Written pieces by the children: Sports

A key part of many preparatory program is sports. While not all boys are enthusiastic about this, many are.

The Last Match
The team was undefeated and it was our last match. On the way to the match we sat very quietly. I don't know if they were trying to work themselves up or were just nervous. ... we fed the ball to Vyvyan, our scrum-half, who passed the ball down the line to score our first try. We ran forward scoring try after try with many shouts of encouragement from the touch line. The final whistle went. We had won 32-0. That was it. We had won for Farleigh the first ever undefeated rugger season.

- David Quinn, The Farleigh Review, 1988

A Girl's View of Cricket

That game you call cricket,
I suppose you just hit the wicket
And the man is out
And the people all shout,
But I still don't know what it's all about.
One day at a thrilling match
A fielder said 'How is that?'
Now what does that mean?
Said my sister Jean
Who was pretending to be very keen.
I decided to have a go
And they put me silly something, I dunno.
The batsman hit the ball
I thought it was just meant to fall
So I left it.
They put me in to have a bat,
The ball came high so I fell down flat
And it hit my wicket,
And so much for cricket,
I said and stormed back.

- Kirsten Porter, Hordle House Magazine,1982.

The Match

A Match is here,
It's today,
It's today,
A few people are in it,
And the month is May.
Who's in it?
Who's in it?
I'm sure it's not I,
My brother's not in it,
He's in one in July,
Guillebaud's in it,
And so is Worth C.,
But Worth couldn't be in it,
'Cos he's got a bad knee.
But wait, I've just found out,
There's been a big shout,
The match is postponed,
The other school has got fleas.

- Nicholas Caldecott, aged 10, Beaudesert Park Magazine, Autumn, 1978.

The P.H.I.C.C.
P.H.I.C.C. stands for the Perrott Hill Inky Cricket Club. (By the way, Inky is Mr. Holden.) This is a game which takes place on the second game every Tuesday and Wednesday for the people who are not good enough for the first game. The rules are: (i) 'ever ready' bowling; (ii) tip and run, and (iii) bowling from both ends. There are many ways of bowling in Inky Cricket and they have weird and wonderful names, such as 'The Hun in the Sun,' 'The Dolly Dropper,' and 'The Daisy Cutter.' There are also the horrible bouncers which Mr. Holden sometimes does. Usually there are about four innings in one game which makes it much more enjoyable because you bat at least twice in one game.

- Ben Williams, Perrott Hill Review, Summer 1985.

The Swiming Match
I think the most embarrassing time (and the funniest) was during the House swimming matches last year, when half way through the free style, I lost my swimming trunks. I swam the rest of the race without them (and won)!

- Roger Crane, Surge (Beeston Hall), July 1979

The School Cross Country Run
The big day was here! It was the School Cross Country. Mr. Burgess shot the pistol. The seniors were off, they were in blue. We waited five minutes and then we were off. We were in red. At the first stile there was some sticky mud. I lost my shoe! I pulled it back out of the mud. I put my shoe on quickly and then I raced up a hill. I ran down the hill on to the flat ground at the bottom. Then we had to run through some fields. I felt hot and tired but at least not too many boys had overtaken me. Then we went down a road and splashed in puddles and arrived at a farm. We ran up a hill and round a bend and down another hill. Next there was a large puddle. I went around it as I thought it might be deep. We then turned a corner and the finish line was in sight. I was thirty-first and I beat two Seniors. When we got back to school we all needed a shower because we were muddy.

- A.E. Major, Lower IV, The Stag (Hurworth House Magazine), 1987

Traditional British prep schools were boarding schools, but day schools in recent years have become increasingly important.