Senior Sports Board July 10th

The 2025/2026 Senior Sport season has been a truly exceptional year, celebrating teamwork, sportsmanship, resilience, and excellence across an impressive range of sporting activities.

Throughout the year, Notre Dame students have represented the school with pride, determination, and enthusiasm, achieving success both individually and collectively while embodying the values at the heart of our sporting programme.

The Notre Dame girls laid it all on the line on the netball courts, hockey pitches, football fields, tennis courts, cross-country tracks, gymnastics mats, cricket fields, athletics tracks, and, of course, in the swimming pool. Their commitment to training, willingness to embrace challenges, and support for one another have been evident in every fixture, tournament, and competition.

There have been many memorable highlights throughout the year. The U13A Hockey team produced a fantastic achievement by winning the Surrey Hockey Plate, demonstrating outstanding teamwork and determination throughout the competition.

The U13 Football team also enjoyed an excellent season, finishing runners-up at the GSA Football Tournament, a superb accomplishment against strong opposition. In gymnastics, the U13 ISGA team proudly represented Notre Dame for the first time, embracing the opportunity with confidence and enthusiasm while gaining invaluable competitive experience.

Cross-country running also brought significant success, with Leah P being selected to represent Surrey at the South East England Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships following her outstanding performance at the Surrey Schools’ Championships in January. Leah’s achievement is a testament to her hard work, dedication, and talent, and she represented both her county and school with distinction.

This year also marked the exciting return of sports tours, providing unforgettable opportunities for our students to develop both as athletes and young people. Pupils enjoyed a UK tour to Condover Hall and a highly successful European tour to Spain, creating memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. Looking ahead, plans are already underway for an ambitious sports tour to South Africa in 2027, highlighting the continued growth and ambition of the Notre Dame sports programme.

Individual achievements have been equally impressive. In netball, Lexi, Isabella, and Freya were selected for the prestigious London Pulse Pathway, recognising their talent, commitment, and potential at a regional level. In addition, Freya S has been selected to attend Scotland Netball trials this summer, a tremendous achievement and an exciting opportunity for her continued development.

In athletics, Emily and Eva both qualified for the National Prep Schools Athletics Championships, an outstanding accomplishment in itself. Emily went on to achieve remarkable success on the national stage, finishing 3rd in the Long Jump and 4th in the 75m Hurdles, showcasing her athletic ability and competitive spirit against some of the country’s best young athletes. Eva also enjoyed an excellent season, achieving a personal best in the High Jump, reflecting her hard work, determination, and continued progression throughout the year.

The year has also seen exciting developments within our sporting programme. We successfully introduced rowing to Year 8, providing students with the opportunity to experience a new and challenging sport, and we are looking forward to expanding this provision through to Year 10 next year. In addition, we will be introducing Laser Run, further broadening the sporting opportunities available to our students and encouraging participation in emerging and multi-discipline sports.

Looking to the future, we are excited to continue building a strong and ambitious Sports Scholars Programme through our growing partnership with Locker 27, helping to provide enhanced support, development pathways, and opportunities for our most talented athletes.

While these achievements deserve special recognition, what has been most impressive is the character displayed by all our students. Whether competing for silverware, striving for personal bests, representing the school for the first time, or supporting teammates from the sidelines, the girls consistently demonstrated courage, perseverance, respect, and humility. They have been exceptional ambassadors for Notre Dame and have continued to strengthen a sporting culture built on participation, enjoyment, excellence, and mutual support.

We are incredibly proud of all our athletes and grateful to the staff, coaches, parents, and supporters whose dedication and encouragement make these opportunities possible. The 2025/2026 season will be remembered not only for its successes and achievements but also for the friendships forged, experiences shared, and the enduring spirit of Notre Dame sport. It has been a wonderful year, and we look forward with great excitement to the opportunities, experiences, and successes that lie ahead.

The academic year began in excellent fashion, with our new Year 7 swimmers taking part in a time trial event alongside SWPS. This provided a fantastic opportunity for pupils to experience competitive swimming early in the school year and establish benchmark times for the season ahead.

Shortly afterwards, our newly formed Year 7 and Year 8 teams travelled to St Catherine’s for an early-season gala. The event gave our swimmers valuable racing experience and allowed the teams to begin developing confidence, team spirit and competitive skills that would serve them well throughout the year.

Across the course of the year, our swimmers represented the school in a wide range of galas against local schools including Manor House, Prior’s Field, Guildford High School and St Teresa’s. These fixtures provided regular opportunities for pupils to compete and improve their times.

One of the highlights of the year was a special gala involving pupils from Years 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 alongside Downsend School. It was wonderful to see swimmers of all ages competing together, demonstrating the strength and depth of swimming across the school while enjoying a fun and inclusive competition environment.

