Page 29 - The Badger - Issue 8

THE BADGER Celebrating 125 Years of The Downs
Towards the end of June, 34 of our athletes competed at the Mercia Prep Schools’ Athletics Championships held at Stourport. With over 900 athletes from all over the region competing, it was great to see two of our athletes, Laura D (Under 14 300m) and Isaac D’A (U13 100m) both qualifying for the Nationals that were held at The Alexander Stadium in Birmingham in July. Congratulations to them both, although sadly Isaac was unable to compete due to illness. Laura performed superbly in a difficult event and in a strong field of athletes, so she should be incredibly proud of her achievement.
All our children have represented the school at some stage of the year, where the teams have competed in weekly fixtures, showcasing their talents and skills developed in lessons, and they have all demonstrated not only technical ability, but also resilience, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout. An exciting addition to our sporting offerings at The Downs next year will be the introduction of girls’ football towards the end of the Autumn Term — a sport that has been in high demand. We are very excited about this new addition and the opportunities it will offer our girls to continue developing their sporting talents.
We have said goodbye to a very talented group of Year 8 boys and girls, and we wish them the very best of luck in their future sporting endeavours; they have now passed on the baton to another group of talented children who must continue to push sport at The Downs forwards, making sure they all trust the process, believe in themselves, and most importantly, enjoy playing sport the right way.
I would like to personally thank our amazing Grounds Team for all the magnificent pitches they prepare for us every week, and the Catering Team for their hard work preparing our match teas. Finally, may I sign off for the summer by thanking all the children and our parents for their never-ending commitment and support to the sport at the school, and wish you all a very well- deserved rest over the summer.
It has been another memorable year at the school, and I very much look forward to more successes next term.
Michael Strong
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