The Chronicle, No. 669, January 2016

5 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

A Question of Sport

We talk to Director of Sport, Andrew Dalgleish, and Deputy Director of Sport, Eve Singfield, about their own sporting history, the Teddies sporting ethos – and favourite moments. Tell me about your own experience of sport. Eve: At school, I played hockey, netball and tennis, and rowed for a local club. I rowed internationally up to U18 level, racing for Great Britain twice as a single sculler at the European Championships, La Coupe de la Jeunesse, and in a quad at the Junior World Championships. At the time I was neither tall enough to be a heavyweight or small enough to be a lightweight so I stuck to club rowing and then started coaching. I’m now in my 13th year at St Edward’s; I’m Housemistress in Corfe, Deputy Director of Sport and I coach rowing – so it’s pretty busy! Andrew: I was very much an all-rounder when I was a pupil at Bedford School, but

OURFC in 2005. I represented the famous Barbarians RFC on nine occasions, once as Captain. In recent years, since injury forced my rugby retirement, I have joined the masses and taken up triathlon. I prefer to race the Ironman distance but represented Team GB for the Middle Distance (half Ironman) European Championships in 2015 and will do so again this year. This is my 10th year at St Edward’s and my third as Director of Sport. What are the main sports at St Edward’s? Traditionally rugby, hockey, rowing and cricket for boys, and hockey, netball, rowing and tennis for girls. But as we see in the wider public context, more and more sports are gaining in popularity so we now offer a much wider range of sports for all pupils. What are the new sports? Swimming is enjoying a resurgence (see pages 9 and 30). We now boast a large and active squad who have attended a number of fixtures in recent years, including the prestigious Bath Cup and Otter Medley National Schools Relays at the Olympic Pool. Running is now very popular; the Harriers achieve considerable success in the Oxfordshire Cross Country League and in local road races. We are competitive at national level in golf and squash, and compete in inter-school sailing and climbing competitions. Girls’ cricket and football are gaining in popularity and we are looking to launch a girls’ rugby programme.

particularly enjoyed cricket and rugby. I played the latter for the Scotland U18s (qualifying through my grandparents). After 21 level, I left the Scottish programme, but went on to play professional and semi- professional rugby. As Captain of the England students’ team, I played at Twickenham in an England shirt – an amazing experience. In addition I earned two Blues for Oxford University against Cambridge in the annual Varsity Match, captaining the Blues and