Telegraph Awards Finalists

When Repton won the Daily Telegraph Independent Sports School of the Year award in 2008, and Charlotte Craddock (now a full England hockey international) won Female Pupil of the Year, few would have dared predict that just two years later the ongoing success of school teams on a national level would again propel Repton into the nominations spotlight. This year, however, Repton is once more fighting it out with Victoria College, Jersey and Whitgift School, Surrey for the Independent School of the Year title, while footballer Johnny Gorman vies for ascendancy in the Male Pupil of the Year section.

This second tilt at glory comes courtesy of an unprecedently successful year for Repton sport. In March the girls’ hockey squad, under the expert tutelage of Martin Jones, extended their incredible run of National U18 Hockey titles to a sixth successive year. They also won the National Schools Indoor trophy, a “double” never previously achieved by any other team, ending the season with a stunning record of played 33, won 33, goals for 196, goals against 23, including wins against the England U16 and Rotterdam U18 teams, and National League clubs Belper, Sheffield Hallam and Cannock. The boys’ 1st X1, not to be outdone, won their own National U18 Hockey title for the first time, another marvellous achievement.

Repton’s footballers also had an outstanding season, reaching Independent Schools Football Association finals for the first time, at U15 and Ist XI level, and winning the Independent Schools Football Association Six-a-Side Tournament. One of the club’s star players was undoubtedly Johnny Gorman, who while in the Lower Sixth and still only 17 had the distinction of playing two full senior international matches for Northern Ireland, one of them against Chile in a World Cup warm-up match. He has also been awarded a professional contract with Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, and is clearly a strong contender for the Daily Telegraph individual title.

Besides these achievements the U15 cricket team reached the finals of the national 20/20 competition, the Girls’ tennis team won the National Independent Schools’ Loveband Trophy and were runners-up in the AEGON Team Tennis Schools National Championships and the School’s golf team won the Independent Schools’ Golf Association Shire Trophy.

The Aviva/Daily Telegraph School Sports Matters Awards will take place on November 3rd at a luncheon at Wembley Stadium. On the judging panel are Dame Kelly Holmes, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, James Cracknell, Darren Campbell and Brian Moore, among others. We congratulate the Repton contingent on their nominations, and wish them well as they await the final verdict.