The Warden writes (10th March 2022):

I haven’t blogged much this year, perhaps because there is a limit to how often people need to read my thoughts about coping with the pandemic and life has been dominated by that for so long. Now, of course, just as life is returning to normal, we are facing even more serious challenges in Ukraine and the world seems like a rather dark place. Ironically, from a school point of view, there is much to look forward to as Spring arrives and the daffodils begin to add colour to the campus. However, it is hard to be too upbeat when so many are suffering so much elsewhere.

Let me stay off the politics and the pandemic…it is that time of the year when I remind the school that my father scored the only try of the match for England v. Ireland at Twickenham in 1952 in what must go down as the most absurd game of rugby in history. The match was supposed to have been played in February but was postponed, for the first time ever, because King George VI died. It was rearranged for the end of March and so had to be played then regardless of the conditions. In those days, there was no such thing as health and safety or concern for player welfare and matches never got called off!

A few years ago I found the footage from the match on YouTube. In fact I found two different versions of the same match. Both are magnificent. The older among you will remember that when those leather balls got wet they swelled up and become like a bar of soap, which helps to explain the chaos that you see. The commentary of the shorter is wonderful, while the longer one has more footage and ends with an Irish player trying to start a snowball fight.

You can watch the two clips below.

Sport is not real life, but it can provide a great distraction in tough times. I hope this cheers everyone up!

In case you are confused, a try was only worth three points in those days, hence the final score of 3-0. Oh, and good luck to Ireland on Saturday. It is always a great occasion, but I hope you will not be too disappointed by the result.

 

The Senior Rugby team have had a couple of very strong performances since the Christmas break, narrowly defeating a spirited St Mary’s side in a tight contest in the Forster League and beating De La Salle by 40 points in the Plate competition. It has been great to see what this group are capable of when they have their full squad available. The Juniors have continued to impress despite a string of injuries and illness, causing them to play with a much-changed side in a thrilling 26-26 draw against High School. They also ran out comfortable victors over De La Salle in their second league game which was marked by try-scoring debuts for Form I pupils David Cron and Gonzalo Gutierrez. We also had a very strong performance for a mixed Form I and II team against Templeogue, losing narrowly in a great display of running rugby. We will have a very busy few weeks after half-term with the Juniors and Seniors both well placed in their leagues and shield competitions.

In Girls’ Hockey, the 1st year league will begin after half-term; prospects of a successful campaign are high as Form I have been working hard since September. The Junior As will continue their plate campaign after half-term, playing the semi-final against Temple Carrig on Wednesday, March 2nd in Columba’s; support would be most welcome. It’s been a mixed term for boys’ hockey although there are good signs in our under-13s and Minor teams that the future is looking bright.

In Basketball, the Junior A girls are currently top of their pool while our Minor girls are very competitive with two games left before the play-offs. Our plucky, young Senior boys team are improving their skills all the time.

On an individual level, congratulations to Kjell Laudon (pictured) on his achievements in the Leinster Schools’ Swimming Championships recently: he won bronze in the 100m Back Stroke with a new personal best time, and also came 4th in the 400m Free-Style, also with a new personal best.

St. Columba’s College is delighted to announce details of our new Golf Academy. The Golf Academy programme will provide the opportunity for elite junior golfers to take part in a structured golfing programme, making use of the excellent golf facilities at St. Columba’s, while also attending Ireland’s leading boarding and day school. The College is already home to our fantastic and challenging 9-hole golf course – the home of Kilmashogue GC – but will also be providing a full indoor trackman and putting studio, as well as an outdoor wedge range. We’re also delighted to announce a collaboration with our neighbouring course Stackstown Golf Club, home to three-time major winner Padraig Harrington. Members of the academy, limited to a maximum of 12 pupils for 2022, will automatically have junior membership to Stackstown GC and can play in their weekly competitions. In addition, the College is surrounded by some world-class golf courses, including Grange GC. The programme will be coordinated by PGA Golf Professional Josh Adams, who has extensive experience with young golfers at Golf Ireland’s National Academy, Stackstown, Woodbrook and Rathfarnham golf clubs. We’re delighted to receive an endorsement from former Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley also:

I love to see the endeavour, progress and investment that St Columba’s College has made with their golf programme. Golf is a very important and necessary tool in today’s world, with its opportunities for networking and building relationships, which are key to any success.”

