Double sporting success follows #ThisGirlCan week

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News - 28 September

Hot on the heels of its successful This Girl Can Week, Homewood has a sporting double success to celebrate and inspire other female students.

England Boxing Schools national champion

At the weekend (26-27 September) Year 9 student Elsie-May became England Boxing Schools No1 when she was crowned 2021 champion at her weight, in Newcastle where the cream of English schools boxing had gathered for the national championships. With this major success under her belt, Elsie-May’s dream of being selected for a future Olympic Games has received a big boost as she will now be assessed on the sport’s GB performance pathway.

“At first I didn’t realise I’d won,” said Elsie-May. “But when I did, I knew that all the work I’d put in – like the 6am runs before school – had worked and I was No1 in England. I was so excited.”

Elsie-May didn’t start out wanting to be a boxer: she only began learning because her brother was taking lessons, but she soon fell in love with the sport.  Her sporting hero is Irish professional boxer Katie Taylor, who is the current WBA lightweight world champion.

U17 Netball call-up

The previous weekend Year 11 student Ava took part in netball trials to play for London Pulse, the rising stars of the Vitality Netball Superleague, and was selected for one of their U17 teams. In addition, she was one of just 24 out of 888 girls there to be asked to take part in the National Premier League trial for the main team and is now waiting to hear if she has been selected for that as well. 

Ava said: “I’m very excited for this opportunity. All my hard work and training has paid off, and it’s just a dream come true.”

Ava also dreams of going to university and eventually becoming a teacher of either Maths or PE.

No easy task

Homewood School Principal Jeremy Single said: “A huge well done to Elsie-May and Ava. It is no easy task to juggle the competing demands of elite sport training and school work but they have both clearly worked hard to manage that balance and achieve these fantastic results. We are extremely proud of them. They are obviously destined for more sporting success and I look forward to seeing them achieve their dream goals.”