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THE ALLEYNIAN 709
SPORT
SPORTING
Each year, when I sit down to write my Alleynian review of the year’s sport, I start by reading the previous year’s submission. I do this to remind myself of all the wonderful exploits that the pupils of Dulwich have been involved in; to remind myself of their achievements, their disappointments, and their growth as people. Sadly, last year, the submission was shortened by the pandemic. A year on, the mood is far more upbeat. We have managed to restart inter-school fixtures in tennis, golf, cricket, rowing and athletics; our Year 13s have a week of sporting fixtures to help fill some of the experiences that they lost in their final year; and 12 months on we have all realised the value of sport and physical activity, and the benefits it brings. It is very easy to look at what has been lost: the social interactions due to time away from school, time away from playing competitive sport and time away from loved ones. Whilst much has been lost, the Covid pandemic has given us some opportunities. It has gifted us an increased focus on the importance of looking after the physical, to ensure that the mental is in good order. This was brilliantly summed up by the speakers in our webinar series, with Matt Lovell, Josie Perry and Henry Fraser increasing our awareness and understanding of these issues. I am often asked why team games dominate the sporting landscape at independent schools. In response, I reel off the benefits of leadership, skills development, fitness and the like, but in recent months I have been reminded that, most of all, team games provide a form of social interaction for our pupils. As a social species, we are designed to connect with each other, and what better way to do it than through sport? We have seen this week just how much our Year 13 pupils have valued sport as they bid farewell to the College. It has been wonderful to see them playing hockey, basketball, badminton, rugby and football against KCS Wimbledon, and I hope it has gone some way to make up for all they have missed. Perhaps the highlight of the week was the mixed staff-student cricket, which was played in fantastic spirit.
In thinking about those Year 13s, and in wishing them all the very best for the future, I am reminded of a line by Kelly Jones (lead singer of the Stereophonics) who said: ‘You spend the whole of your school life wanting to leave school, and the rest of your life wanting to be back at school.’ I speak to so many OAs who remember their time at Dulwich fondly, and they often share sporting memories. Memories that are linked to sport are connected by the emotions that sport elicits in the quest for a common goal. Let’s return to the sport that we have managed to get up and running this term. Isaac Shaw’s hat-trick in the opener of the T20 and Teddy Michalowski-Howells’ brilliant batting saw Dulwich progress to the next round; our Year 12 A VIII rowed to a bronze medal at the National Schools’ Regatta; our tennis players have beaten the weather most weekends to get out on court; and our athletes have been out delivering personal bests regularly. It has been wonderful to enable so many boys to be out playing sport, but we must still proceed with caution to ensure that, come September, we are playing as many sports as possible, as often as possible. My thanks go, as always, to those who support sport at the College: to our grounds staff, our teaching staff, to our department secretary, Lesley Groves, to our parents and to all our visiting coaches, who have worked hard to get us through the strangest year in as good a shape as possible. Have a great summer, stay active, and I look forward to seeing you all in September.
As a social species, we are designed to connect with each other, and what better way to do it than through sport?
Phil Greenaway REVIEW
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