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House Reports 16 (1973-74)

HOUSE REPORTS (1973-74)

ABBOTS HOUSE REPORT.

Abbots finished third in the overall championship, only thirty-five points behind the joint winners, and the closeness of this result inevitably encourages us to believe that the championship could have been ours with a little more effort in certain competitions during the year. The basic reason for our comparative failure was that for the first time in four years we could not rely on one hundred percent support and effort from every boy in the House.

The Middle Rugby team began the year by coming second in their competition. This position was the best which could have been expected in view of the strength of the Kevere side. The Senior Rugby competition was won with ease by a very strong team, captained by P. Johnston.

Badminton was the first competition which we should have won but did not. On the afternoon of the deciding match with Kings, two of our six players had to attend university interviews; and we lost by six games to three. Next season we will miss the services of N. Veal and S. Wrighton, both of whom have been stalwarts of the team.

After achieving our traditional third place in Chess, we were disappointed by the results of the three Cross Country competitions. The juniors were fourth, the intermediate runners third and the seniors third. The position of the seniors could easily have been better but for an unfortunate injury sustained by T. Barber which stopping him from competing and the refusal of several able runners to turn out.

Our strong Basketball team deservedly won their competition. The Literary competition was won for the fourth year running, but in the Art we only managed second place through inadequate support from First and Second Form boys. This is one compeititon to which even the newer members of the House can always contribute something worthwhile, but very few chose to do so on this occasion.

The Music competition produced another disappointing result: second place last year became fourth place this. It was difficult for competitiors and organisers to do their best as some of the preliminary rounds coincided with the mock G.C.E. examinations. S. Poulton and his helpers struggled hard to get performers to the right place at the right time, and usually succeeded.

The Swimming Gala was dominated by Abbots, with the junior and intermediate swimmers winning their respective competitions. There were good performances from C. Jennings, K. Brinded, T. Hughes, G. Warner, P. Cook and A. Hutton. The seniors, with few finalists, did well to finish third.

Our Junior Rugby team, seemingly so much smaller than their opponents, finished fourth; but our hopes of sustaining a challenge for the House Championship revived with the news that our three hockey players and four rugby players had somehow won the Hockey competition. There is to be no competition next year.

Despite the hard work and ingenuity of our producer, V. Wilkins, and excellent acting by C. Green, we were placed third in the Drama competition. Nevertheless, this was certainly our best production for many years.

The summer term brought its usual quota of anguish in the Cricket competitions. The seniors were second, the intermediate team a poor third (thanks to a deplorable lack of concentration at vital moments) and the juniors third.

By Sports Day it was obvious that we could not win the championship. The Athletic heats produced more than the usual number of one-day absences and performances contrived to ensure that an individual would not qualify for the finals. This latter point was especially noticeable among the Upper Sixth and one hopes that this example from the top of the House will not be repeated next year.

On Sports Day, however, our finalists performed exceptionally well and provided the winners of no less than nineteen of the events. The intermediate athletes won their competition and the seniors did very well to finish second. There were outstanding performances from T. Barber, J.O.'Connell, N. Owen, P. Darrell, J. Henley, D. Darrell and P. Thomas.

We would like to thank our Fifth and Sixth Form leavers for their efforts on behalf of the House and to wish them every success in their future careers.

R.G. Birch.
T.A. Ford.

BEC HOUSE REPORT.

This year's House Championship produced the most exciting finale for a number of years. Not until the last relay had been run on Sports Day was the result settled - a tie between Kevere and ourselves.

In the Autumn term, however, we made a disastrous start to the year, managing no more than two thirds and a fourth in the Senior Rugby, Middle Rugby and Badminton competitions respectively. Thanks to Philip Dumville's excellent captaincy and organisation we secured our first major triumph in the Chess. This improvement was continued when we finished second in the Junior, Middle and Senior Cross Country races. Outstanding performances were recorded by P. Foley, B. Pendred and R. Burdett (Senior); Paul, Newell, Solis, A. Jones, M. Quigley, S. Quigley (Middle); John, Jones, Elvin, Goldberg and Walton (Junior).

At the beginning of the Spring Term our disappointment at finishing third in the Basketball was soon forgotten when we scored a very creditable first place in the Art Competition. Outstanding entries were received from Gucklhorn (Junior), Hills (Middle) and Wade (Senior). Although pipped into second place in the Literary Competition, the size and quality of our entry was most pleasing, and Gucklhorn (Junior), Greenall, Kirby, Knowles (Middle), Dumville and Tetlow (Senior) are to be congregulated on their individual success.

While the third position achieved in the Junior Rugby was only to be expected in view of our lack of school players, our failure to win the Music Competition was a bitter blow. As usual we submitted an extremely powerful entry but overlooked the emphasis placed on certain sections of the Competition: this must not happen next year!

While thankful that the fuel crisis did not affect the Swimming Gala, we could achieve only moderate results finishing second in the Juniors, third in the Middle and first equal in the Seniors. We played badly in the Hockey and cannot grumble about coming last more practice and preparation are necessary, if we are to improve in this event. Blessed once again with an excellent band of actors and willing backstage helpers we scored another fine victory in the Drama Competition. The acting talent of R. Avery, P. Dumville, A. Boorman and D. Asplin will be sorely missed next year. It will also be extremely difficult to replace M. Johnstone and A. Foulkes whose industry behind the scenes deserves special mention.

