March - Pupil wins ‘Player of the Tournament’ trophy
Surrey It was the first ever sports festival for state boarding schools and over 500 children from 13 schools around the country gathered to compete in a wide range of sports. The Royal Alexandra and Albert School fielded teams for dance and football at the event which was held on 17th March at Old Swinford School in the midlands.The highlight for one particular pupil came at the end when all the prizes were given out. RAA had achieved a respectable third for Dance, and second for Football, but there were only awards for the winning teams. Nevertheless, they stayed to cheer on their fellow competitors. Then it came to the award of the Andy Boorman Memorial Trophy for ‘Player of the Tournament’. 13 year old Denyl Daniel, from the Royal Alexandra and Albert School, was surprised to hear that he had made it to the final four, but absolutely stunned when he heard that he was the winner of the Trophy.
It turned out that Denyl’s efforts on the football pitch, which had helped his team to achieve their second place, had not gone unnoticed. Throughout the day he had been on top form with a consistently high level of performance in every match. This culminated in a fantastic ‘golden goal’ in the semi final which secured his team’s place in the final.
Denyl commented afterwards “The trophy was for sportsmanship and for playing well. When I found out I had won I was pleased with myself and really proud”.
Physical Education Teacher, Becky Muir said “We had a great time at the Sports Festival and it was really well organised. There were teams competing in rugby, football, basketball, dance, netball and cross country running.” Football coach Iain Martin, added “On the football pitch, Denyl stood out because he was playing so well and his ‘golden goal’ was the icing on the cake. He thoroughly deserved to win the trophy.”
Headmaster, Paul Spencer Ellis comments “This was the first Sports Festival for the State Boarding Schools Association and it was a huge success. There are only 34 state boarding schools in the country and it was a great opportunity for the children to meet up and share this celebration of sport. We look forward to future festivals.”
