Maya, our 2023 Sport Winner, has updated us on her latest season of Rugby and how the Award has benefitted her. It's wonderful to see her starting her sixth form journey with such enthusiasm and success!

'This past season I have participated in over 20 rugby matches, tournaments, and festivals at clubs all over surrey and surrounding counties with Chobham Rugby U16 girls team. My team took part in division 2 of the Waterfall cup. We played in the final against Sutton & Epsom and won the match 52-27, winning us the cup. This coming season we have entered into the first division, and hope to do very well. 

As a team we had a very successful season which we are very proud of, one of the highlights being a match against Battersea Ironsides in which we managed to score 14 tries and 13 conversions as well as defending extremely well, leading to a final result of 96-0 to us. 

Another highlight of the season was the team building day we had where almost all members of the U16 age group completed the tree top course at Wildwood, Guildford, followed by a meal afterwards. In addition, at our end of season awards night, I was very grateful to be awarded the Clubman award which is presented to the player who displays the values of rugby and the club while showing leadership towards others and being a reliable teammate to all. 

I have also participated in two rugby matches at school for the Girls First XV which are only a small piece of evidence of the growth of girls rugby at Gordon's that I am extremely proud of. During the autumn and spring terms I also continued to help weekly with the younger girls' period 7s.

All that said, I am extremely grateful to have been given all of these opportunities which have been greatly helped by the money I have kindly been given as part of the Gordonian award. So far, I have purchased a new set of No1s uniform to wear after rugby matches as well as a new specialist braces gumshield. I have also used the money to buy a pair of women's shorts which were a new addition to the Chobham RFC kit this year. The funds have also gone towards my membership fees for the club for the 2024/25 season as I move into the U18s team and next season we have plans to go on tour as a team which will be another use of the prize money.'