Member Article

Red House football star selected for England team

Red House School, Teesside’s high-flying independent school, is celebrating the sporting success of yet another of its pupils, who has been selected to play football for England.

Pupil Lily Patrick has been selected for the Under 15 England Schools National Squad this season; the only representative from Cleveland in the team.

Lily, who plays left wing, has attended Red House since Reception and makes a significant contribution to the school’s sporting success. She has represented Red House in Independent School Association competitions in football, hockey and netball, and locally for cross country.

Red House is one of only three schools in the UK that was selected to take part in a project set up by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) which is aimed at athletes competing at high levels. Several pupils, including Lily took part in workshops including strength and conditioning, injury recovery and nutrition.

Headmaster, Mr Ken James, said: “This is an incredible achievement for Lily, and a coup for Red House. She has worked hard to earn this place on the team and, while doing so, has made an enormous contribution to our school’s sporting achievements. Recently Red House made history in becoming champions of the U15 ISA National Football Festival. Lily captained the team and scored four of our seven goals throughout the tournament including a crucial penalty in the final.”

This isn’t the first time that pupils from Red House have been in the sporting spotlight. Pupils have taken part in the ISA National Swimming Gala; one of whom, Ethan won three gold medals. Ethan also competed in Mauritius, winning four golds and is now a Mauritian national record holder for 100m butterfly and backstroke.

Last year, GCSE pupil Joshua who plays football for Hartlepool United, earned a scholarship through the club to go on and study sport and maths at East Durham College. Another pupil, Angel, will be representing England in the Dance World Cup this June, in Portugal.

Head of Physical Education, Miss Marie Sweeney, said: “Our pupils continue to astound us with their skill and dedication, both to the school’s teams and their extra-curricular clubs. Here at Red House we continue to invest in sports, including an all-weather Astroturf pitch and indoor sports flooring. We also invite sports personalities into school such as Olympic long jumper, Chris Tomlinson and local sprint sensation Richard Kilty.

“We’re exceptionally proud of Lily, and all of our athletes.”

Miss Sweeney added: “At Red House team sports are really important, not just for health and fitness benefits, but also to help pupils to build confidence, self-esteem, social skills and a sense of fair play. We offer a wide range of sporting opportunities, including football, rugby, tennis, netball, cricket, hockey, swimming, athletics and rounders”.

Red House is one of the few independent schools in the region to have girls’ football and cricket teams and has also introduced girls’ rugby coaching sessions. There is a variety of sports clubs which take place before and after school for pupils to further develop their skills. In addition, the school has a close relationship with local sporting clubs such as Norton Hockey Club, Norton Cricket Club and Oaksway Netball Club.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harvey & Hugo .