Pupils, staff and parents gathered to celebrate the successes of the 2015-2016 sporting season at a special event last weekend.

Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls’ annual Sports Dinner portrayed the theme of a woman in a man’s world with a powerful speech from guest speaker Fi Morris – England cricketer and Southern Vipers star.

Fi is the youngest daughter of Twiston Davies’ Houseparent Mrs Gillian Morris – a large family with a love for cricket. Fi spent much of her childhood bowling balls in the garden for her older brothers, before becoming a member of the local boys’ cricket club. With special permission Fi was allowed to play fixtures for the club, becoming the only female in the league.

She spoke of her days on the field, and how she was known as “the girl who plays cricket” often led to her feeling disheartened about being the odd one out.

Fast forward 10 years to 2016 and Fi and her all-female team, The Southern Vipers, were crowned this year’s Super League winners.

“The progress that has been made in women’s cricket is huge,” said Fi.

“When I was part of the boys’ team I would never have dreamt of being in the position I am now.”

As of next season, for the first time ever, the women’s cricket Super League has its very own regular slot on Sky Sports.

Addressing the girls, Fi spoke of increasing awareness and inspiring others to fulfil their dreams, no matter how unlikely they might look at the moment.

The inspirational player stepped in to fill the position of Esther Wills, Head of Performance Analysis at Football Association Wales. Esther, who was unfortunately too unwell to attend the dinner, recorded her speech for guests to hear. Esther spoke of Wales’ recent success in the 2016 Euros where she was the only female to travel around France with the team. People were quick to point out that she was the only woman. However, Esther took this as a compliment, got on with her job and proved she was one of the finest analysists in the industry – female or not.

Both guests spoke passionately and honestly about their jobs. Although very different, it was clear that hard work, dedication and ambition had got them to where they were today and this was the message they reiterated to the pupils of HMSG.

PE teacher, Mrs Caroline Jones, supplied the entertainment for the evening with a factual quiz about the sporting achievements of current staff and pupils at the school followed by a picture puzzle round.

The evening concluded with presentation of awards. Tennis, rounders, hockey, lacrosse, netball, golf and many more sports were celebrated during the course of the evening with overall Sportswoman of the Year going to Pippa for her continued dedication to rowing and her recent achievements for Wales and Great Britain in the boat.

A big thank you must go to Miss Lou Scott for organising the event, which raised over £500 for Cancer Research.

The full list of winners and photographs from the evening can be found on Firefly.

The beautiful pictures, taken by Oli, can also be viewed in this Flickr album