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S P O R T S
2.6 Challenge
Sunday 26 April should have been the date for theVirgin London
Marathon 2020, an important day for both sportspeople and the charities
which the event supports. COVID-19 forced a reschedule of the event,
but the organisers of theVirgin London Marathon encouraged us to
support the charities which will be missing vital support by joining in the
2.6 Challenge.
The challenge was to undertake any activity you like, but involving the digits
two and six, eg cycling 26 miles or doing 26 press ups. Many Bancroftians
of all ages - Prep, Senior and staff - took part in the challenge. Several
of them raised money for ELHAP (Every Life Has A Purpose) a local
Adventure Playground for disabled children and one of the local charities
which Bancroft’s supports.There were some great and unusual efforts on
show: Harry’s (L4E) 2.6k ride on a penny farthing bike: Mr Pollard’s 26 mile
paraglider flight, Aram Eghoyan lifting 260kg x 26. Eliza (L4W) deserves a
special mention for her full marathon on the cross trainer which raised over
£1000 for local hospice, St Clare’s.
Tennis
With lack ofWimbledon this year, I set various challenges
to test the tennis skills of Bancroftians. The Grand Slam Skills
Challenge went very well and Fionn Duffy (U4) was the first pupil
to achieve all four with complete activity logs and videos of his
silky skills. Since then a complete set of Video Grand Slams has
been produced by: Krishan Parmar, Maanvii Arya, Charlie Day,
Simran Chadda, BradleyVaraden, Kimaya Seewal, Olivia Gauvin,
Sarah-JaneWestern, Danielle Amouzou-Akue and Anavi Shah.The
Golden Slam has also been captured on video by the following
superstars who now have a grand total of 40 skills under their
tennis belts: Krishan Arya (3E), JohnnyVisan-Gherghe (3N),
Alex Hancock (RE), Charlie Day (U4E).
The “Tennis Star” of the first half term was undoubtedly Danielle
in L4E. Not formerly a tennis player, Danielle’s commitment and
positivity have overwhelmed me and she has worked so hard to
secure the four Grand Slam titles. Quite a few parents joined in too,
either behind the camera on video duty, or as a fellow challenger;
best performances belong to MrWestern, Sarah-Jane’s father, and Mr
Wood, father of Amelia and Harriet.
To keep pupils and parents engaged with some seasonal sporting
activity I launched the “Tennis Trickster Award”: a set of 13
tricks ranging from “tricky” to “devilishly difficult”. Anyone who
demonstrated mastery of all 13 won a tennis themed prize. Krishan
and Maanvii Arya became the first to master theTrickster Challenge!
These are some of the most difficult tricks I could invent but Krishan
and Maanvii focused on them for over two weeks to emerge
triumphant.They are well and truly at the top of the tennis tree!
The “Recreate aWimbledon Moment” competition was won by
MilesWatson for his uncanny likeness to Boris Becker. Miles recreated
Becker’s 1985 record breakingWimbledon win by serving an un-
returnable serve and duly celebrating as only Boris could!”
Miss AmandaWainwright, Head of Tennis