We are extremely excited about the potential for our Golf Academy in the years to come. For more information on golf at St. Columba’s and the Golf Academy visit our dedicated page here.

Despite the difficulties, the sports programme in the College continues at full pace, with additional coaching and measures in place to ensure safe participation. The school timetable is adjusted over the winter months to maximise the opportunity for afternoon sport. There have been plenty of rugby, hockey and basketball fixtures over the past few weeks while pupils were also able to play golf, tennis, cross-country running, archery and attend the gym in the afternoons.

Form V pupil Tom Larke returned from representing the Irish under-18 Clubs Rugby squad in an international fixture against Italy, over half-term, to help the Senior boys continue their solid season to date. While unfortunately they were eliminated from the cup by a strong Gorey side, the Seniors are now building for their league campaign in the new year. It has been great to see 35 players representing the 1st XV this term, showing the depth they are building. The Juniors were very unlucky in the quarterfinal of the Duff Cup losing a very tight game against St. Conleth’s (their first loss of the season). They will now concentrate on their league quarter-final after Christmas. The Form I boys have continued to grow in confidence and have had some great performances and results including beating De La Salle and Newpark in a blitz just before the end of term. They’re pictured above after defeating their “arch-rivals” Headfort School. Many thanks to Mr. O’Herlihy, the Head of Rugby, and all the teachers and coaches who help ensure our teams are enjoying the sport while also being competitive in their respective leagues.

The hockey seasons continues at an extraordinary pace, with weekly fixtures for both boys and girls, across the age range. The girls’ squads have had great success with notable wins for Senior XI against Kilkenny College and the Minor A’s against Mount Sackville, courtesy of a goal from Clara Seeling. The boys’ squads have also been playing well. The Minor XI had some great performances of late, including a great win against Wesley Bs. The Junior boys’ had some tight matches, unfortunately finishing on the losing side in recent matches. The Senior XI secured second place in their league after two excellent play-off wins against Mount Temple (1-0, goal by Andrew Maguire) and Wesley B (2-1, goals from Antonius Kruse, Johannes Pabsch).

In basketball, the Senior boys continued their league campaign with matches against Blackrock, Temple Carrig, Woodlands College and Avondale, with mixed fortunes. They are a young team and improving all the time. The girls’ squads have been playing well in their respective leagues. The Cadettes (under-16) had good wins over Loreto Dalkey, Coláiste Ráithín and Temple Carrig in recent weeks while the Seniors fell to the same opposition in tight matches.

It has been wonderful to see the full sports programme return this term, with the necessary regulations being followed carefully to ensure a safe yet enjoyable experience for players and coaches. It’s been an extremely busy eight weeks for our young athletes. The full games programme is now up and running with daily training for the traditional College sports (rugby, hockey, basketball) being supplemented by our excellent AGC (Athletic Gymnastic Conditioning) programme, tennis, polocrosse and golf.

In hockey, the red, white and green jerseys are back on the field with over 40 competitive girls hockey fixtures completed already. It’s been similar number of fixtures in the boys game, with plenty of potential from all our young athletes. The senior boys were unlucky to lose their All Ireland qualifier recently to Newpark Comprehensive. They battled back to score at the death, forcing a shoot out, but narrowly lost. Many congratulations to Form III pupil Harry St. Leger who captained the Leinster Under 16 squad during their inter-provincial series. The basketball season took a little longer to get going, but training did take place in the September sunshine before going indoors when the restrictions allowed. There have been a number of friendly fixtures played to date with competitive league games beginning after half term. In rugby, the senior squad have had a good start to the season with convincing wins over De La Salle and St Conleth’s and a close loss to Templeogue College. The senior development side played a very competitive fixture against Clongowes earlier this week but came out second best to a well drilled side. The junior squad are off to a dream start with three wins from three and are showing amazing potential. The Form I and II boys have played some very good matches against De La Salle and Mount Temple also and will look forward to more games after half term. More individual honours: congratulations to Form V pupil Tom Larke, he has been selected to represent the Ireland Under 18 club team against their Italian counterparts (in Italy) over half term.

