Assembly celebrates UCS sporting stars and leadership teams
UCS pupils continue to show real promise in the sporting arena and today the Senior School celebrated a series of successes recorded in recent weeks and months.
At morning assembly in the Great Hall, UCS Headmaster, Mark Beard, was delighted to take part in trophy presentations involving the school’s Under-13 tennis players and 1st XI cricketers and cited the importance of “team spirit, communication and a willingness to work together” as being key to any achievement, on or off the field.
The U13 tennis pairing of Dash Green and Ruben Michaud won the Independent Schools Tennis Association tournament at Eton in July, with the Headmaster explaining: “UCS had never won this tournament before, but we upset the apple cart. Ruben and Dash played tennis of the highest quality, beating some incredible schools, and won the final 6-0. They are considered the best Under-13 independent-school pair in the country.” What’s more, Dash is a top-ten ranked singles player nationally.
Meanwhile, the cricket 1st XI faced Alleyn’s School in the final of their U19 London Schools Cricket Association Cup. UCS batted first and scored 79 all out, a total that eclipsed Alleyn’s eventual 70.
The pupil body also saluted the U19 tennis team that competed in July’s national finals against players destined for professional level. Their participation was especially impressive for the fact that players Alex Shuckburgh, Leo Silverston, Max Silverman, Zeb Imber and Ruben Sinanyan are all either Year 12 or younger.
The Headmaster then introduced the newly appointed first team captains and vice captains in rugby, netball, football, girls football, hockey and basketball, offering a congratulatory handshake to these young leaders:
Rugby: Oliver Shaw (Captain), Oscar Brown, Harry Abrahams (Vice Captains)
Netball: Thalia Kermisch (Captain), Aimee Benjamin (Vice Captain)
Football: Didier Levenfiche (Captain), Itay Greenbaum (Vice Captain)
Girls Football: Lauren Thompson (Captain), Aimee Benjamin (Vice Captain)
Hockey: Calum Papworth (Captain), Tommy Lyons (Vice Captain)
Basketball: Tom Freedman (Captain), Adam Hoff (Vice Captain)
All of these exploits followed on from the U15 cricketers winning the London section of the English Schools Cricket Association Cup earlier in the summer and the U13 table tennis squad claiming the national schools title. Tennis player Ruben Michaud featured in that table tennis triumph, and he and Zhengxuan Xi held on to their bats to represent Camden in the London Youth Festival at the Copper Box Arena in July.
UCS pupils have also gained footballing recognition, with Lower School boys Rocco Kluman and Zach Norton combining academic and co-curricular commitments here at Frognal with places in the academies of Premier League clubs West Ham United and Fulham, where both are goalkeepers.
Sophie Bennett, UCS’s Assistant Head (Co-curricular), said of these many sporting endeavours: “We are so proud of each and every pupil who represents the school on the sports field, court, track.. the list goes on! Sport at UCS is an integral part of how we foster collaboration, communication and competition, as well as long-lasting friendships on and off the field.”
