Sporting Success for Malvern St James's Girls

Published by Malvern St James Girls' School on Wednesday 5th of October 2016

Lacrosse Dream Comes True for Katie Katie Jeynes-Cupper, a Year 13 pupil at Malvern St James Girls’ School, has achieved her long-held ambition to be selected for the national Lacrosse squad. This summer she enjoyed touring with the U19 England squad to Philadelphia, Maryland and Washington DC. It has been a long road to the fulfilment of Katie’s dream, which began when Malvern St James put her forward for CENTEX (Lacrosse Centre of Excellence) in Year 8. She remained within CENTEX until it was replaced by the Girls’ National Academy in 2013/14. At this point, Katie joined the U17 Regional Academy for SW England, regularly taking part in training weekends and tournaments for the next three years. During this period she played for the U16 Worcestershire and Gloucestershire County squads. Katie’s resilience and determination was finally rewarded this year, when she was selected for the England trials. Over the years Katie has been dedicated to improving her fitness levels, keeping up with rigorous training regimes throughout term time and school holidays. Her selection this month followed an arduous 2 day assessment in the mud and rain at Hartpury College. Katie said, “I am really looking forward to my first training sessions with the England squad in October. At the moment I am taking a lacrosse coaching course and will definitely continue to play at University. My ambition is to play in a Women’s World Cup in the future”. Further Successes Katie Guthrie (Year 9), has just found out that she has been selected for the U14 England Rounders team. Charlotte Harmer (Year 10) has been selected for the U15s England Hockey High Performance Assessment Camp (HiPAC), which will take place in Leeds during the October half term. Charlotte joins Lucy Walton (Year 13), who has also had success in hockey. Lucy has played for England in the U18 team and been chosen to represent Mercia Lynx U18 Futures Cup. A team of girls from MSJ took part in the British Independent Schools Ski Race at the indoor slope at Hemel Hempstead. It was a very challenging race with 350 skiers taking part from schools all over the UK. The team secured second place in the junior team competition, and Alice Bond (Year 2) finished second in the Under 8 British School Girls. The team comprised of Alice Bond, Isobel Advani, Jemima Green and Martha Bond. Headmistress of Malvern St James, Mrs Olivera Raraty, commented, “We’re delighted for all of our girls, who have done so well. Their grit and determination has proved to be a winning combination.”