Experienced horse riders have been the opportunity to play polocrosse (a mixture of polo and lacrosse) and the fine autumnal weather has provided plenty of opportunity to play tennis and golf (on our excellent and challenging nine hole golf course). There are some exciting developments being announced soon about our golf programme – stay tuned!

The best place to find details on our sports fixtures, and their results, can be found on our Twitter feed.

Congratulations to Form V pupil Tom Larke who has been selected as part of the IRFU U18s Clubs rugby squad for the upcoming international match against Italy U18s on 30th October in Treviso. Tom will train with his squad during the half term break before travelling to Italy.

Tom’s success emanates from his recent involvement with the Leinster Rugby U18 Club side, where he twice started at out-half for Leinster in the interprovincial series against Munster, Connacht and Ulster. He is a key player for the Senior squad and plays his club rugby with Old Wesley RFC.

The whole school is extremely proud of his achievement.

 

The Senior Rugby Team took a break from non-contact training last week to take on the ‘Jerusalema Dance Challenge’, made famous recently by the Springboks. They were choreographed by Mr. Havenga. Great work boys #StaySafe

While we couldn’t maintain the traditions of a normal Sports’ Day this year, we did move it online… check it all out in this film.

Sincere thanks to Mrs Johnson for organising the day, Ms Thompson for putting the film together, Reverend Owen for lots of photographs, and all pupils, parents and staff who participated.

 

Mrs Johnson thanks all who participated in the first-ever SCC Virtual Sports’ Day on Wednesday. It was great to see so many contributions from the Columban community (including family members) from around the world.

A film of the day is being put together, and will be available here before long.

(featured photo from last year, of course).

Meanwhile, here is Mrs Johnson’s announcement about the winners…

The senior girls basketball team wrapped up the season a little differently yesterday and said farewell to the Sixth Formers, Captain Calina Sacolax, Avouka Assebian and Abbie O’Brien.

It was great catching up with the team and we would like to congratulate the following

  • Most Valuable Player – Charlotte Moffitt
  • Most Improved player – Maybelle Rainey
  • Defensive player of the year – Raphaela Ihuoma.

The team is excited and looking forward to building on their skills for next season.

Last Friday the Warden held an online ‘Assembly’ for Sixth Formers and their teachers, since all academic work has now finished for them.

During Assembly he announced the winners of the 2019-2020 Form Prizes, based on work done since September: Megan Bulbulia, Sophia Cole, Camila Garcia Herrera, Dmytro Kasianenko, Eliza Somerville, Tania Stokes.

Prizes for other Forms will be announced in June.

Every year, during the annual Sports’ Dinner, ‘Colours’ are awarded to those who are deemed exceptional in every way in their sport: ability, attitude, commitment on and off the playing field, consistency, reliability, character and courage. Last Friday, during a virtual assembly with Form VI pupils, Director of Sport Liam Canning awarded ‘Colours’ to the following leavers:

  • Boys’ hockey: Andrew Pollock, Alexis Haarmann, Till Schultheis
  • Girls’ hockey: Sophia Cole, Cato Oldenburg
  • Rugby: Alexis Haarmann, Peter Keogh, Thady McKeever, Philip Shekleton, Sakhile Khumalo.

Congratulations to all the Form Prize winners and those who have been awarded Colours.

