for the home international dressage competition. She has also recently qualified for the National U21 Dressage Championships (pictured below).

Isabella (IV) continues to perform on the International stage for Endurance Riding and is currently ranked number 1 in China.

Cross Country

A waterlogged course postponed the North Cross Country Running championships where Emily R (Year III) was due to represent.

Upcoming

As the nights start to become lighter, it means that spring is on its way! But before Easter, we still have lots to look forward to:

The 1st X Lacrosse team are refining their play before they set on their travels to Aldershot for their National School Competition over Leave Out Weekend. The U12 & U14 Lacrosse teams have their North Schools Tournament to enjoy.

The Netball teams have their respective York & District tournaments and we even have a couple of hockey tournaments for the younger age groups.

The final week of the term we will see over 28 Senior 1st and 2nd VII Netball teams from across the North attend our Senior Invitational Tournament before we celebrate the year at the annual sports dinner before the Easter Holiday.

Jill Rastall

Match Reports

Saturday 03/02/2024

Fixture: U15 North Schools Tournament

Score: Joint 5th Place

POM: Issy B + Sofia

Report:
What an incredible display of lacrosse the U15s put on at the North Schools Lacrosse tournament. In a tough group, they beat Fettes, drew with Withington, and had great matches against Moreton Hall and Birkenhead, which were losses. The teamwork shown by all was excellent, and the lacrosse skills and game understanding were amazing. Goals were scored by many members of the team, and lots of saves were made by Sofia (IV) in goal. The team should be really proud of their performances.

Into the quarter-finals to face a strong Bolton team who had won their group. Bolton went ahead and thought they were comfortable in the first half, but QM U15 had a different idea and brought it much closer, making it a great game between the two - both teams showing so much grit and determination. The final score was 5-6 to Bolton.

A few coaches, parents from other schools, and umpires all commented on what a lovely team QM U15s are and how great they were to watch and see play so well as a team. All the players should be super proud of their performances. The team was led well by the Captain for this tournament Isabel B (IV). Well done to Player's Player Freya (IV) and Players of the tournament Isabel B (IV), Sofia (IV).

Fixture: U13 North Schools Lacrosse Tournament

Score: 3rd Place

POM: Polly (II) + Heidi (II)

Report:

An absolutely fantastic example of development across a tournament and a great display of teamwork by all the players involved. A tough start against a really good Withington team, but QM dug deep to ensure they got on the scoreboard. Into the second game, a closer match where the players started to realize how able they were and what they could do when they worked together, beating Packwood School 7-5.

On a high from this game, we went straight into another match, this time facing HLC and starting strong, scoring a couple of quick goals. The confidence increased, and so did the performance of the team; the final score was a win to QM, 8-1.

A change of pitch for the next 2 games, first up was Moreton Hall; they went ahead, but the U13s had a different idea for that game, making it a tie pretty quickly, and then the game went goal for goal until the last 5 minutes when QM took the lead and won 6-4.

Into the final game against Bolton, everyone played brilliantly and gave it their all, but Bolton was just stronger than us in this match and they took the win. The final standings gave QM U13 3rd place in the U13 North Schools Lacrosse Tournament.

A big shoutout to Faith (Year I) who stepped in as Goal Keeper for the U13s, having not played in goal before - she did a great job making such good saves. Players' Player voted by the team was a 3-way tie between Akousa (Year II), Martha (Year I), and Faith (Year I). The most improved player was Lola (Year 1), and the Players of the tournaments were Polly (Year II) and Heidi (II).

Fixture: 1sts Netball vs St Peter's

Score: 22-13

Report:
Although initially very nervous about the match, the first team brought their A-game this week. Working exceptionally hard from the first whistle, QM soon took the lead. St Peter's managed to pull back in the second quarter, but in the end, QM took the victory 22-13.

Monday 05/02/2024

Fixture: U12A Netball vs Jo Ro and Bootham

Score: 2-0 L vs Jo Ro, 4-0 L vs Bootham

POM: Faith (I) & Ariana (I), Coaches player Sophia (I) and Jasmine (I)

Report:
A very excitable minibus of Year Is headed off to play some Netball on Monday afternoon. The girls put in a lovely performance and showed some good netball skills, including lots of chances to shoot and some great defence, but unfortunately, we were unable to get them in. Another great experience, and thank you to Joseph Rowntree for hosting.

Fixture: U12B Netball vs Jo Ro

Score: 3-1 W

POM: Betsy B (I)

Report:
The B team played a fantastic match on Monday afternoon against Joseph Rowntree. With some great shooting from Betsy and Venus, we managed to secure a lead early on. The girls were calm with their passing and worked the ball nicely up the court with some great feeds straight into the goal circle. Well done and a big thank you to Joseph Rowntree for hosting.

Tuesday 06/02/2024

Fixture: QM Mavericks B v Selby Thunder

Score: Won 34-28

POM: Tilly (LVI)

Report:
True to form, Mavericks B started off slow against local rivals Selby Thunder, going down 10-7 after the first quarter. Fortunately, the B team gained momentum and took the lead by one goal at halftime. The ‘3rd quarter syndrome’ loomed, but the Bs managed to put that to rest and went into the last quarter with a healthy seven-goal lead. All they had to do now was stay composed and keep possession - which they did to seal the win. Well done Bs!

Wednesday 07/02/2024

The Senior Netball team travelled to Scarborough for two lovely matches played in good spirits. Fantastic to see debuts for two of our LVI.

Sports and Physical Education Enrichment

At QM, we have a huge range of enrichment activities for sports and physical education. From lacrosse to hockey, netball, running club, football, swimming, lifeguarding, and much more.

Click below to see the 2022/23 activities you can get involved in.

Click here to see the archive of past Sports Reviews.

Your Sporting Stories

If you have any summer sporting success stories we would love to hear them. There is so much talent at QM and we love to celebrate your achievements outside school with the QM Family. Be sure to share your news with the Sports Department or email marketing@queenmargarets.com.