Sporting Success

National champions in cricket, football, target rifle shooting, tennis and sailing; England Test, T20 and ODI Cricket caps and a Premier League contract; national, county and club representative honours; a host of finalists, semi-finalists and impressive results across a number of sports and age groups; 2022 has seen unprecedented sporting success achieved by Bradfield College pupils, past and present.

Our Co-Curricular Programme consistently provides experiences outside of the classroom which benefit pupils in their academic and pastoral settings and is where the foundations of these sporting successes lie. In a year like no other on the sports pitches, these individual and team accomplishments embody the values that shape our pupils.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT OUR TIME HERE. WHAT I AM LEARNING NOW WILL SHAPE WHO I AM FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
Harry, Captain of the double-winning 1stXI football team

One of the characteristics of our first teams is that they cover all age groups. No sport has embodied this more than girls’ cricket this year with pupils from all five year groups winning the School Sports Magazine U18 T20 Cup.

The girls secured the title in a thrilling final thanks to several impressive individual performances, including that of Berkshire County player Poppy who scored an unbeaten 48 in the semi-final and took five wickets for just ten runs in the final to help Bradfield clinch a 30-run victory.

Old Bradfieldians have also starred as professional cricketers, none more so than Lauren Bell who received her debut England Test, T20 and ODI caps in the South Africa series.

The trio of Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Harry Came (Derbyshire) and Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire) have played key roles for their counties, the latter also taking wickets for The Hundred’s Welsh Fire.

This year’s Cricket Captain, Sheridon Gumbs recently set a Surrey County Cricket Club record, his unbeaten 259 the highest score by an academy player in club history, before making his debut for the 1stXI and earning a call-up to the England Young Lions squad.

The Bradfield Waifs, the College’s alumni team, produced a stunning bowling display in the final of The Nicholson Cricketer Cup in late July to lift the trophy for the first time since 2005.

Lauren Bell (J 17-19) made her England Test, ODI and T20 debuts this summer

Our double-winning 1stXI boys' football team

SHOOTING WAS A NEW SPORT FOR ME AT BRADFIELD AND I’VE LOVED IT. IT’S A VERY SOCIAL ACTIVITY WHICH HAS HELPED ME GROW INTO A CONFIDENT LEADER AND REPRESENT MY COUNTRY.
Keisha, GB ‘Atheling’ U18 Cadet Rifle Team Member

Back in March the boys’ 1st XI football team secured the Hudl Independent Schools League (ISL) title before winning the Boodles Independent Schools Football Association Cup (ISFA), helping Bradfield become the first school to win both competitions in the same year. Striker Callum McFarlane, whose hat-trick helped secure a 4-0 victory in the Cup final, has signed a professional contract with Premier League Fulham FC scoring on his PL2 debut and many pupils were called up to ISFA national representative teams throughout the season.

Meanwhile, our U16 boys reached the semi-finals of the English Schools Football Association Cup; a hugely impressive feat given the competition begins with over 500 school teams, and our alumni team reached the last four of this year’s Arthur Dunn Cup.

Bradfield’s Co-Curricular Programme enables girls and boys to compete alongside one another and no mixed sports team has achieved success quite like our target rifle shooters.

Having produced at least one member of a United Kingdom or Great Britain Cadet Rifle Team in each of the past eight years our current crop of pupils continued this streak.

Keisha and Rory earned selection for the GB ‘Athelings’ U18 Team and Maya and Bella represented the UKCRT U17s.

Alumna Christina Cuming has also received a first call up to the senior GB Rifle team to compete in Canada in 2023.

In a season which saw success in almost every competition they entered, including the Epsom Challenge Cup, Berkshire County Championships, the small-bore Country Life Championship and the CCRS Cadet Forces .22 Trophy, our first team of eight girls and boys won the historic Ashburton Challenge Shield at Bisley, the major prize in school rifle shooting, securing victory with a sizeable 13-point margin over their nearest rivals.

IT HAS BEEN AN OUTSTANDING YEAR FOR BRADFIELD SPORT AND THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. OUR PUPILS HAVE DISPLAYED THE COLLEGE’S VALUES, NOT JUST ON THE SPORTS PITCHES, BUT OFF THEM TOO.

Matt Ruxton, Director of Sport

Senior boys' tennis team and Head Coach Damian Fuller with the Youll Cup

Our 1stXI boys' hockey team reached the England Hockey Schools U18 Tier 2 National Cup final

Tennis has gone from strength to strength since the introduction of the clay courts at the College. Our pupils used their experiences on the surface to their advantage with the senior boys winning a maiden Youll Cup for the College at the Independent Schools Tennis Association Championships (ISTA) this summer. Our senior girls also enjoyed success, winning the Loveband Plate while our junior boys claimed the Springthorpe Cup U15 Consolation Trophy. Tom and Jack, two of the Youll Cup winning side, represented an ISTA team at Wimbledon this summer with senior girls’ Captain Tina called up as a reserve.

It has also been a strong season for boys’ hockey. Our 1st XI reached the final of the Notts Sport England Hockey Schools U18 Tier 2 National Cup, narrowly missing out on the trophy in a thrilling contest at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre.

Meanwhile, Bradfieldians continue to progress through the national Player Pathway system; Jazzy is in contention for England U16 girls’ selection and Harry captained England’s U16 boys in their Easter international fixture series.

BRADFIELDIANS LEARN TO UNDERSTAND THE SPORT IN WHICH THEY ARE EXCELLING AND THAT COMES FROM HAVING A HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL COACHING SET UP ACROSS ALL SPORTS IN WHICH BOTH TEACHING STAFF AND EXTERNAL COACHES PLAY A KEY ROLE.

Roger Wall, Deputy Head (Co-Curricular)

Elsewhere, Zahra, Lola and Ella, all key members of the U16 girls’ netball team which reached the England Netball South Regional finals, have been selected for the Surrey Storm U17 Academy, Development Programme and ASPIRE Programme respectively; Sixth Form rower Guy represented Great Britain in the Coupe de la Jeunesse, the premier European rowing event for juniors; alumnus Angus Flanagan represented Great Britain and Ireland at the most recent edition of the Walker Cup on the back of several impressive performances in amateur golf tournaments which led to an invitation to play at the PGA Tour’s 3M Open; our boys’ U16 squash team qualified for the England Squash National Plate Finals in March and our Old Bradfieldian sailors raced to victory in the Arrow Trophy alumni regatta, the school’s fifth triumph since first racing in 2002.

The record speaks for itself; sport at Bradfield is thriving and our pupils rise to every challenge.

OUR PUPILS’ OUTSTANDING SUCCESS IS RICHLY DESERVED. THEIR SPORTING ENDEAVOURS PROVIDE MEMORIES AND LESSONS FOR LIFE.
Dr Chris Stevens, Headmaster

From the November 2022 issue of

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