The College is delighted to announce details of a fantastic charitable event taking place this April – Run til the Sun! On Saturday, April 25th, Old Columban Alex Panayotou – an accomplished long-distance runner – will challenge herself to run for 24 hours around the College campus. She is looking for your support along the way – both financial and physical – to complete this mammoth challenge.

The event is being organised by a committee of pupils, who have decided that all proceeds from the event should go to Purple House Cancer Support – a fantastic charitable organisation based in Bray that provide hands-on practical support for children and teenagers with cancer. They have set up a fundraising page here where all donations, large and small, will be gratefully received.

You will soon be able to sign up to join Alex on a leg of her journey; perhaps you’re willing to run for a half-hour, 10 kilometres or even something more ambitious? You can run in the morning, afternoon, evening or even at night time – with the course illuminated along the way. The event will culminate with a celebratory barbeque at the Cricket Pavillion on Sunday evening.

The pupils have created a dedicated page for the event here and a donations page here. They have a fundraising target of €8000, which would be transformational for Purple House, as the vast majority of their funding is through donations. We were delighted to welcome Purple House to the College Chapel last Monday to hear about the work they did and some of the organising committee visited their facility in Bray a few weeks ago. Alex is a cancer survivor, another reason why the charity resonated with the pupils.

So please do get involved, donate to the cause, sponsor a runner or run a leg of the journey yourself. We would love the whole community to get involved – pupils, staff, parents, Old Columbans, friends of the College and even local primary schools.

Basketball

In basketball, the Senior and Gadette Girls have reached the quarterfinal stages of the league while the Junior and Minor Girls have had great success in all their friendly games this term which is setting them up nicely for their leagues which will start in January. This term traditionally ends with the annual Christmas blitz; there was an abundance of colour, energy and sporting endeavour (oh, and silly hats and tinsel).

Hockey

The boys’ senior team have had a difficult season with a dismal return of only two draws in their 6 league matches.  They have played some good hockey at times but find it difficult to exert enough pressure on opposition defences. There have been some good individual performances along the way but perhaps not enough gelling as a team.

The Junior teams have shown some promise thus far this term. The Junior A team are on track for a playoff match in their league but they will need to win some crucial games against St Kilians and Sutton Park after Christmas. The Junior B team is effectively a Form III team and they are being primed for future success.  They have played five matches only losing one against a strong Newpark team.

The minor team have a lot of potential and they have played some excellent hockey at times. They are in a very tough pool in their league having to play against perennial winners of the league Wesley and St Andrew’s College.  As they continue to improve it will be interesting to see them challenge for the u14 cup.

The U13 team is possibly one of the stronger Form I teams we have had for a while. They had a narrow defeat against St Andrew’s College losing 1-2 in a match that could have gone either way. Their remaining matches are against teams sitting at the bottom of the table and wins over them would boost them into a playoff position. Special mention must go to Harry St Leger who has been playing some fantastic hockey. He also sets a good example in his attitude towards training. Most importantly he is eager to learn from his coaches in order to improve.

Rugby

The rugby teams have been training hard this term.  Even though we lost many sessions to the wettest November in recent history we still managed to play SCT and JCT cup games v Enniscorthy and Skerries respectively. We also played friendlies against Wilsons Hospital, Blackrock, Kings Hospital, Clongowes and Headfort.  Whilst we have struggled against the bigger schools we have performed well in all matches. We look forward to Shield competitions and league knockouts next term.

Judo

Well done to Kate Dementyeva and Georgy Dementiev who competed in the All Ireland Schools Judo Championship and had some good success. Kate won a Silver medal in the Junior Girls <52kg division, and Georgy got a win out of 4 tough matches in Junior Boys <50kg.

Golf

Once our Senior pupils play one of our ‘traditional team’ sports they can choose an additional sport or activity. This year a new initiative was introduced which is proving very popular. Hopefully, it will lead to more of our pupils taking up and playing golf on our nine-hole golf course in their free time. Nine pupils, five senior boys and four girls, are taking weekly golf lessons with Josh Adams a PGA professional in Stackstown golf club. When the weather is too poor be played outside they use an indoor facility featuring a Trackman golf simulator. Our Junior pupils were offered the same optional opportunity on Sundays but there was very little take-up. Perhaps there will be more interest when the weather improves and the days get longer.

