Somercotes Academy duo called up for England trial after county success

Charlotte Merry and Kitty Crossley have been invited to a trial at the Girls England Handball base, in Nottingham, after impressing British men’s handball team coach Ricardo Vasconcelos.

He was at the county handball finals where Somercotes Academy girls’ Year 9 and 10 team secured the bronze medal and earned the label of ‘standout team of the finals’ from Vasconcelos.

Somercotes had earlier beaten Louth Academy 14-1 in the district final to earn their place at the county finals, held at Bishop Grosseteste University, in Lincoln.

With girls’ handball still an up-and-coming sport and limited in team numbers, both Somercotes and Louth Academies were invited to compete in the finals where they competed against other district winners Branston Academy and Kesteven and Sleaford High School.

The Somercotes team started off by beating Branston 2-0 very impressively and then went on to beat Louth once more, 3-2.

Having won two out of the three matches already, the girls only needed a draw to get through to the final, but unfortunately lost 4-2 against Kesteven and Sleaford.

They missed out on the final by just one goal, having collected the same amount of points as Branston and Sleaford. The latter team went on to win the competition and qualify for the regional finals in Derby.

Chris Prendergast, Somercotes Academy curriculum leader for PE, was full of praise for the team.

“The girls did themselves and Somercotes Academy proud,” he said.

“They lost out on a place in the final by just one goal, and beat the team who made the final 2-0, so they were very unlucky, to say the least.

“The Somercotes team was absolutely fabulous throughout and demonstrated the hard work they have put in this year to become a very successful handball team.

“To have the men’s GB handball team coach praise them so highly was just brilliant, and Charlotte and Kitty should be especially proud of their fantastic achievement after he invited them to a trial.”