Round Up: Sporting Success for OSFC

Year 13 student, Libby Hadfield has been playing Rugby Union for Sale Sharks Centre of Excellence. Alongside her A Levels in PE, Psychology and Geography, Libby trains for 4 hours across evenings in the week and plays fixtures at the weekends. Libby played for Littleborough for 4 years prior to this.

Libby is very proud of her sporting journey so far, “It's a great opportunity to be playing for Sale Sharks Centre of Excellence, I've been working hard for this for a long time and to finally be part of a professional team is a big step in the right direction. Balancing my rugby commitments with college is hard, but training is brilliant, and I love competing at a higher level. It's preparing me well for the future at university, where I hope to study Sport and Exercise Science.”

Former Hathershaw College student, Aqib Jawad has gained numerous medals in Karate. He has been training in the sport since 2014. Around his studies, Aqib trains regularly throughout the week to maintain his fitness levels to enable him to continue to compete at this high level. Aqib’s biggest achievements to date include Irish champion, bronze English medalist, SKU British champion, Irish silver medalist, Hamburg Open bronze medalist (Germany) and silver at the European championships at Italy. Well done Aqib, we look forward to continuing to follow your success!

Ellie Jennings, former North Chadderton School student, currently playing Goal Attack for OFSCs netball team, has been successfully selected onto the Diploma of Sporting Excellence by the National Governing Body for Netball. The Diploma is a 2 year course and runs alongside her A Level studies in English Language, Criminology, Law and, of course, PE. She will attend training camps and residentials at Loughborough College over the next two years.

Ellie, who started playing netball in Year 2, said, ‘It's a great opportunity and I am really surprised’, but she was recommended to apply - she is that good! Ellie said the most enjoyable part of playing netball was being part of a team, the competition and, of course, winning. The big takeaway for her in playing netball is “don’t doubt, work hard and don’t give up when it gets harder ''. Good advice indeed.

PE teachers Kerry McDonald, David Jackson and Adam Smith say that they are always thrilled to see and hear about OSFC students, present and past, succeeding in sport, related fields and beyond! These students are deserving of their accolades and it shows that high achieving students are those who get the best out of both their sport and their studies.