Kate Farr really loves just being involved in a range of sports for their own sake, rather than just winning trophies, although they do still turn up because in last year’s Pembrokeshire Ladies’ Indoor Cricket League it was Hook who were champions for the fourth year on the trot.
 
And someone who played a key role was opening bat and wicketkeeper Kate, who shared the honour of being the league’s top run-maker as proof of her ability across a range of sports to make the best use of her ability.
 

Rapid conversion to a pole vaulter

 
And never was this better demonstrated than in her school days at the Milford Haven Comprehensive School, where she was a very good athlete who specialised in the 100 metres, high jump and 1,500 metres - but became a coveted holder of a Welsh vest for competing in - THE POLE VAULT!!
 
It came about as she was due to compete for her school in her speciality events at the County Sports, when about an hour before they were due to start, her games teacher, Richard Stubbs, told her he was looking for someone to compete in the pole vault and to her surprise asked her if she would ‘volunteer’.
 
When she patiently told him she had never tried this highly technical event he  said he could soon show her, and using his own experience in the event, went off and five minutes later returned with a broom handle.
 

Pembrokeshire, Dyfed and Welsh Champion

 
Not quite like a carbon-fibre pole, you might say, but Kate gave it a try in a nearby sand pit, and as Kate told us.
“I just sprinted up the run-way, launched myself upwards and to my complete surprise, cleared the bar!
 
“Then to add to my astonishment I repeated the process a couple more times as the height increased, - AND I WAS PEMBROKESHIRE SCHOOLS’ POLE VAULT CHAMPION!”
 
Having won the competition, Kate practised in school and went on to win the Dyfed title and then became a Welsh Champion after competing at the Leckwith Stadium in Cardiff.
 
Kate actually won it two years in succession and represented Wales against England, Scotland and Ireland at Jenner Park, Barry,- and was understandably jubilant with a bronze medal, having come third out of the eight competitors involved.
 

Competitive spirit inherited from her family

 
“I think that was down to the competitive spirit I have inherited from my family, as we played a range of games in the garden,” Kate told us, “because my late father Steve and brother Jim, who was a long-time outside half for Milford Haven, were heavily involved at Milford Haven Rugby Club after we moved here from St Albans, with my mother Gill as a great cheer leader for The Mariners.
 
“Back in England, I had played for a boys’ team from under 8 to 10 called the Old Albanians (where the Underwood brothers started) until I had my appendix removed on holiday and the boys were physically stronger by the time I got back so it was a bit too much of a challenge - and there was no girls’ team to play for.




 

Encouraged to play rugby by ‘Josie’

 
“When we moved to Pembrokeshire, Steve ‘Josie’ Joseph persuaded me to join the Milford Haven Ladies’ team he coached and I played at scrum half or on the wing, and I soon settled in and actually played for Pembrokeshire and West Wales - and was eventually selected for a Welsh trial but was already committed to athletics and the dates clashed.
 
“But I still retained my interest after the team folded because of a lack of numbers and after qualifying as a first-aider. I spent a number of years in that role with Milford Haven’s first team.
The players always showed me total respect and I enjoyed my involvement until hockey moved to Saturdays and I wanted to continue playing for Milford Haven Hockey Club.
 

Remarkable dedication to hockey

 
And there is no doubt that Kate’s dedication to hockey is remarkable because she has been involved throughout a remarkable transformation whereby she was part of the Milford Haven Hockey Club that at one time  played in the Pembrokeshire League before joining the Welsh League in Division Five and has since moved through every section until they now play in the top echelon.
 
“I played for Pembrokeshire in school as well as the Milford Haven Club when I was old enough - and in those early days Sharon Grundy used to drive us to away matches and we played on grass;  whereas now we play on the Astroturf at Milford Haven School.
 
So, there is a greater skill level involved. It demands a great deal of travel because most of our opponents are well up the M4 in places like Chepstow and Cardiff  and real commitment since it can involve being away from home for up to nine or so hours for a game lasting 70 minutes!