Archery

Form IV pupil Avi Johnson reports on archery this term:

On Saturday mornings, we have five academic classes. After that most of us break off to play our respective sports and get some exercise. One sport that is more hidden than the mainstream is archery. Archery is a non-reflexive sport that is as skilled as it is difficult. At 3:30 pm after the mixed basketball is finished, the archery team flock into the Sportshall.

Our coach Pat McLoughlin is always there to greet us. We set up the stands and string up our bows and begin our training. Normally we have target faces to shoot at but this term we have refrained from using them. We do this so that we are not thinking about which coloured ring we are going to hit, but rather how our shooting feels. Without the distraction of the target, we can feel how good or bad our shots are. Our coach Pat will go even further and ask us to close our eyes ‘Star Wars’ style and really ‘feel’ the firing and ‘force’ of the arrow when shooting.

Our team, consisting of Iona Chavasse, Gioia Doenhoff, Zian Wang, Avi Johnston and the new recruits Tessa Pullman and Iris Foster have really improved. The training with no target faces means that we now know how to self improve our shots and fix small mistakes without guidance. Thanks to Pat’s training we are ready for the inter-school competitions coming in the new year.

We aim to repeat and improve on our successes from last year. Team Captain Avi Johnston is confident that her team will be ready when the competitive season hits.

Sports Photos

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The College, along with our partners Kilmashogue Golf Club, hosted the inaugural ‘Lionel Munn’ Golf Trophy competition for Sixth Class Primary Schools last week and it proved a tremendous success. The day consisted of the complete spectrum of weather conditions ranging from tropical sunshine to a torrential deluge accompanied by thunder and lightning, meaning all players were called off the course. One group managed to play eight holes and all others seven. So the competition was decided on seven holes.

The Best Boy’s prize was won by Aaron Nolan representing Lios na nOg,  playing off a 27 handicap with a very respectable 13 points. The Best Girl’s prize was won by Ana Abom representing Loreto Primary School off a 25 handicap with an equally respectable 13 points. The Team Prize was won by Loreto Primary School represented by Ana Abom and Sophie Considine.

Very well done to all players, parents, schools and the Kilmashogue Golf Club volunteers, headed by Geoff Brooks. It was fantastic to see so many smiling and positive young faces enjoying and playing golf.

On Saturday last the annual Sports Day took place. The College was awash with colour and, thankfully, sunshine as the boys and girls competed in a range of events from traditional track and field to tug of war (and everything in between). In the end, it was the Blue Team that triumphed!

That evening our annual Sports Dinner took place in the Dining Hall, celebrating the sporting achievements of individual pupils and their collective teams. The assembled pupils, staff and coaches were treated to an extraordinary speech from our guest Old Columban Alex Panayotou; Alex is an ultra-endurance athlete whose story is awe-inspiring.

College ‘Colours’ are awarded to those who are deemed exceptional in every way in their sport: ability, attitude, commitment on and off the playing field, consistency, reliability, character and courage. This year ‘Colours’ were awarded to Avouka Assebian (Athletics), Georg Mueller-Methling (Hockey) and Orla Conlon Batey, Helen Crampton, Anna Laurenceau and Valeria McQuillen (all Hockey). Congratulations to them.

The following were appointment captains of their respective sports for the next academic year:

  • Athletics (Boys) – Leo Moreau
  • Athletics (Girls) – Avouka Assebian
  • Basketball (Boys) – Pedro Grimalt
  • Basketball (Girls) – Calina Sacolax
  • Cricket (Boys) – Daniel Swift (Vice Capt Thaddy McKeever)
  • Cricket (Girls) – Eile ni Chianain
  • Cross Country – Shannon Dent
  • Hockey (Boys) – Alexis Haarman
  • Hockey (Girls) – Sophia Cole (Vice Capt Megan Bulbulia)
  • Rugby – Thaddy McKeever (Vice Philip Shekeleton)

Below is a collection of photos from the day’s activities, courtesy of Rev Owen.