This year also saw our introduction to the new Super League competition. For the opening round, we joined forces with Reed’s boys School and travelled to King’s College Wimbledon. Competing at this level provided an exciting challenge for our swimmers and valuable exposure to strong opposition from across the region.

We enjoyed another highly successful year at the ESSA competitions which began in September with the relay events before moving on to the individual championships in January. Our swimmers returned with an impressive collection of gold, silver and bronze medals, achieved by Lucy D, Martha T, Alex B and Lucy P. Their outstanding performances were a testament to their hard work, dedication and commitment throughout the season.

For the second consecutive year, we competed at the ACS International Schools Swimming Gala across two days of competition. The team produced some excellent results, with medal-winning performances from Ciara S, Lucy D, Martha T, Alex B and Lucy P. We were also delighted to see strong swims from Amelia H, Alexia V, Emily L and Darcey C, all of whom contributed significantly to the team’s success.

Our annual Inter-House Swimming Gala for Years 7 and 8 once again proved to be a highly competitive and enjoyable occasion. Congratulations go to Montferrant House, who finished as the overall winners in both the Year 7 and Year 8 competitions, demonstrating excellent participation and strong performances across all events.

On the individual performance front, a special mention must go to Lucy D, who qualified for the Aquatics GB Commonwealth Games Trials this year. This is a remarkable achievement and reflects Lucy’s exceptional talent, dedication and commitment to the sport.

We concluded the year with a friendly biathlon event against SWP, providing a fitting end to another successful season. The competition allowed pupils to celebrate their achievements, enjoy a final opportunity to compete together and reflect on what has been an outstanding year for school swimming.

Overall, this has been a year filled with achievement, development and memorable experiences. We are incredibly proud of all our swimmers for their dedication, sportsmanship and enthusiasm, and we look forward to building on this success in the coming academic year.

Good Luck Freya!

Good luck to Freya S (Year 12) as she trials for the Scotland U19 squad this August. We wish you every success!

Netball Pre-Season Training for Autumn 2026

As we near the end of this lovely summer, I am already thinking of netball starting again in September!!

For those students wishing to be considered for teams next year, the summer is an ideal time for some out of season training in preparation for a busy and fun schedule in the new academic year.

Initial training can be some active recovery, anything which is fun but helps get your heart rates elevated and contributes a bit to overall fitness such as swimming, tennis or some runs. If you have access to a gym and have an Strength and Conditioning programme it is good to keep going with this element of your training.

By the end of July, first 2 weeks in August your focus should be on increasing the aerobic work: runs with some speed work, swimming with a purpose (ie lengths of a pool with a time aim), cycling or tennis/paddle etc. As long as it is all working at an intensity which raises the heart rate.

In mid August your focus should be on more speed work, shorter distances and beginning to increase the intensity of your runs to work on your anaerobic fitness.

We will be doing pre-season training on 2 and 3 September so please consider how you can support your training and teammates by preparing well off-season!

Remember also if you are having your ears pierced over the summer, it should be done as soon as school finishes so that you have 8 weeks for them to heal. All jewellery including earrings must be removed before every netball (and hockey) session.

Next year, we have added to our netball programme by entering the National Schools Knock Out competition for the first time in many years. Our U13 and U15 A teams will take part, we have a bye for the first round of U13A and our U15A will play SWPS so a real local derby!

In September, a group of 21 students from years 10, 11, 12 and 13 are going to Condover Hall, Shrewsbury for a weekend of netball coaching and competition against other UK schools. We will formally launch the opportunity for the South Africa Netball Tour also in September (for October 2027) as there has been a good response to our initial expressions of interest form so please keep your eyes peeled!

Team players will be required to be at after school club training every week as well as for our shooters in all A and B teams to attend Shooting Practice.

Now is also a good time to keep your eyes peeled for sale offers on netball trainers and other netball related equipment!

Have a lovely summer and see you all in September.

Year 10 House Cricket

On Monday afternoon all of Year 10 competed in their House Cricket Competition. There was a lovely atmosphere amongst the girls and some very good cricket was played, congratulations to everyone who participated. In the A Competition it was MONTAIGNE who finished as winners and in the B Competition MONTFERRANT were the winning House.

We love to hear about your daughters’ achievements in sport outside school. Please do share any photos and news with us and we will include it in the Friday Mailing!
(email lplummer@notredame.co.uk)

We also post videos and photos on our Sports Instagram Account so please do send any sports news throughout the term and we will aim to share it!

Notre Dame Sport (@notredamecobham_sport) • Instagram photos and videos

Silver for Ana at Velo 5K Run 

Congratulations to Ana M who completed the Velo 5K run last weekend around the Olympic Park. Despite the scorching heat of 31 degrees, she secured second place overall in her age category. She has two more events to complete her Summer Triple Series over the holidays.