Headmaster's blog: On the Up

Red Hoodies at stadium

In his latest headmaster's blog, Mr Hooke examines the upward surge taking place across Harrodian sport

There’s no doubt what is the must-have wardrobe item for footie-mad Harrodian males this November. Enlivening every courtyard and corner on their return from half term holiday were groups of animated older Prep and younger Senior boys proudly disporting themselves in Harrodian hoodies in a blazing shade of red.

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These vivid garments have acquired a special kudos thanks to their role as uniform for the squad of 11-14 year old footballers, 37 strong, who spent half term on what I quickly discovered was a highly productive six-day tour to Madrid led by Mr Soleimani. Alongside match fixtures, the tour set out to introduce the boys to the training culture that has made Real Madrid arguably the greatest club in the world. Four practice sessions took place at Real’s state-of-the-art training ground and Harrodians also toured their famous Bernabeu stadium (where they met Welsh ‘galactico’, Gareth Bale) and took in the La Liga game between Real and Levante. According to 12-year-old Tom, the ‘special team spirit’ bonding the different year groups in Madrid made it ‘the best tour ever’. Thus inspired, the three teams excelled themselves on the pitch, winning nine of their 12 matches against tough local opposition.

According to 12-year-old Tom, the ‘special team spirit’ bonding the different year groups made it ‘the best tour ever’

 

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I was thrilled but not surprised by this news. Across both sexes and all our major sports – football, rugby, cricket, netball, hockey, swimming, tennis and athletics – Harrodian teams are increasingly on the up: playing better and competing more strongly year by year. Sporting success can be elusive for a new school – in the 1990s we sometimes struggled to find the players to raise a full football or hockey team. But today’s Harrodian has 1000 pupils to select from, allowing us to consistently put out a full set of well-drilled and well-motivated teams every week.

A glance at our ‘honours board’ shows that more Harrodians of both sexes are now making their mark at representative level

 

Individual excellence is also increasingly in evidence as I found out on a visit to the café. There I ran into Sixth Former Elisa, an outstanding young tennis player who brought me up to date both with her progress on the international, junior tennis circuit and the offer of two separate college scholarship offers in the United States.  And a glance at new additions to the ‘honours board’ outside the PE department classroom shows that more Harrodians of both sexes are now making their mark at representative level in cricket, football and rugby.059_Harrodian.jpg

The success enjoyed by our touring sides reflects this new prowess.  We have high hopes for tours scheduled for the rest of the school year, amongst them a pre-Christmas rugby trip to Manchester (featuring a visit to the Sale Sharks), a girls’ hockey tour to Rotterdam over Christmas and our regular ski racing trip in March.

Our impressive sports department, led by Ben Proudfoot, deserves huge credit for Harrodian sport’s steady upward curve, our growing strength in depth and for the ebullient but sporting team spirit that has become a Harrodian trademark. Just as important, my own regular wanderings around the Harrodian pitches tell me this progress has not come at the expense of pupils with less sporting appetite or skill. The popularity of Senior sport on Wednesday afternoons is a case in point. Compulsory though it is for all 280 of our 15-18-year-olds, thanks to its sheer variety, the programme is highly popular.

Senior Harrodians now have the chance to keep fit and participate in sport in ways that suit them

 

Pipfit%202.jpgToday’s senior Harrodians now have the chance to train and play for Harrodian in our Under 18 squads or to keep fit and participate in ways that suit them, whether that means ‘High Intensity Training’ on the tennis courts, a yoga session in the Mindfulness Studio, strength and conditioning in the Fitness Studio or a session of recreational football managed by ‘Mr Proudy and Mr Swindy’. No wonder they all seem to be having such a good time.

Stop Press!!  This weekend our Under 13s A football team beat Downsend School (3-1) and won the Surrey Cup. The Under 14 girls' netball squad played on Sunday and came fifth in the U14 National Schools Netball Finals.