14 | FEATURE: NEW TRENDS IN SPORT I
n days gone by, preparing for school sport after the summer break might have meant packing away your grass-stained cricket
whites, chiselling last season’s dried mud from your boots and desperately hoping your PE kit still fi ts. Now, however, students are more likely to be completing their bespoke summer fi tness programme, checking their latest personalised video analysis or emailing their Director of Sport about conditioning training. While 2014 may have been a
year of mixed fortunes for Britain’s professional footballers, cricketers and rugby players, the success of this year’s Commonwealth Games and the continued legacy of participation from the London Olympics means that for both staff and students, school sport has never been higher on the agenda. Millfi eld School’s Director of Sport,
former Olympic gold medallist and England Hockey performance director David Faulkner, believes that the London Games have given sport a signifi cant new profi le across the British Isles – and that this has translated directly into more interest from students. “All this activity is fi ltered back in at school level,” David explains. “The role of the London Games in
inspiring the next generation of UK elite athletes is unlikely to become clear until the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 – but at grassroots level participation numbers have increased, which can only be positive for school sport. Sport is so important, and it’s up to schools to put the processes in place to ensure that pupils get the best possible experience of it.” One area of continuing growth for
independent schools has been in girls’ sport, where the independent sector is bucking the national trend of falling participation numbers among young women. An example of this can be found at The Royal High School Bath, which this term is launching a new initiative to promote sport for girls, in terms of both participation and excellence. “It’s not just a question of physical
fi tness: sport plays an important role in developing confi dence, resilience and leadership,” outlines school Head Rebecca Dougall. “It helps girls and young woman to become less conscious of how they are seen and more focused on achieving a goal, either individually or as part of a team.” Sara Whittaker, Director of PE and
Games at Farlington School in West Sussex, agrees. “We believe that sport has a positive impact on the girls’ academic and personal lives in terms of self-
RISING STAR #1
›› Name: Jamie Atkinson ›› Age: 17 ›› School: Colston’s School, Bristol ›› Sport: Field Hockey
›› Sporting Hero: "[England Hockey midfi eld/defender] Tim Whiteman, because of his defensive style. The opposition fi nd it hard to beat him and as soon as he gets the ball he always fi nds a team-mate to pass to, even under pressure"
›› Achievements: Jamie reached England Hockey’s under-17 tier one last year, and is now back at the JRPC [Junior Regional Performance Centre], going through the system again
›› Hopes for the future: "I hope to represent my country as a defender – and, if I don’t, to coach others to that level"
1. Physio support is now integral to the sports offer at Prior Park College, Bath
4. Millfield has
recruited a dedicated sports performance analysis leader
2. Olympic bronze medallist Chloe Rogers visits Farlington School
5. Farlington: "Sport impacts positively on the girls' academic and personal lives"
3. Hockey at Prior Park, where strength and conditioning are seen as key
confi dence, health and team-building. It feeds into the girls’ lives, improving their social and personal skills as well as providing a great way to bring the wider school community together for competitive matches and sporting events.” Rhys Gwilliam, Director of Sport at Prior
Park College, Bath and a former Director of Sport at Dean Close School in Cheltenham, believes that the philosophy of school sport has also evolved. “Kids are no longer just a commodity: schools really try to look after them. If students are injured it not only affects their sporting performance – we’ve also noticed that it affects them academically, and as a result we have made physio support more widely available.” There has also been a noticeable change
in training techniques over the past few years, with many department heads and Directors of Sport seeing a shift in coaching towards the individual. One- to-one coaching sessions with trainers are now more common – in rugby, for example, prop forwards and goal kickers require such different skills that it makes sense, if the resources are available, to coach some of the positions separately. In many schools around Britain, sports
coaching has also evolved from the traditional model. Although the majority of schools still have a head of department who is a qualifi ed PE teacher, schools are increasingly recruiting their Directors of Sport from an elite sporting background. Examples include Paul Hull, who in 2011 moved from coaching Bristol Rugby in the English Championship to work at Dean Close as Director of Rugby,
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FEATURE: NEW TRENDS IN SPORT
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