Netball

On the first day back this term we welcomed over 100 P2-P7 pupils to our biggest ever Junior School co-curricular sports club! Pupils will learn to play Netball in a fun and inclusive environment and the first session was enjoyed in the beautiful sunshine. Boys and girls are welcome at the club with the aim of improving Netball fundamentals and game understanding. These sessions will not only improve their Netball but the fundamentals learned will transfer nicely into other sports. Our older pupils will be involved in festivals over the coming weeks against other primary schools in order to push their Netball on further. We had great fun at Countesswells with our very enthusiastic players and are looking forward to working with all the children this term.
 

Aquathlon

The RGC Aquathletes attended the National Schools Aquathlon Championships in Glenrothes, Fife last Friday. This is the second year we have attended this event so Team Captain’s Fergus R (S2) and Lexie L (S2) guided our first time athletes through the process. All of our athletes showed how competitive they were in the first part of the Aquathlon, the distance swim. Despite having to compete with members of the GB Triathlon squad we really showed great form in the pool with many of our swimmers placing in the top 10 out of the water. The run section of the course is a very difficult component if you are not used to switching from one exercise to another and it can be a bit of a shock. However, despite this, we still managed to achieve a top 10 finish with Fergus R placing 8th. Lexie L was our next top finisher in 14th position with Aidan A (S1) close behind in 16th. Special mention to Rory L (S2) who put in a great performance in his first endurance event. A great day was had by all down in sunny Glenrothes and we are already looking forward to next year.
 

Athletics

Saturday saw the first House Cup of the season and a chance to promote some in-school friendly competition between the 4 Houses. In separate Primary and Secondary events, Blackfriars and Straloch have made strong starts respectively. In a Pentathlon style, each pupil takes part in 5 events and is scored for their efforts, all contributing to their House final score. It was a great effort from all pupils involved and we hope to see even more come along to have fun and participate for their House next week.
 

Cricket

The 1st XI enjoyed their first fixture of the season with a match against The Forty Club at Countesswells. Winning the Toss, RGC captain Adi H decided to bat. RGC scored 179 in their 30 overs, with Adi top scoring with a well-made 43. After a middle-order collapse, Rudra C (41 not out) and Ananth S (17 not out) settled the ship with an excellent 50-run partnership. The Forty Club started well, hitting two 6s in the first over, but Ananth had the last laugh with a wicket maiden in the 3rd over. Some strong middle-order batting took the game away from RGC, but Barrett retired on 50 not out, and Howard scored a composed 42 not out. Adi H was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 16 off his 4 overs. The 40 Club chased 180 in the 38th over for the loss of 5 wickets. A special mention should be made for Lottie R and Deethya B (both S5) who made history as the first female cricketers to represent the 1st XI. Both Lottie and Deethya bowled and fielded excellently. All in all an excellent game of cricket vs a strong competition.

On Saturday we hosted P5 - S3 cricket training. Many of the senior boys managed to secure games for their clubs, therefore, we only had 25 boys and girls out training. Fingers crossed for some improvement in the weather and we can play the Scottish Cup 1st XI and U15 fixtures next week.

 

Rugby

RGC was represented at the annual Lathallan Rugby 7s tournament on Saturday by 4 teams. P7 started the day strongly, winning their first 4 group matches. In their final pool game, they played a talented High School of Dundee team and lost, meaning that they played Lathallan in the semi-final. After a nervous start they conceded an early try but were able to re-group and eventually ran out winners. In the final they faced a confident HSoD team. Again, RGC started slowly and conceded 2 early tries. Maxwell D scored an excellent break away try and the boys sparked into life and scored 3 unanswered tries. The team held their nerve and managed to win the tournament. This is a well deserved recognition for a year group that has regularly had 32 at training and competed with some of the stronger teams.

The S2 7s team were very new to the game and were hoping to learn a great deal from the experience. We won our pool games 50-0 ( v Mackie RFC ) and 59-0 ( Lathallan Blues ) which put us into a semi final v Lathallan Reds. Our attack was good and we scored some great tries but our understanding of defence had not quite developed and we lost to a good Lathallan team. The whole day was a  good learning experience for the boys watching all our other teams compete.

The U16s entered the Lathallan 7s with the goal of retaining the trophy. We started the day strongly winning all of our pool games against Mackie, Ellon and Morrisons with each performance getting stronger and stronger. We drew with High School of Dundee in the semi final of the competition and identified this immediately as our toughest game of the day. An outstanding defensive performance saw us capitalise on any Dundee errors, handing us a comfortable 36-0 victory and a spot in the final against the hosts, Lathallan. The day finished with the boys continuing their relentless pace of play on both sides of the ball, comfortably sweeping Lathallan aside and retaining the Lathallan 7s trophy as competition winners. A special mention must go to Captain Jamie B who was outstanding all day and picked up Player of the Tournament. This was a great way for this exceptional group to top off an excellent season. It has been a privilege to work with them.

