opportunity to train and compete all year round. School teams have run for every year group; the boys are encouraged to get LTA ratings and compete in various match plays in addition to competing in internal school house competitions. Laurence Denyer led the senior team to a win against St Olaves and a third place finish in the ISL. The U13s won one and lost one in their Schools league competition and the U15s had a tough start with defeats against Cranleigh and KCS. In fencing, Tommy Curran Jones, épéeist, was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2014 European Junior Championships. He went on to compete as part of the British team at the Junior World Championships, where the team narrowly missed out on a medal, having fought through to the last four. On the domestic front, Tommy won the senior open event in Bristol, came 11th at the GB U20 Championships and retained his title at the Public Schools Championships. Nick Howes, sabreur, came third in the GB Cadet (U17) Championships, second in the British Youth Championships (U18) and fifth in the Public Schools Championships. Jacob Stewart, foilist, started the season as a finalist at the Camden U15 Leon Paul event, was third in the London Regional Championships (U16) and fifth in the Public Schools Championships. In the team events at the Public Schools Championship Dulwich U15s finished third in the sabre, whilst the U18 epée team of Ned Tidmarsh, Elvis Law, Joshua Nicholson, Jacob Stewart finished fifth. Fives made a fantastic reappearance on the sporting calendar this year with fixtures against Alleyns and Christ’s Hospital. Badminton, squash and table tennis once again proved popular past times, with many boys taking the opportunity to represent the school in interschool fixtures as well as the thriving house tournaments. My sincere thanks must go to all staff members who support sport at Dulwich College. Academic teaching staff who give their time to take teams are worth their weight in gold, as are the medical centre staff, the catering staff and the grounds staff, who work tirelessly to support nearly 2,000 fixtures a year. But most of all, I would like to thank the PE and Games staff who support over 4,500 hours of co-curricular practices and continue to dedicate their time to sport. This summer, we will bid farewell to Mr Lock for a year. Dulwich won’t quite be the same without him, but we hope to see him back in September of 2015 and wish him and his family the very best for their year in France. Mr Shaw will not be returning any time soon, but stays within the Dulwich community as he takes up his post at DC Singapore.
All that has been achieved here at Dulwich College is underpinned by a thriving house system that affords all boys the opportunity to participate in sport, a fixture list that offers breadth and depth, a desire to extend the elite, and a tradition that ensures that, year after year, the highest standards of sportsmanship, effort and dedication are demonstrated by Alleynians. In my first week at Dulwich College, I coached my then U15A rugby team to a narrow victory over Wellington. My voice was hoarse as I strolled back to the Common accompanied by elated parents and I remember saying to Mr Howard, that, coming from a professional environment, I just didn’t think I would care that much about schoolboy sport. But that was before seeing our boys, whatever level they are at, achieve or fail with grace and dignity. There is something infectious about sport at Dulwich that drives us all to do our best. And that’s what we expect: no more, no less.
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