Playing football for England

England Schools may not have triumphed over the Australian Schools' X1when the two countries met on 30^th January but the Aussies, to be fair, were on the final stages of a very extensive tour that embraced China, Ireland and Wales as well as England.

Not surprisingly, therefore, their match and team playing experience weighed heavily in their favour and they quickly snatched a commanding lead against the England team. In the first half, they placed no less than eight balls into the back of the England net.

That said, both of Hurst's players felt pleased with their own personal performance. Grace Couchman protected the goal for the second half of the match during which time England conceded only two goals (one of which was an own goal -"not by me", emphasises Grace). "I was", she said, "very busy indeed for the full 40 minutes. My worst moment came when one of their star players broke straight through our defences and had a good run at goal. I had little alternative but to hit the floor and grab the ball at her feet. I received a hefty kick in the ribs for my pains but I held onto the ball and saved a certain goal."

Bar ten minutes, Lucy King played for the whole match "moving, moving, moving all the time" said Grace. "Her superb fitness really showed; she outran many of her opponents and was able to really impress with her tackling, possession and passing skills."

Lucy admits that it was, for her, a good match. "Despite initial nervousness, I quickly got into my stride; after 10 minutes I had almost forgotten it was an International and simply focussed on playing the best game I could. To be honest, facing such tough opposition in our first match for England has given both Grace and me a great deal of confidence."

"The Australians' extensive experience of playing together as a team enabled them to dominate the first half of the game" said Hurst's Alex Battison. "In the second half, however, it was really rewarding to see the England team gel much better, gaining more possession and not infrequently taking the game to the opposition. I was very proud of the way that both Hurst girls performed - more like seasoned veterans than International tyros!"

 

Hurst girls selected for England U-18 Ladies Schools’ team

Hurst’s Grace Couchman and Lucy Kings travelled to Reading last Sunday (24th January, 2010) for one of the regular training sessions undertaken by the elite U-18 Girls Schools’ Squad. By the close of play, both had been invited to join the Independent Schools Football Association's England team for their International against the Australian U-18 Girls Schools’ team this coming Saturday.

“Both girls” said Alex Battison, Hurst’s Head of Sports Science and PE and the girls’ football coach, “were picked by the coaches because they combine outstanding talent with the core skills required to compete at a very high level indeed”.

Grace and Lucy admit that they are quite nervous but also very ‘excited and proud’ to be representing their country. Grace, who is goalkeeper, is described by Lucy as ‘athletic and courageous, very good at stopping the ball’ whilst Grace believes her friends greatest strength is that she ‘simply terrific at tackling, quite fearless’.

Under Alex Battison’s guidance, Hurstpierpoint College has been awarded National Development Centre status for the Independent Schools Football Association for Girls and will host the National Girls 6-aside tournament (in which Hurst has been the runner up for the last two years) this coming October. 

Aso, see this story on the new education news website www.ukeducationnews.co.uk