Education Sport
Wycliff e College boys playing squash Right: the Wall Game at Eton
Rackets, the explosive forerunner of
squash, originated as a gambling game in the 18th century debtors’ prisons and rapidly caught on in the public schools. Fourteen now play it including Cheltenham, Eton, Harrow, St Paul’s and Winchester. Despite its gamey fl avour and archaic-looking setting, the sport is fl ourishing with record entries for this season’s schools championships and the fi rst-ever girls’ events, dominated by Clifton, Wellington and Haileybury. Canford, Radley, the Oratory School and
Clifton have their own Real Tennis courts and others including Warwick School, Dulwich, Sherborne, Eton and Rugby off er the ancient game as a popular option. Like rackets, its quirkiness and perceived exclusivity make it popular with ambitious parents. “It defi nitely helps your CV,” admits former Oratory sports director Jonathan Howell, a Real Tennis professional who mentored the Earl of Wessex, the game’s best-known royal enthusiast since Henry VIII. “Many well-connected people in the City and the professions play it. It’s a diffi cult sport and doesn’t appeal to
everyone but the kids who do play tend to be slightly eccentric with plenty of oomph. Some of our matches are against senior sides from Queen’s Club and Lord’s; the pupils meet their adult opponents in a relaxed atmosphere. Sometimes seniors say, “What are you doing when you leave school? Here’s my number; why not give me a call.
One of our players who now
runs a successful chain of chemists had an interview with a member; they talked about Real Tennis and he got the job straightaway.” Ball games are not the
only option. Despite the controversial ban, hunting and beagling remain popular in several schools. Radley, Eton and Stowe kennel
48 FirstEleven Michaelmas 2011
www.fi rstelevenmagazine.co.uk
Wellington College boys on The Field Gun run
their own beagles which are mainly cared for by the pupils. Although Ampleforth and Marlborough no longer have their own kennels, their students are still closely involved with local packs. Marlborough’s, which was amalgamated into the Palmer Marlborough Beagles in 2006, attracts about 15 boys and girls each week, several helping as whippers-in. The Elms School in Herefordshire off ers regular hunting with the Ledbury, over fantastic country around the Malvern Hills, shepherded by the Latin mistress. Around a third of the school saddles up for the Elms’s Thelwellesque annual meet, from headmaster Alastair Thomas’s 4-year-old daughter on a leading rein to confi dent 13 year- olds jumping everything in sight. Outdoor pursuits are a major independent
There’s
no point putting forward a hopeful
fl y-half or hockey goalie for an award at schools which already boast a handful of junior internationals
school selling point, most notably the Prince of Wales’s alma mater, Gordonstoun, where every student takes part in climbing expeditions in the Cairngorms and sail-training on the school’s 80-foot vessel, Ocean Spirit. Sevenoaks School has won 27 national and international schools sailing championships in two decades thanks to high-level coaching in its fl eet of 26 Firefl ies at nearby Bough Beech sailing club. The Perse School in Cambridge also excels at sailing, recently
winning the Small Ships Race in the Solent when its
top crew, sailing the Edwardian racing yacht Duet just pipped the famous pilot cutter Jolie Brise, crewed by Dauntsey’s School pupils. So which school to choose for your sporty
youngster? Simply singling out those which regularly win national championships or boast scores of star players can be pointless without a realistic assessment of your child’s potential. Forget a golf scholarship to Millfi eld or cricket-
focussed Outstanding Talent award at Harrow unless he is close to national standard in his chosen sport. For enthusiastic “journeymen” with other strings – academic, musical or artistic – to their bows, it is sensible to look at all-rounder awards in which sport is only one element. Tip off the games staff in advance so they can check out your child beforehand and you are not just relying on a stellar performance on assessment day. Pick a school where your child could fi ll a gap. There is no point putting forward a hopeful fl y-half or hockey goalie for a sports award at schools which already boast a handful of junior internationals in the same positions. For the richly talented however, sports
scholarships can be a huge psychological and fi nancial boost. Rounders international, star sprinter and javelin-thrower Nicolla Weekes won a lucrative 6th form sports scholarship to Forest School, Snaresbrook in Essex and now, aged 19, has landed a prestigious sports bursary at Sussex University where she is reading Maths. Twenty-year-old Charles Wootton from
Stratford-upon-Avon, now a professional cricketer with Leicestershire bagged himself a Cheltenham College sports award after a nerve-wracking assessment day.
r a ne “It’s a lottery,” said his mother
Drenagh. “If you’re up against, say, a couple of brilliant boys, they might get off ered 50% awards and you might get maybe 10 or 20%. As it turnedne out Charles did really well and got a generous scholarship – and he thrived at Cheltenham, which boosted his cricket career, his squash and rackets – and gave him a good all-round education; what more could any parent want?”
Alice Barlow is a London-based journalist specialising in sport, health and fi tness.
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