The U18s 7s side battled hard in the final against a very well conditioned and accurate Strathallan side. Going two scores down early on hampered our second half comeback. The team lost 28-14, unfortunately not managing to retain the U18 title. Mr Greenwood gave a special shout out to Jack E (S5) who was voted U18 Player of the Tournament.

 

Tennis

On Saturday we hosted P5 - S3 Tennis training. In preparation for the Road to Wimbledon tournament next weekend we had 25 boys and girls out training. Fingers crossed for some improvements in the weather so we can start the singles and doubles tournament next week. 

 

Team of the Week 

This week's TOTW is a joint award, with both the P7 and U16 Rugby 7s sides who won their respective Lathallan 7s tournaments on Saturday. Both sets of boys put in a great shift over the course of the day.
 

Sporting Achievements Out With School

Congratulations to the following pupils on their recent successes:

• Ava B (S4 - First VII) who has been selected for the Netball Scotland U15 Squad. Hard work pays off and we know how much you have worked this year to improve your game!

• Calum B (S5) who spent part of his Easter holidays with the Scottish Hockey Emerging squad playing against England, Spain and The Netherlands. We are delighted that Calum will continue his journey with the Scotland squad into their summer programme. 

• Louisa M (S2) who was racing in the British Children’s Championships in Tignes during the Easter holidays. Louisa won silver medals in the U14 Slalom and Super G events and was 3rd Female overall in the U14 age group. Her U14 team were overall Championship winners.
   

Scottish National Age Groups 2023

Well done to all the pupils who qualified for the Scottish National Age Groups that took place on home soil at ASV in the holidays. Pupils have to swim set consideration and qualification times in order to represent their age group at SNAGS, which includes the best swimmers from all over the country. An impressive list of swimmers from RGC were representing Aberdeen Dolphins, Aberdeen Amateurs, Garoich and the University of Aberdeen. Special mention to Kalia S who won an Individual Age group Gold and Silver in the 100 and 200 Fly (11-14) and Lucas J winning an Individual Gold in 100 Fly (16 years) and swimming under 60 seconds for the first time. There were a total of 26 Finals (which includes the top 10 fastest swimmers after heats) that RGC pupils qualified for over the 5 day event. Wow! Well done to the following pupils:

P7 
Katy R
Daniel R
 

S1
Erica C 
2nd 11-13 girls 4x100m medley relay 
3rd 11-13 girls 4x100m free relay
 

Kalila S:
1st 11-13 girls 100m butterfly 
2nd 11-13 girls 200m butterfly
2nd 11-13 girls 4x100m medley relay
2nd11-13 mixed 4x100m medley relay
3rd 11-13 girls 4x100m free relay 
 

Austin M:
2nd 11-13 boys 4x100m free relay

Aiden A 
Oliver H
Sofia H
 

S2
Lexie L 
AnnaBella S
Arthur T
Erin M
Fergus R
Ethan A
 

S3
Emma J
Olivia K
Jake B 
James G
 

S4
Isabella A
Lukas J
1st 16 year old boys 100m butterfly

Callum G:
2nd 14-16 boys 4x100m medley relay 
3rd 14-16 boys 4x100m free relay 

Jessica S
Anna M
Grace M 
Isla R 
Logan J 
 

S5
Ben M

Well done also to Miss Grayson and former pupil Maya R who were part of the coaching team for Aberdeen Dolphins. We know they were very happy with their squads’ swims. 

Apologies, if we have missed any swimmer please just let us know so we can recognise their achievement. Well done to you all whatever your goal was. A huge achievement to qualify for this event and the atmosphere at ASV was superb! Mrs Hardie, Head of PE, loved watching so many of you swim. 

Congratulations also to our very own Mrs Hutchinson, RGC Swimming Teacher, who was representing Aberdeen Dolphins at the Scottish Masters meet at Tollcross, Glasgow at the weekend. For her individual swims she won gold in the 400m Freestyle, silver in the 100 & 50m Freestyle and bronze in the 200m Freestyle. She also won gold for 4x50 mixed medley relay and silver for 4x50 freestyle mixed relay. Well done Mrs Hutchinson, you are a fantastic inspiration to our pupils!

 

Summer Sports Camps

Gordonian Pelicans will be running their Summer Rugby Camp at Countesswells from 7th - 11th August. This is open to all girls and boys starting preschool through to S2 in August from any club/school. Please visit www.gordonianpelicans.co.uk for more information.

Gordonians Hockey Club will be holding their annual Gordonians Youth Summer Camp from 7th - 11th August at Countesswells. Please click here for further information and to sign up. 

Information about the Gordonians Cricket Club summer camp will follow in due course.