Brockenhurst College students and teacher reach for international glory

FIVE Brockenhurst College students and a teacher have been called up to represent their country across a range of sports.

Rose Brown has been selected for the England Rugby U18 Talent Development Group for the 2019/20 season. Sophie Jackson was chosen for England colleges netball, while Maddie Larkin and Joe Barber were picked for England colleges hockey. Ben Lucas was also named in the England senior volleyball squad.

In addition to the students’ successes, sport lecturer Mark Jackson was called up to the Great Britain basketball squad.

Eighteen-year-old Rugby Academy star Rose, from Winsor, was chosen for the 31-woman squad during a four-day assessment camp at Whittington Barracks in Lichfield.

The former Noadswood School pupil plays the pivotal outside-centre position, and she will now attend four further camps this season, which will be focused on developing her skills. Rose will also have access to progression support to prepare her for senior Red Roses level.

The current senior team contains 22 former U18 Talent Development Group members among its 28 players.

In addition, Rose has been selected to represent England playing Rugby 7s, which is a faster, slimmed-down version of the game.

Rose said: “My recent success means a lot to me as I have worked hard to get to where I am – it means a lot for it to finally pay off.”

England Rugby performance pathway officer, James Cooper, said: “The Talent Development Group is an important part in the players’ journey.

“The standards and skills developed here put them in a strong position to move forward and realise their potential.”

Lecturer Mark Jackson will represent Great Britain in basketball after his recent call-up, and he praised the students for their hard work to reach their international honours.

Mark said: “I take my hat off to these students because it’s often hard to manage training, games and regional or national colleges training on top of college work and other commitments.

“Each of the students should be proud of themselves, and as a college, we are proud of their success.”

On his own selection success, Mark said: “When you reach a certain age, life can take you away from your passion to play, but Great Britain has offered this great opportunity for ex-professionals like myself to keep their competitive drive going.

“I can’t wait to get out there and represent GB,” he added.