Three Guildford Students Selected to Compete in National School Games

Published on: 29 Aug, 2018
Updated on: 29 Aug, 2018

Edward Ferguson (17) plays for the Guildford Hockey Club and will compete for the England Boys Blue.

By Laura Neuhaus

Three 17-year-old athletes from Guildford and Haslemere have been selected to compete in the hockey tournament at the 2018 School Games.

Edward Ferguson, Coca Hall and Isaac Farrant will take part in the national multi-sporting event at Loughborough University from the August 30 to September 2. They will join 1,400 of the UK’s most talented athletes competing across 11 sports, five of which include a disability discipline.

Isaac Farrant (17) will represent the England Boys White in the School Games.

Edward goes to the Royal Grammar School and as a member of Guildford Hockey Club was selected to join England’s Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) programme.

Coca goes to Cranleigh School and whilst playing for the East Grinstead Hockey Club, she has been training with the England U18 squad and playing Premier League Hockey. Isaac goes to Reed’s School and plays for the Old Georgians Hockey Club, also winning the U18 Indoor Nationals Club competition as team captain.

The three will follow in the footsteps of athletes like Paralympic champions Hannah Cockroft, Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock, Olympic champion Adam Peaty, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and sprinter Adam Gemili, who all competed in the School Games before achieving senior international success.

The School Games are designed to give young people an experience of high-level competition in a multi-sport environment similar to an Olympic or Paralympic Games. The event was established as part of the legacy performance programme initiated by the London 2012 Olympics.

Whilst competing at the highest level, athletes will be living in a dedicated Athletes’ Village on the Loughborough campus, take part in a School Games Ceremony and compete in front of a crowd of spectators.

Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Sport Trust, Ali Oliver, thinks “the School Games National Finals provide a great opportunity for talented young athletes like Edward, Coca and Isaac“, since “competitors get a real taste of what it’s like to be part of a world-class sporting event at the amazing sporting venues of Loughborough University.”

The Youth Sport Trust delivers the games and they are supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England and Home Country Sports Councils.
The School Games are open to the public and tickets can be purchased at: https://www.schoolgamesfinals.org/buy-tickets/.