More Brockenhurst College athletes called up to compete than ever before

MORE Brockenhurst College athletes than ever before have earned the right to compete at either county, regional, national or international level this academic year.

Cricketer Tomas Cheater was selected to play professionally with Hampshire County Cricket, while Amelie Whitaker was selected to play professional cricket for Southern Vipers.

Meanwhile, Kimberley Barnes, Maisy Cook and Tristan Neil earned places to represent Great Britain in taekwondo, and Lauren Thorne did the same in karate.

Despite being aged just 17, Kayleigh Aitken-Robinson joined the Surrey U19 netball squad.

Also, Tara King made the step-up to England U19 women’s squad and was selected to attend an elite training camp in Portugal during the February half-term.

In football, Ben Dukes, Otis Jude Kinyanjui and Will Hall were called up to represent Hampshire U18s.

Students studying under Brock’s Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) have also made their mark this year.

Diver Milo French was in action at national level, while Emma Bolton won two silvers and a bronze by diving at the South East Regional Championships.

Also in the pool, swimmer Isaac Ellis competed in the Swim England Winter Nationals, claiming two season’s best times and one personal best time in front crawl that broke his club’s record.

Tabitha Proudley (hurdles) and Lottie-Rose Van Der Helstraete (triathlon) participated at the national level.

Meanwhile, Max Cuckney competed in wakeboarding at national and world championship levels and motorbike racing prodigy Brodie Crockford competed in the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Cup.

In team sport, the men’s rugby team beat rivals Lord Wandsworth College to lift the Hampshire Plate in the Hampshire Play Competition at Winchester Rugby Club.

In addition, the men’s cricket team won the Association of Colleges competition for the south-east region to progress to the national final in Nottingham this April.

Head of Curriculum for Sport, Kevin Jones, said: “As a department, we are immensely proud of all the students who have put in the hard work required to compete at a high level.

“This success is in part testament to the quality of our TASS scheme, which attracts promising young athletes from across our area who want to strike the right balance between athletic development and formal education.”