John Kyrle High School hosted Crescent Town Rebels, a Canadian youth netball team who were visiting the UK on a sports tour, on Wednesday July 3rd.

The Rebels are a team with whom John Kyrle have built up strong links, thanks to their regular international sports tours to Canada over the past eight years, and when visiting Toronto the John Kyrle players have always received a warm welcome.

In the first quarter, several mistakes saw the team from John Kyrle struggle to settle, and Rebels scored some excellent goals to take an early lead.

In the second quarter several positional changes from both teams resulted in some excellent interceptions and kept the game close. In the third and fourth quarter JKHS had scored several well taken shots from Lucy Davies and Phoebe Barber, meaning the netball remained a very closely fought contest right up to the final whistle. With only three goals in it at the end, John Kyrle claimed a narrow 12-9 victory.

After the match, JKHS captain, Neve Puxty, thanked Paula Fenlon from AIP for putting on a wonderful buffet which both sets of players enjoyed and gifts were exchanged by the players to remember their trip to Ross-on-Wye.

The following evening, John Kyrle hosted another team from the same Canadian touring party. John Kyrle’s team involved a selection of players aged between 11 and 17 to reflect the age range of their opposition. John Kyrle took an early lead, going 8-1 up in the first quarter with some accurate shooting from Carys Lowley and Jennifer Bell. John Kyrle continued their dominance through the next three quarters, with several positional changes ensuring all players were well rested in the heat.

A final score of 22-8 did not truly reflect the ability of the opposition who worked hard defensively to limit John Kyrle’s scoring opportunities.

A buffet was provided after the match by the host players, who put on a wonderful selection of treats for their Canadian visitors. After the food both teams enjoyed socialising with each other and finding out more about each other’s cultures.See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here