Valley School, from Worksop, won The Angling Trust Daiwa Schools National Fishing Championship on 15th July by beating 29 teams to take the title for the second consecutive year.
It rained for most of the morning but this didn’t seem to dampen the anglers’ spirits with everyone enjoying the day – the sun eventually coming out for the afternoon.
The winners Valley School had 136 points in the team classification to take the gold medal.
The team who performed so well was:
Reece Nicolson, Robbie Moore, Oliver Hipkiss, Josh Wilde and Dean Northage.
The second placed team, Newent Community School (B Team), finished with with 126 points. Their team; Liam Parker, Ed John, Connor Barber-Starke, Ben Arkell and Mike Reynolds.
In joint third position were Dinnington Comprehensive School (Blue) on weight 15.860kg, and Minsthorpe College (B Team) with weight of 17.970kg with both teams finishing on 115 points.
The bronze medal went to Minsthorpe College (B Team). Their team; Lewis Collins, Joe Barrett, Tyler Pickard, Daniel Upson and Aaron Oxley.
Valley School took other individual medals – Reece Nicolson winning the gold medal for top individual on the day with an outstanding weight of 17.000kg on peg A17, and Robbie Moore taking silver on peg E1 with weight of 10.200kg. In third position was Jack Davis on peg B18 with 9.750kg from Newent Community School (A Team).
In addition as Reece Nicolson and Robbie Moore were also section winners on the day adding more medals to their collection.
Section winners
Reece Nicolson on peg A17, Valley School 17.000kg
Jack Davis on peg B18, Newent Community School (A Team) 9.750kg
Ben Arkell on peg C28, Newent Community School (B Team) 2.750kg
Lewis Collins on peg D14, Minsthorpe College (B Team) 9.450g
Robbie Moore on peg E1, Valley School 10.200kg
John Hamon, teacher of the Valley School team said of the event: “We won the Schools National last year and this is now the seventh win for us in the Schools Nationals. This team was a great mixture and consisted of three lads who are in Year 9 and two in Year 11. It was a great team performance and I knew the team were going to do well.”
We would like to thank Geoff Mawby of Gateford Angling Supplies who assists the team with baits for their school matches, and also appreciation to Neil Nicolson who has helped with coaching and advice to the team.
There were more teams taking part this year which added to the competition. Also Terry Sears at Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery organised everything well and we know the venue really well. The day was very professionally organised by the Angling Trust competitions team.”
The Angling Trust would like to thank Daiwa Sports who provided prizes for every angler, Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery, Worksop & District AA who provided the stewards and support for the event, the volunteers who assisted on the day, and also to Daiwa consultants Sandra Scotthorne, Will Raison and Keiron Rich who were present all day and presented all the prizes at the end of the event.
