News | 9 May 2025
The Best Weekend Was Had At Sheffield For Quiz Finals
First up in the morning were the mini team. This was the winning mini team at the area 1 North competition for branches and we honestly thought that was a fluke. Wee Stella is only 6, Jack who is 10, only joined pony club in February to take part in quiz and Ella and Edith are 10. We had 3 mini teams in the area quiz and they were all split to have some with experience along with some with less experience.
They were in good spirits in the morning and somehow got onto the subject of my middle name (which I am not a fan of) so with them in high spirits asking what my middle name was, I thought I was pretty safe telling them that if they won the competition, I would spill it to them! Off they went into the competition as Rachael and I went off upstairs to support with the Senior teams briefing and scoring.
We had been keeping an eye on the Pony Club results page and couldn’t believe our eyes when in the first round, they had scored 50 out of 50! I screenshot it as they were showing in 1st place and I thought it would be nice to show them when they finished. We continued scoring the senior round and in between rounds, kept an eye on the results page. Round 2 also showed 50 out of 50 and still they stayed in 1st place……then nothing for what seemed ages! Pony Club results had only gone and crashed! We were left in the dark! Thank goodness we had a job to do so the time passed without us sitting waiting. If you ever go to a competition, please consider volunteering at it, these events can’t run without support and it honestly is great seeing behind the scenes.
We came out of the seniors scoring and went looking for the teams. By now, Karen had arrived with the junior teams (we didn’t want them hanging about all day so they had a longer lie and came later). We went off upstairs where we met them and waited for the results to come in. Seniors were announced and we were told about the results page crashing and the disruption it had caused.
We were sat waiting for the results and my phone vibrated. It was Inverness Pony Club congratulating us on our results. I was a bit confused as I didn’t know the results so I went onto PC results and there it is with us in 1st position! I said to a couple of the parents and they replied that the system had been iffy all day so they had seen it but weren’t trusting what they were seeing! Thankfully, we had the camera’s at the ready anyway and what was great was the kids didn’t look at the results as they thought the system was down so it was COMPLETE SHOCK! I was obviously then badgered for my middle name…………What happens in Sheffield though, stays in Sheffield 
To say we are proud of them is an understatement. I knew they had studied hard as I studied hard with them coming up with all the material and logging in every week but we had no expectations in amongst 50 teams at a national competition that they would be a podium finish! It was an amazing moment for the club. No one remembers Ross-shire getting to the finals in their time in the club, let alone winning! A huge well done to the minis and we can’t forget to mention the support given in training from Karen Mowat and Rachael Beatty. Thank you both for all your support and time, I would say the results speak volumes for the effort put in by you both.
Our Junior team was up next. They were putting a lot of pressure on themselves with the minis having done so well but realistically, they are a team of two 11 year olds and two 12 year olds all of D+ standard. The junior teams are made up of 3-4 members with ages up to 25 with only 1 member having to be 14 or under. We therefore had a young team but despite that, they performed really well and done us proud getting placed 36th out of the 47 teams and best of all, they had great fun.
We are very fortunate as a club to have such great members. The weekend was spent in fabulous company with some great parents and some fantastic kids. They all got on great, they had so many laughs and made so many memories that will last them a lifetime! I still have fond memories of my stays away with the games teams some 40 years ago!