The end of the Hilary Term generally marks the end of the rugby, hockey and basketball season so it is the perfect time to reflect on the season as a whole. The final few weeks are always busy and usually involved some high-stakes knock out games, in all codes.

Firstly, to Basketball. Congratulations to the Minor Girls Basketball team (pictured above) who were crowned South Dublin Basketball League champions after defeating Holy Child Killiney (after double overtime) in the thrilling final of their league on Monday. Raichael Murray scored the winning basket with six seconds remaining in the game while Elizabeth Hart was awarded the MVP for her outstanding performance. The Minor Girls also reached the East Region semifinal lost narrowly to Mt. Anville 16-18. This was the first year, in recent College history, that the Minor Girls we have reached the knock out stages in this competition. The Junior Girls reached the East Region quarterfinals back in February losing to St. Colmcilles. They also missed out on a place in the South Double League with a loss to Sion Hill in early March, despite a great defensive hustle from the dynamic Spanish duo of Laura Casasus and Lucia Garcia. In January, the Senior Girls played their South Dublin Basketball League semifinal against Loreto Dalkey; Kate Maylor, the team captain, led the charge with great passion and spirit but, despite the team’s best efforts, they lost 30-36.

The Senior Rugby squad played a friendly against a touring German team Rugby Klub 03 from Berlin (coached by a former member of staff Graham Dean, photo above) with Peter Keogh scoring a hat-trick. Their season finished on Saturday 23rd with an internal Stayers (4th and 5th form) v Leavers (6th form), it was great to see many boys return to the rugby pitch for the last time at St. Columba’s. The Junior Rugby squad qualified for the quarter-finals of their post-Christmas league, losing in the final minutes against Blackrock J4’s in a nail-biting game. Tibradden have played a regular series of games against Clongowes, St Pauls and De La Salle in recent weeks.

The Senior Boys Hockey team had a largely unsuccessful season in the league but they had an opportunity to get their hands on some silverware in the Senior Trophy. They eased through their quarterfinal against Sutton Park winning 3-0. However, they were then drawn against a strong Wesley College team in the semifinal.  Even though the team put up an excellent fight they were well beaten.  A special mention must go to Georg Mueller-Methling who had an excellent year as captain of the team.The minor team is one to watch for the future!  There are a number of players in this team who have the potential to play on representative teams.  The highlight of their season was reaching their league final which they narrowly lost 2-3 to The Kings Hospital.The u13 team were easily the most improved team. They struggled early on in the league managing only a draw. The second half of the season included an excellent cup run. They reached the semifinal of the cup playing against St Andrew’s College A team. Andrew’s had won the league while we lost to their B team in the same competition. At full time the score was 2-2, a fantastic achievement, but unfortunately, we lost in extra time. Frederik Strantz had a remarkable season playing matches for every age group from u13s all the way to up to the Senior Team. He is one to watch out for in seasons to come!

Over one hundred Girls Hockey matches were played this season, across the Senior (4 teams), Junior (2 teams) and Minor (2 teams) panels.  It was fantastic to see the great progress made both individually and by teams.  The remaining Senior players next season will be complemented by a set of strong Junior players and likewise, the remaining junior players will be bolstered by an enthusiastic and competent set of players from the Minor teams.  The season ended with an Iona vs Hollypark match, in which Iona emerged victorious (3-0, photo from the match above taken by Amy Cosgrove). Much thanks must be given to all the coaching staff for their time, enthusiasm and commitment, but in particular to Mrs Johnson, Ms Harkin and Dr Rice from the academic staff. Well done to the following girls who received an award in recognition of their fine season:

