Elite Sports Programme 2025-26
Published by Concord College on Thursday 23rd of October 2025
Concord’s newest Elite Sports Team are excited for another successful year in the college’s specially designed support programme which first began in 2019.
The programme, which supports Concord’s up and coming athletes, provides students with 1-1 personal training, sport psychology and mentoring advice, physiotherapy, fitness programming, nutritional advice and assists them in attending competitions.
The high number of brilliant applications this year led to a hugely competitive selection process, from which the Sports Department have selected 7 individuals to join this year’s Elite Sports Programme. The athletes specialise in swimming, badminton, netball, tennis and sprinting.
Concord Sports Hall Manager Mr Harrison said “We are proud to continue the programme for 2025/26 and draw on our expertise to support our student athletes. Through strength and conditioning, sport-specific training support and fixture preparation, we look forward to creating an environment where our students can thrive within the programme and have a successful year ahead!”
Aside from the Elite Sports Programme, Concord’s Sports Programme continues to celebrate a ‘sports for all’ ethos, which supports students of all sporting abilities in nurturing an enjoyment of sport, encouraging teamwork, self-discovery and fun.
Congratulations to the successful applicants for 2025-26 who are listed below.
“I’m Julia, I’m 16 years old and I’m from Hong Kong. I started playing tennis when I was 3 and competitively since I was 9. Growing up, watching Roger Federer and Serena Williams play inspired me to want to become a professional tennis player from a young age. Now, I’m a top ranked nationals player in Hong Kong for both singles and doubles. My favourite tennis players are Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff. Winning varsity tennis with an unbeaten season in 2022 was my most memorable achievement. This year, I hope to play and win more LTA tournaments and hopefully get some ITF/ATF points.”
“I’m 16 years old, my name is Rishabh and I’m from India and England, and I moved to Singapore when I was young. I started swimming when I was 5 and competitively since I was 8. Growing up, I was inspired by the determination of my teammates, which made me want to pursue swimming. My most memorable achievement was competing in Singaporean nationals and placing top 5 in my age group. This year, I would like to continue my streak of medals in future competitions such as West midlands regionals and Shropshire county championships.”
“I’m Menna. I’m 17 years old and I’m from England. I’ve been running for as long as I can remember and when I was 12 I decided to make the switch from cross country to athletics and I haven’t looked back. Growing up, I was inspired by the determination of athletes around me and the excitement of competition, which made me want to pursue sprinting seriously. My most memorable moment so far have been competing at both the English Schools’ Championships and the Welsh Championships. This year, I hope to qualify for my sixth English Schools and hopefully reach the final.”
“My name is Ryan, I’m 17 years old from England and I’ve only been playing badminton for 5 years. I started playing for the county juniors after a few months of playing and I started playing tournaments just two years ago. In these two years, I’ve become a top junior in the county and I hope to qualify for nationals this December. My favourite badminton player is Kento Momota because he was dominant when I first started watching and I love his controlling play style. My random fact is that I always play with an extra odd coloured sock on my right foot.”
“I’m Kayson. I’m currently 15 years old and I’m from Hong Kong. When I was 5 years old, my dad encouraged me to play badminton. Since then, I’ve been training and developing in Pui Lap Badminton Club and have competed and won various junior competitions. In Year 7, I made it into one of the best school teams in Hong Kong, which I have also won a lot of competitions with. My most memorable moment has been competing against the leading badminton academy in Hong Kong. My aim for this year is to compete in nationals and to improve my badminton skills in general.”
“My name is Chern. I only started playing tennis at 11, this was when I transitioned from swimming to tennis as I didn’t enjoy swimming much and also because most of my family members play tennis. I enjoyed it as I made a lot of friends from it and because it was a very social sport. I only planned to play casually until I started participating in tournaments, which made me realise that I had potential and that I was very competitive as a person. This drove me to pursue competitive tennis and become a top ranking Malaysian national player. A fun fact about my journey is that I was extremely close to quitting tennis at some point. My favourite player is Dominic Thiem as I grew up admiring his aggressive playstyle”
“I’m Aoibh, I’m 16 years old and I’m from the Isle of Man. I grew up playing a lot of competitive sports, but at age 11, I started netball and it soon became my favourite hobby. As I began to play more, I was really inspired by the whole England netball team, specifically Serena Guthrie. My most memorable achievement has been my 2 years playing in the Europe Netball U17 tournament, gaining valuable experience at an international level. Currently, I play for the Isle of Man netball performance programme, and this year I hope to improve my gameplay, especially in the Europe Netball U19 event in Edinburgh later this year.”
