On Tuesday, Cranleigh Prep School attended the U13 Girls’ National Fives tournament held at Highgate. Although this is a tournament we have had success at in the past we travelled in hope rather than expectation as, due to Covid, this was the first experience of competitive action for the girls.
This year has seen a real growth in the girls’ game and we were able to field seven pairs from Forms 5 and 6. The aim with these tournaments is to give the pupils exposure of competitive play, to expose them to the best and hopefully to engender real enthusiasm and love for the game.
The morning saw the group matches taking place and six of our seven pairs made it through to the second round. By the time we reached the quarter-final stage we were down to the top four pairs. Mr Thomas and I watched from the back as each of the four quarter-finals involved a Cranleigh pair. It was a very proud moment.
The level of competition kept going up a level after each round and by the time CPS got to the semi-finals we had two pairs still in contention playing the might of Highgate. Our second pair of Amelie and Issy lost to a very strong pair from Highgate who had won the competition in the two previous years.
Our first pair of Lucy and Charley overcame a difficult encounter with the Highgate second pair and therefore reached the National final where sadly they were beaten this time.
Overall it was a fantastic day out where all the girls exceeded expectation and improved over the course of the day. We really hope they keep playing as they move to Cranleigh School because they all have bright futures.
Thanks to Mr Thomas, as always, for all the unsung work he does with the Fives.
