ASTON FIELDS Middle School enjoyed a fantastic day out at the Rathbones National Schools Lacrosse Championships despite losing all their games.
The only state school selected to appear at the tournament struggled in their under-13s group stage matches as they came up against more experienced independent schools.
However, at the end of the day, the children at Aston Fields got the chance to take on Writhlington School’s (Bath) under-14s and managed to come away with a 3-1 victory.
Ryan Molesworth, director of PE and sport at Aston Fields said: “I cannot stress enough how much of an achievement this has been for the girls, who under the guidance of David Abini and Andy Kilminster have made huge progress with their Lacrosse.
“We always knew the competition would be tough but a huge thanks goes to the coaches, representatives at Rathbones and English Lacrosse for making it possible.”
Mr Molesworth, who has been working at the school for three years, had looked into other sports to broaden the range of activities offered to pupils.
The school purchased some Pop Lacrosse equipment – a smaller version of the game – and offered after-school sessions for its pupils.
Qualified lacrosse coaches David Abini and Andy Kilminster were brought in by the school to help run the lacrosse sessions.
After the school received a bursary from sponsors Rathbones Financial Corporation, they were selected to take part in the under-13s category of the Lacrosse Championships.
Mr Molesworth added: “We hope that we can continue the link with Andy and David to help coach our lacrosse players.
“A lot of our girls will progress to South Bromsgrove school and the idea is to compete at some competitions next year.
“Also I hope we can make another appearance at the school championships next year.”
