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Girls' Games

TENNIS

The summer of 1952 was the first time that Greenhill had a 5th Form, from which the majority of players on a school tennis team is derived, but as many of our opponents were 6th Formers, Greenhill was usually, on average, the younger team.  Several matches were played against nearby Grammar Schools, all of whom are fortunate enough to possess courts within their own grounds.  The greater opportunity for practice which this provides was reflected in the final results, but although Greenhill lost their matches, the successes of individual players and the standard achieved in spite of disadvantages, shows great promise for the future.

ROUNDERS

Difficulty was experienced last season in arranging fixtures and only two were secured, those against Hulme and Rochdale, the first being a victory and the second a draw.  This year, two teams are being coached and a full fixture list has been arranged for the summer.

NETBALL

During the winter, three teams (two senior and one junior) played several matches.  The senior teams were much less successful than the juniors, owing to difficulties in finding shooters.  We were unfortunate in losing the services of Sheila Knott at the start of the season, owing to cartilage trouble.  Sheila Butterworth deputised in one senior game and proved as reliable there as in the junior team.  The match against Rochdale was particularly memorable because of the extremely high standard of play achieved by our opponents, which was of great value to our teams.

During the summer, a junior team was entered in the local Secondary Schools' League and had a very successful season, winning all their games except one.  Sheila Horrocks and Evelyn Thompson were outstanding players in this team.

HOCKEY

The fixture with Chadderton was the only one which could be played.  The demands of three teams of netball playing on the same day left very few from whom to raise a team, and the younger and less experienced players from Greenhill had little chance against opponents fielding a 1st XL.  Next season, however, it is hoped to concentrate more on hockey, and several fixtures have already been arranged.

JOAN MARLAND, Games Captain.
BERYL CRESSEY, Games Secretary.

 

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Swimming

The school has done very well at swimming in the last two years.  In the year 1951 the school won the Whittaker Trophy in competition with all the schools of Oldham.  In the 1951 final gala, one boy, Bobby Millward, deserves special mention for his excellent display of diving.  In 1952 we managed only second place in the Town Gala, but we hope to improve on this in September.

In the swimming tests taken recently, 31 boys passed tests, but 5 boys, A. Dyson, N. H. Wright, M. Taylor, W. Scholes and A. Russell, deserve mention for passing their Life Saving tests.  There will be further tests in July when we hope those boys who failed recently will take advantage of another chance and pass their tests.

 

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Sports Days, 1952

 

Last year four houses, Milton, Caxton, Daltou and Newton, competed in the Sports.
In the Junior Sports it was soon obvious that unless the other houses pulled something extraordinary out of the bag, Newton House was going to win by a big majority.  Nothing out of the ordinary occurred and the result was a big win for Newton, with Caxton House second, and Dalton House one point behind them.

One of the reasons for Newton winning was that D. Schofield won both the 100 yards sprint and the 220 yards.

In the Senior Sports, Caxton won, with Newton taking second place.  Once again Milton and Dalton had to fight it out for third place.

Many big thrills were offered in the Senior Sports.  In the high jump, which is always exciting to watch, the boys fell out one by one until only three boys - Bottomley, Brook and Wood, representing Dalton, Caxton and Newton Houses, were left.  No-one had expected Wood to get very far, but thanks to great determination and the use of his own particular jump - known as the "Maastricht Special" - he came third.
Brook and Bottomley carried on until the climax came, when Brook failed to jump 5ft. 3in. All through the event, however, it had been obvious that Bottomley's longer legs were taking him over easily.

In the long jump there was quite a lot of excitement, the decisive jump by Bentley coming in his last attempt, with Mellor coming second.  Both were from Newton House.

The greatest achievement, however, was that of Sharpe, of Newton House. He ran away with the mile, running like a machine, and then went on to win the 880 yards, never seeming to be out of breath, and, running fourth in the relay team, trebled a lead of three yards by the time he had finished.

The final position of the Houses was :-