Rising Sports Stars

We really are a nation that loves its sport and it seems that whether on TV or online, it’s easy to locate some sort of sporting activity to sit down, watch and enjoy. And whilst the current UEFA European Football Championships and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup may not be bringing quite the level of joy we were perhaps hoping for so far, there’s plenty more sport ‘around the corner’ for us to look forward to watching, including the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Closer to home, we love sport at Southborough and value it highly; it keeps our students physically healthy and fit, it’s great for maintaining good mental health and helps develop character, including great leadership and social skills. Whilst not everyone is a ‘natural’ sportsman/woman, all our students are encouraged to take part and enjoy the camaraderie that team sports provide.

However, there are a growing number of Southborough students that really have excelled in their chosen sporting fields and deservedly need a special mention.

YEAR 9 LEO B : BASKETBALL

Leo B has been a basketball ‘legend’ here at SHS since he joined in Year 7 and has played an instrumental part in the huge success that our Griffin Basketball Team has achieved this year, winning the London Youth Games Basketball Challenge 2024. Playing the position of ‘Shooting Guard’ or ‘Small Guard’, earlier this year Leo was chosen out of 20,000 players to be part of the best U15 15-20 young London basketball players for the England Basketball pathway ‘Aspire’. The team has an important competition that takes place in Manchester shortly where Leo – alongside his team – will be representing London against other major cities across England. In the meantime, Leo has also been selected by ‘Quai 54’, a high profile event which is sponsored by Nike Jordan. Only 100 players –including Leo - got through from thousands of young players across the UK, Europe and Canada. Leo is clearly going places!

YEAR 10 HARRY W : GOLF

By the age of 7 years old, Harry loved nothing better than to play a game of golf (even as a toddler, he had a set of plastic clubs!).Harry’s handicap is now 0.8 –ranking him in the top 1% of all golfers in England. He has been selected and plays for the Surrey U16 league team (8 boys). Last year, Harry represented Southborough high School in the Surrey Schools Boys’ Championship, finishing 3rd place. More recently, Harry played in the English Schools Golf Association South Region Boys Final. Later that week, he played in the England Golf South East Junior Championship, winning the U16 event and finishing 2nd place overall. The championship was over two rounds where Harry recorded scores of two under par in the morning and one under in the afternoon. 72 boys competed from eleven counties comprising the South East, all of whom had a golf handicap of less than 5 – a really strong field of boys up to the age of 18.

In winning, Harry received an exemption to the prestigious McGregor Trophy, which is the English Boys’ under 16 Open Amateur 72 hole stroke play Championship. The ‘McGregor’ is equivalent to the Open Championships for U16’s and is happening this July. Entry is open to boys with a handicap less than 2, a maximum of 144 will compete, 192 boys have already entered and as a result, those with the highest handicap will be balloted out. But having won exemption, Harry is guaranteed a place. After Sixth Form, Harry hopes to get a scholarship and go to college in the US to take his golf to the next level.

YEAR 10 JAKE J : SQUASH

Jake has been playing squash from the tender age of 5 and has won a growing number of competitions whilst representing Surrey. Over the last few years he has won a number of ‘majors’ and was ranked No 1 in England for the U11, U13 and U15. He has taken part in numerous squash training camps for England and really hopes to be selected to take part in the 2025 European Squash Team Championships.

YEAR 9 SAMUEL T : ATHLETICS

Samuel has been involved in various forms of running since he was four years old. As a member of the Epsom & Ewell Harriers Athletics Club, Samuel has spent the last nine years developing his running strength and skills via a variety of competitions that include 400 metres, 800 metres, cross-country and many other indoor athletic events. Last year Samuel pretty much won every single running event for his year group at our school Sports Day and was also part of the highly successful Year 8 team that won the Borough Indoor Athletics tournament last year. His list of achievements in the world of athletics continues to grow and he recently took part in the South East Pentathlon – an athletic event comprising five different events for each competitor, which also includes fencing, shooting, swimming, riding, cross-country and running. Samuel won the event, with 2841 points!

YEAR  10 GIDEON C : SAILING

Gideon C is a member of the Royal Yachting Association and has been selected for the LSE Topper – Regional Training Group. Gideon’s selection for this RYA activity recognises his potential to progress within British Youth Sailing, with the aim of progressing to UK Youth Squads. Gideon has been selected based on performance and commitment to a programme of training and competition over a period. As Gideon progresses through the performance pathway, the expectations and necessary commitment required to achieve desired performance objectives increase significantly. Indeed, training weekends are generally intense and involve a range of activities including time on the water, fitness training, classroom-based theory sessions and work with specialist support staff and coaches.

YEAR 8 OLLY H : RUGBY

Coming from a football loving family, it came as a bit of a surprise to Olly’s parents when he returned home from a ‘one-off’ tag rugby event at his primary school and told them that he absolutely loved the game – and could he play this from now on, please? His supportive parents quickly found a local rugby club for Olly to join and from the age of six years old, he hasn’t looked back. Olly is part of the U13s Wimbledarian ‘Warriors’ and takes his training very seriously indeed. He trains after school every single week day and plays on Sundays. His commitment and ability has got him noticed and he was scouted to be part of the UR7’s Academy (Ultimate Rugby Sevens), connected to GB Olympics. He formally starts training with their U15 team next year but in the meantime will take part in a one week residential course of theirs this summer. To keep himself extra busy and ‘on-task’, he’s also signed up for an additional residential for Harlequins this summer, too.

YEAR 7 JACK M : BALLROOM DANCING

Jack fell in love with ballroom dancing when he was just three and a half years of age and has been dancing with his current dance partner Isla for the past two years.

Such is his success, Jack is currently 1st in the world in American Smooth, 7th in the world for Ballroom and Latin and 5th in the UK for Latin and Ballroom. He puts a lot of effort into his training and absolutely loves it! Jack hopes to continue competing at both UK and International level and perhaps become a professional dancer one day. As far as we are concerned, he’s already earned his place on the Strictly Come Dancing show of the future! Just watch this space!

YEAR 8 DONTE B-B : GYMNASTICS

Whilst a keen footballer and basketball player, Donte displayed a precociously early talent for gymnastics from the age of only 2 years old! He is currently on the GB Olympic Pathway and takes part in the U16 England squad. He trains religiously every day after school and competes during the weekends. Whilst he enjoys most of the activities, he worries that his height (he’s experienced quite a growth spurt recently and is one of the tallest in the team!) might hold him back a little on certain moves. However, he particularly loves the Pommel Horse and Floor. As part of the U16 England Squad, Donte has a major competition coming up in the summer that will be held in Greece.

We know how lucky we are as a school to have so many talented sportsmen amongst us and we wish them every success in the future. Please do let Head of P.E Mr Colbert  (jcolbert@southborough.kingston.sch.uk) know if you have any stories you’d like to share regarding your son’s sporting achievements.