IAPS June Numbers

Last year in numbers……

During 2018-2019, we organised 160+ events in 22 different sports. 22,000 children took part in an event, with a whopping 7000 medals presented!!! Maybe you were one of the medal winners?

Here are the winners from events that took place in 2019-2020.

All other events throughout 2020 were postponed due to Coronavirus. We hope that we will be able to deliver a full calendar of events throughout 2020-2021.

SOME OF Our schools HAVE shareD their experiences of attending events.

Danes Hill School – Hockey

To win the U13 National Plate title was incredible but to then go on to winning both the U11 and U12 National Cup titles was just unbelievable! We are so proud of what the girls have achieved in all of our three age groups. What a record breaking year of hockey for Danes Hill! 

Yateley Manor – Basketball

Both our U11 and U13 Basketball teams had a great time at the IAPS Championships at Sevenoaks school. It was really well organised in a fantastic venue and the standard of competition gets better each year. The atmosphere created by the supporters on the balcony really spurred on the teams. I’m obviously a very proud teacher as Yateley Manor managed to win the double. The children put a lot of hard work into their training and improvement and it all came together on the day. I hope more schools decide to enter next year – the sport is brilliant and pupils from Prep schools should play more competitive basketball. It is the world’s second most popular sport after all!

Bishop’s Stortford – Football

Our lads grew into the tournament and after comfortably securing qualification to the knock out rounds, belief among the boys built and momentum began to roll. As well as skill and endeavour, you always need a bit of luck to win a tournament. Our slice of luck came in the semi-final against Hall Grove who out played us for large periods of the game. The width of a post and a couple of great saves from our keeper took us into the lottery of a penalty shootout, which went in our favour. The boys went into the final against Cranleigh on a high and an early goal settled our nerves. From there, we blocked and tackled everything that moved and found an extra reserve of energy to get us over the line. It was a day we’ll never forget and on the final whistle the boys were understandably elated. What made this achievement even more remarkable was that five of our nine man squad were year 7 pupils. I was delighted for them as they have been a fantastic cohort to work with, a great set of characters and a pleasure to coach. Special thank you to Alan Lee at Culford for excellent hosting and to the IAPS staff for organising a great event. 

Bishop’s Stortford, National U13 Football Finals Winners

Captain's perspective, by Jake

The group stages

We finished second in the qualifiers for the competition in October, unluckily on penalties, but we kept our heads up and believed we could win this amazing tournament, boosted by the return of a couple of key players who missed the area qualifying event. I remember going into the first game thinking we could really achieve something here. In the first match I scored the only goal that got us up and running and once that final whistle was blown, I felt a sense of pride, especially being encouraged by peers, parents and most importantly our coaches. We went one nil down in both the second and third games, but we fought back as Elijah scored with seconds left to win us the second match and we went on to salvage a draw from the third. When we found out we had qualified for the quarter-finals as group winners we were feeling confident.

The final

The final was the most nervous and excited I have ever been, but I knew we were going into it with real belief from our semi-final exploits. Our defence pair of Nathan and Henry had been immense throughout the day and with such a solid foundation we had everything to gain. We were told by Mr Herd, “No matter what happens I want you to know how well you have all done. Just go out there and enjoy yourselves.” This gave us all a massive confidence boost. The whistle went and we were in straight away.  I managed to beat a couple of Cranleigh players down the right wing and set up Elijah, who finished brilliantly as he had done all day. The early goal lifted us and we battled hard for the rest of the match with an excellent all round team display. When the final whistle blew, we all were so elated. We embraced, cried and collapsed as we tried to take in the magnitude of what we had achieved.

Being captain

I was honoured to have been chosen as captain by Mr Herd and Mr Donlevy. Going into the national finals, I knew that I had a responsibility to be professional and set the standard, encourage my teammates and play to the best of my ability. If we were ever in a losing situation I had to lift the team. Every player in the team gelled and worked together and I think that is why we won. When the whistle blew in the final to signify the end of the game, it was honestly the best moment of my life. Going into school that next day felt brilliant as well.

Goalkeeper's perspective, by Ollie 

Hugs, tears, elation, relief.  These were just some of the crazy emotions Bishop's Stortford College U13 football team experienced during our rollercoaster of a day at the IAPS National Football Finals.

On Sunday 17th November, 2019 we travelled the short distance to host school, Culford. We arrived in optimistic mood but aware of the reality that it would be a difficult tournament to win with such a strong, large draw. The teams that qualified were very good and no doubt would have lots of academy players and stars of the future. Therefore, there were nerves in the team and you could sense that. I was especially nervous as I was the goalkeeper. Everything I did could make or break the whole team’s performance.

After all our hard work in the groups and initial knockout round, we had earned a place in the semi-final against one of the best teams in the competition, Hall Grove. It’s fair to say it was one of the toughest games I’d ever played in, end to end football, defending for our lives. That game really showed the character in our team, especially when the game headed to penalties. We’d lost a couple of previous penalty shootouts earlier in the season, including the area final at Chigwell. I was terrified. We missed our first penalty but then scored penalties two and three and I evened it up with a save. Then our captain, Jake, scored his sudden death penalty which put us within reach of the final. It was up to me to save the last penalty. It was like every other penalty shootout we’d ever experienced. I had to save the last penalty. Fortunately for me and the team, I managed to do so and we had earned a coveted place in the final!

The final was a blur. I've never seen my teammates so focussed and intense. To come out on top and win the competition was the best feeling in the world.

St Faith’s - About IAPS Events

IAPS helps enable our ‘Sport for All’ philosophy to flourish by ensuring an incredibly diverse range of sports are on offer throughout the year. Our pupils had the opportunity to participate in 16 different sports events in 2018-19 through the IAPS organisation and we hope to go to more next year. We find IAPS organised events are run in an incredibly professional manner with the pupils interests always at the forefront of each and every experience that is on offer and the pupils always come away with a positive experience whether they win, lose or draw.

York House – Badminton 

The IAPS Badminton event is always something our pupils look forward to and the chance to play on the amazing courts at Eastbourne College was the cherry on the cake this year. The pupils always gain so much from this incredibly well run tournament whether it’s developing their game understanding, testing their skills to making new friends from other schools. Winning this year was an added bonus and as ever the sportsmanship on show was of the highest quality.

Royal Russell

The Royal Russell boys had a fantastic day at the IAPS National football finals. It was a very well run tournament played in the right spirit for school sport. From the first match all the way through to the final the boys were involved in tough, competitive matches against some excellent schools. The boys went into the day with no expectations however managed to play their best football of the year. To eventually come away as champions, having conceded no goals all day, is something all the boys are very proud of and will remember for years. A brilliant day and a proud moment for Royal Russell.