 

Now helping bring on young players with the seconds

 
“It has been great to play alongside great characters like Rachel Coe, Diane Davies (and since then her daughter Charlotte) - and in recent times I am still playing for the second team, which we introduced recently because we had so many talented young players ready to play for us.
 
‘There are just a few of us ‘old timers’ playing and we won division five in our first season and are holding our own in division four now. I am really enjoying my involvement but I must admit it was nice to have one game back in the firsts towards the end of last campaign when they were short for a game in Cardiff - and although the pace is much quicker it was nice to test myself and feel I had played a solid part in our play.”
 

Football for Milford Haven Ladies too

 
Not content with that little lot, Kate has also played football for Milford Haven Ladies at Marble Hall. “I was having a swim at the leisure centre when Tracy Parks, who works there, asked me if I had ever fancied a game and I told her it would be nice to try it - and that evening there was a knock at my door and Claire Rackley, who was heavily involved, was there with the papers needed to sign on!
 
“We had some very talented players like Lucy and Kate Sutton, Amanda Hood, Linzi Picton, Angela Lloyd and Jackie Williams - and I also played for the county alongside some of my team-mates in a team coached by Jerry Rigby and John Deason.
 
“On one occasion we played an American Eagles team and one of the oppositions took a shine to my jersey because she was also named Kate and I agreed to swap - and was astonished to have presented to me a whole set of superb kit to keep.
 
“When I was asked to return my jersey later on that evening, I had to admit I had given it away, which was a bit embarrassing, but my word did I benefit from the exchange!
 

Outdoor cricket at ‘Herbie’

 
Kate has also played a lot of outdoor cricket in this county, starting out at Herbrandston in a side that  included quality players like Diane and Charlotte Davies, Jackie Williams, Clare Rackley, Amanda Hood, Caroline Cooper, Amanda Lloyd, Alison Thomas and Cherie Pitcher-Schofield.
 
“All of them were also good at other sports and we were a committed bunch who won more than our fair share of the league and cup competitions. I enjoyed batting and bowling in those days but when we were fielding at Cresselly I was patrolling the boundary, which I also loved, dived to save a four and heard a nasty triple ‘crunch’, which I eventually found was my shoulder dislocating, resetting as I ploughed on - and then jumping out again before I stopped!”
 
The injury took Kate out of the game for some time and she hasn’t been able to bowl since then, but she turned her hand to wicket-keeping, and has enjoyed that ever since, indoors and outdoors!




 

Joined Hook after a long time out of the game

 
But she didn’t play for almost a decade but one day received a phone call, quite out of the blue, from her old friend Jemma Phillips, asking if she would be prepared to help Hook Ladies out.
 
“My grandparents had lived in the village at one time and I thought it would be nice to play there, so agreed - and found players of the calibre of Jemma, Sam Rossiter, Maisy Davies, Tia Rees and Emilia Wilson playing there, and because I couldn’t bowl any more, I was asked to keep wicket, which was just up my street!
 
“We actually won the league and a real bonus was the fact that we also won the Clive Huxley Memorial Cup as a bonus
 

Loves indoor cricket with Hook too

 
“Another great plus for me has been playing the indoor game for Hook and we have done really well for the past four years, winning the first division, with me opening the batting, which really suits me because I have always been quick between the wickets and that is vital in such a confined space to play.”
 
What Kate is too modest to mention is the fact that she played a huge part in the 2025/26 indoor campaign, which Hook won as they beat a very strong Llanrhian team in their final game - and in the post-event presentations she shared the ‘Most Runs’ award to show just how consistent she had been.         
 
Her total was an impressive 174 runs for twice out, once from a run out, which she was a bit sick about, and the other when she was bowled by Bobby Neale’s accurate stuff for Pembroke.
 

And finally . . .

 
At the moment she is again playing consistently well for Hook Ladies’ outdoors but, competitor that she is, admits that she has not been happy about a couple of recent low scores - but is determined to battle back into her ‘Miss Consistency’ mode.
 
It is always a pleasure to chat to her because she loves her participation in that wide range of sports and is absolutely modest about all she has done for well over 30 years.
 
We at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk wish Kate Farr much more taking part because she is a credit to sport in our county!