GB Sporting Successes!

Three impressive athletes in Year 11 have achieved GB sporting success with their amazing prowess in Rugby, Hockey and Rowing! The talented teenagers have each been selected for national development programmes in their chosen sports and are looking forward to pursuing their goal to represent their country.

Charlotte described her Rugby achievement so far: “I’ve been selected for the ERDPP which stands for England Rugby Developing Player Programme and is the England Development Squad so I go along and train every Friday. It’s a level up from county and it’s the player pathway for England. Half of the session is for county and we play other matches against county and the other half is specifically skills based so we work on our skills and it’s about getting the player better, rather than looking at you as a front or a back. I play outside centre and full-back. In defence, I’m behind everyone else and I’m like the last line of defence so I have to kick and I have to catch the oppositions kicks, in outside centre I’m more in the middle of the pitch and I have to create gaps and to go through the gaps and it’s more running based. I really want to play for England when I’m older for the women’s team so I’m really happy I’m on the pathway to that dream of mine.”

Ollie, whose chosen sport is Hockey, is half-way through a trial for the U16s England team. Talking about the selection process, Ollie said, “I did a residential camp at Lilleshall and I also did a training day and then I’ve got another camp at half term. I’m down to the last 40 players now. If I get through there isn’t weekly training because everyone is from all over the place but there will be matches against other countries in tournaments and going on tour and a lot of camps I guess. I play up front for Reading and I play county and regional too; I guess I just try and score! I’m very excited to be part of all this.”

A veteran of GB rowing having been selected last year for the U16s rowing squad and experiencing continued success on the water and the ergo (indoor rowing machine), Zak is now trialling well above his age group for the U19s. “I’m 15 years old at the moment and have been selected for U19s trials. I’m just going through the trials and I’ve got trials each month now; I’m going on a few camps every year just trying to get my name in their books, I suppose. There are a few assessors and athletes that you see each time, it’s comforting in a way when you get there to see some familiar faces because if you don’t know anyone it can be a bit scary but it helps if you recognise people who have gone through it with you before. I think the main difference between U16s and U19s will probably be a step up in level and intensity and that you just need to be that bit more focussed. It’s scary and exciting because I’m just trying to move on through my life and trying to start a path with this.”

We wish all our athletes the best of luck with their sporting journeys and hope to see them proudly wearing their England strips not too far into the future.

Anyone considering joining Leighton Park as a Sports Scholar may like to be aware that the deadline for Scholarship Applications is Friday 18th November. For more details, please see our website.