We started the Summer Term in a very strong position which was in no way weakened by the performances of our House Cricket Elevens. In the senior section we came first, thanks mainly to the efforts of G. Lowe (captain), A. Thom and N. Stevens. In the intermediate competition we came second and in the juniors we were again victorious. Searle, Smith and Walton played extremely well and must be congratulated on their individual performances.

With only Sports Day remaining we were twenty points ahead of our nearest rivals, Kevere. In spite of reasonable success in the Athletics we were unable to withstand Kevere's challenge and must be satisfied with sharing the trophy.

In addition to those boys whose outstanding contributions have already been mentioned, we should like to congratulate the whole House for the effort and enthusiasm shown at all stages of the competition. We also owe a special vote of thanks to the House Officials, A. Foulkes (Capt.) B. Pendred (Vice Capt.) and P. Dumville (Secretary) whose support and determination to do well made our job as House Masters most enjoyable.

N. Charleston

R. Kraushaar

KEVERE HOUSE REPORT

Congratulations to all those who took part in this year's House Competition and so contributed to our first position equal will Bec. It is perhaps unfortunate that we could not win the Championship outright, but hopefully this will be rectified next year.

We again started well with a hard-fought second position in the Senior Rugby and an easy victory in the Middle Rugby in which a strong side, captained by A. Blundell, produced rugby of a high standard. Our Badminton VI, led by H. Davies, tried hard, but with little success, while our inexperienced chess team finished bottom. But the end of term brought a major triumph in the Cross Country, in which we made a clean sweep. Well supported in depth, our leading runners were C. Cornwell (fourth) and N. Sebley (fifth) in the Junior, N. Jones (first) and A. Blundell (fifth) in the Middle and P. Stockwell (second) and M. Lovely (fourth) in the Senior.

Our lead of fifty points was soon dissipated in the Spring Term with predictably poor results in the Art and Literary competitions. Deserving of mention, however, were B. Mason (second in Junior Art), T. Robinson (third in Senior Art), D. Mabb (second in Senior Prose) and A. Garston and R. Pearmain (third 'equal in Senior Verse). Our Basketball team tried valiantly to overcome its lack of inches but unfortunately it also lacked the necessary skills and finished last. At the Swimming Gala we again started with insufficient standard points to support the individual success of M. Aits, D. Mumby, D. Robak, G. Hadwin, I. Rice and R. Rice. Finally, the form book in the Hockey tournament was upset as we failed to realise our potential.

However, we staged a recovery in a most exciting Music competition, the overall result depending on the final class, the ensemble, in which our octet overcame the Bec trio. G. Hartwell deserves much credit for his organisational skill in this competition, while M. Aits, J. Goodfellow, G. Hartwell, C. Mabb, P. Singer and N. Wolff were the leading players. Our Drama traditions were ably maintained in D. Mabb's production of the House Play. There were excellent performances by J. Goodfellow, J. Morris, A. Stent and D. Mabb himself, while T. Robinson again handled the backstage immaculately.

The Summer Term started with Abbots, Bec and Kevere all "in contention", but unfortunately our Senior cricketers let Abbots off the hook and came third in a competition they might have won. Good performances by R. Bracey, M. Costa (the captain), R. Gibson and N. Hughes earned second place in the Junior Cricket, while skipper I. Rice, ably supported by M. Ellis, N. Hicks and K. Peters led the Middle cricketers to convincing victory. All now depended on Sports Day and some fine performances in all age groups, but especially the Junior (first) and Middle (second equal) enabled us to draw level with Bec. Our most successful athletes were R. Britton (four firsts), S. Oxley L. Talbot and D. Yuill in the Junior; G. Hadwin, N. Jones and N. Thomson in the Middle; and J. Hall, I. Hill and P. Stockwell in the Senior.

The House's success owed much to Captain G. H. Harding and the committee of D. Banks, J. Hall and D. Mabb, who were all efficient and enthusiastic. I would also like to thank Mr. Rayner for his invaluable support and wish him and Mr. Noble every success in next year's quest for outright victory.

E.A. Cox

KING'S HOUSE REPORT

At the end of another House season, King's House have achieved their almost traditional position of last place, watching from a distance the exciting and close finish to the compeititon. The main reason that this is so, is not difficult to find - a general lack of athletic talent in the House. Even where there may be an individual or individuals of high talent, there is insufficient to follow it up Blackburn and Torrance for example in the senior cross country came first and fifth respectively, and Billups won the butterfly and freestyle in the middle swimming, but in both competitions we came last because of the inability of the average King's House member to do well.

There were some relatively successful competitions in the upper school, but in minority sports. Beaumont and Donczyk led the House to victory in the badminton competition, we achieved joint first in the chess, thanks largely to Kirkby and Taffel, and a good basketball team, strengthened by Blake, came second to Abbot's only after a tough match with them.

There are, however, too many people who accept last place before the battle is fought, and are not prepared to give of their best. This is particularly so in the middle house, where we achieved the unenviable distinction of coming last in every competition, which improved teamwork and a belief in themselves could have much improved results.

On a note of optimism, these criticisms could not be levelled at the lower house. There is more talent, and a greater eagerness to do well, and in this department the house at least held their own. The most encouraging competition of the year was the junior rugby, where King's beat all, including a very strong Kevere team, and Holden, Gross and Pullen in particular were outstanding.

Finally, our thanks to all those House members who gave loyal support over the year; space does not allow us to mention all of them.

M. Fountain A. Taylor.

1974 School Magazine

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