  • Best Minor Goalkeeper: Valentina McAree
  • Best Junior Goalkeeper: Ealga Ejase Tobrise
  • Best Senior Goalkeeper: Orla Conlon Batey, Antonia Bullrich, Camilla Garcia, Elise Williams
  • Best Minor Defender: Ines de Castro Ferreira Lopes
  • Best Junior Defender: Emily McCarthy
  • Best Senior Defender: Charlotte Moffitt & Georgia Keegan Wignall
  • Top Goal Scorer: Eva Dillenberger
  • Most Improved Player:
    • Minor B: Abbie Murray
    • Minor A: Laura Casasus
    • Junior B: Iona Chavasse
    • Junior A: Elys Walker
    •  4th XI: Paula Ruiz
    •  3rd XI: Caroline Ratibor
    • 2nd XI: Tatjana Hopkins
    • 1st XI: Éile Ní Chaináin

The summer games programme is already underway; athletics, cricket, tennis, golf and football are the summer games in the College.

Well done again to our Sailing Team who competed at last weekend’s All Ireland Schools Sailing Event in Sutton. Alas, neither crew finished among the medals but they competed valiantly. After a successful first day, bad luck followed them on the second. One of the boats, crewed by brother Denis and Max Cully, capsized while the other boat, with Katherine Kelly & Jack O’Hora onboard, broke a mast when colliding with one of the safety boats. These unfortunate series of events scuppered their chances but they still managed to finish a respectable 13th out of 18 schools competing.

The College’s top sailor, Transition Year pupil Tim Norwood, unfortunately didn’t compete at the schools event this year as he was attending the Irish Sailing Association’s Helmsman’s Championship in Dun Laoghaire. Tim has had an extremely successful summer of sailing, winning at the RS Feva Eastern Championships in May and the RS Feva Inland Championships in July and, most recently, the RS Feva Southern Championships in Baltimore. He finished third at the RS Feva National Championships and fourth at the European RS Feva Championships, sailing the only Irish boat at the UK hosted event. He is currently ranked the number one RS Feva sailor in Ireland – a fantastic achievement.

Sailing is becoming an increasingly popular sport amongst our pupils and hopefully we will see further success for our pupils in the coming years – watch this space!

Tom Norwood, on the right, competing for Ireland earlier this summer.

The College was buzzing on Saturday as sport took centre stage once again.  In the afternoon the main events of Sports Day took place, with pupils assigned to one of four teams (red, blue, green and white). The campus was awash with colour as the pupils competed in a wide range of events ranging from the traditional track and field fare (short & long distance running, long jump, high jump etc) to skills based challenges (cricket throw, rugby conversions, soccer penalties, basketball throws etc) to some less traditional events (like the three-legged and caterpillar race). The final races are traditionally the “cloister dash” – a 100 yard sprint from the Hurley Lane gate to Chapel Square. The race is only contested by Form VI pupils and the winners this year were Sasha Cole and Franz Truchsess. Well done to everyone who competed – Sports Day is, for many, the highlight of the year and this year certainly didn’t disappoint. Well done to everyone on the Blue Team for amassing the most points over all the events. Many thanks to Ms. Thompson and Mrs. Johnson, in particular, but to all the teaching and sports coaching staff for their seamless running of the day’s events.

That evening the College’s sporting successes were celebrated at our annual Sports Dinner, with ‘colours’ awarded to those pupils who have excelled in their chosen sports this year. Colours for Rugby were presented to Sean Cooper, Hector Wright, Adam Murphy, Max Hopkins, Kosi Anyim and Joe Gernon. In Basketball, colours were presented to Ryan Gumsheimer, Franz Truchsess and Tiernan Mullane. In Hockey, colours were presented to Ivan Moffit, Sean Cooper, Kitty Morris, Sasha Cole and Ella Noeldeke and in Cricket, colours were awarded to Helen Crampton. The overall Sports Pupils of the Year were awarded to Sean Cooper and Kitty Morris, for their contribution to College sport over the past six years.

Below are a series of photographs, taken by Rev. Owen, from the weekend’s sporting events.