Win for Stamford at Independent Schools Tennis Association Tournament

Sixth form students at the Stamford Endowed Schools, Ella Moger of Year 13, and Annabel Dallas of Year 12, have won the U19 Loveband Plate within the annual Independent Schools Tennis Association tournament. The tournament was held in the grounds of Eton College in Berkshire from the 29th June to the 2nd July and brought together approximately 75 independent schools from across the country in a ‘festival’ of tennis.The doubles pair had a fantastic tournament, defeating St Helen’s and St Katherines in the quarter finals and Claremont in the semi-finals to play St. Peters in the final, where they achieved their win. Ella and Annabel were recently presented with their trophy and their success marks the first team from Stamford Endowed Schools to win the competition since its launch in 2002.Both Annabel and Ella have been training diligently alongside studying for their A Levels. Annabel is currently studying Biology, Psychology and Business and wishes to move into the field of psychology in future. Ella is currently studying Maths, Biology, French and Psychology and hopes to study Neuroscience or Biomedical science at University.Six other Stamford Endowed Schools students also competed in the wider ISTA Tournament. Isabelle Sharpe and Sophie Golland, of Years 10 and 13 respectively, also entered the U19 Girls competition, facing challenging matches to unfortunately be knocked out within the pool stages.The Youll Cup provided an equivalent U19 boys tournament, of which four Stamford School students participated, including Leon Kewney of Year 11, Archie Hubbard and Harvey Seel of Year 13, and Old Stamfordian Tom Andrews. Having successfully defeated Hymer’s College in the first round, the team were knocked by Millfield in a dynamic second round.Four lower school pupils, Chase Burgess, Sam Marshall and Oliver Collett of Year 8, alongside Jamie Anderson of Year 9, competed within the John Barrett Cup. The pupils played exceptionally well within the U13 competition but were unfortunately unsuccessful at progressing through the tournament.Commenting on their winning performance, Ella said: “I hugely enjoyed playing in the tournament and it really brought the wider tennis team together through supporting each other in all of our matches. We were delighted to win the Loveband Plate, especially when playing against schools that are known to be excellent within the sport.”Annabel further commented: “Even though I found the tournament challenging, the end result was all worth it, and we are very proud of ourselves for our achievement.”Stamford Endowed School’s Head of Tennis, Ben Kirkpatrick, praised the wider teams performance: “It was fantastic to see Ella and Annabel lift the plate; it’s a real credit and testament to how well they fought through the entire tournament, taking it to the wire in all of their games.”“Issy and Sophie played fantastically throughout; acting as true ambassadors for Stamford tennis. Watching the boys’ fierce battle with Millfield has been credited as one of the tournament highlights, receiving a standing ovation as the matches came to an end.”“Many thanks to all of the players for their efforts on court, and for being such good role models for the Schools. Thanks also go to the coaching staff of Miss Parslow, Mr Ware and of course, Mr Williams, for all of their efforts in giving the pupils such an excellent opportunity.”