We are very proud show for our brave Year 7 Bike-Polo team who became the top Barking & Dagenham side at the SUSTRANS Inter-Schools Bike-Polo Tournament at Hainault Power League yesterday. They won our school a first trophy in this sport.

Whilst we were defeated (6-3) in the quarter-final by a strong, well-organised and experienced side from the Valentines High School, our students did exceptionally well in winning their remaining games. Our most satisfying result came in the hard-fought plate semi-final victory over All Saints School (winning with a 5-0 score line). In the plate final we defeated the Oaks Park school by winning 6-5 in the final seconds of this particular game.

Timi 7FS, Jack 7UE, Teyler 7FS, Toney 7FH, Jasmine 7UE, Alan 7UE and Jaheim 7UR all played so well and contributed to our success.

I’m sure you all share my pride in “our team” who were at a disadvantage in being something of an inexperienced, “scratch” team of year 7 pupils who hadn’t played this sport before and, often due to various timings/commitments, hadn’t trained on a consistent basis. They certainly performed beyond our expectations in the way they played each 10-minute game. Most other schools had adapted bikes/equipment and had played in previous cycle polo events.

Mr C. Sullivan