Talented Athlete Scheme goes from strength to strength
Itchen College is not a sports college, but we are passionate about sport and that is reflected in our sporting achievements across a range of disciplines. Itchen was the first college in Hampshire to be awarded Talented Athlete (TASS) accreditation in recognition of its commitment to sport. We now have 19 TASS Dual Career Athletes who continue to excel in their respective sports whilst maintaining high levels of performance in their academic work.
Each of these athletes have had Dual Career Workshops in sports nutrition, sleep, resilience and social media, which will hopefully serve them well during the lockdown. A huge range of sports are represented through the Talented Athlete scheme, as the following selected student profiles demonstrate:
- Caitlin Peters - Cycling - completing a busy year with wins in several national events and signing for Team Torelli. Caitlin has spent time in Spain completing warm-weather training camps whilst maintaining her perfect Distinction record in Btec Sport. She also completed her first Professional race this year too, placing as the 3rd Brit and 50th overall!
- Daisi Daniels - Skiing - represented Team GB at the 2020 Youth Olympics in Lausanne, earlier this year. Daisi has spent most of her time distant learning through the Dual Career Programme and has achieved Distinctions in Btec Sport units whilst training in Colorado! She even made a BBC Sport feature, which can be found on our ItchenSport Instagram account
- Ethan Craik - Downhill Mountain Biking - signed a contract with the globally renowned GT Bicycles to feature in their 2020 roster. This gives Ethan the chance to ride at the highest level in World Cup events all over the world.
- Ethan Smith - Snowboarding - another distant learning athlete who has been based in Austria for most of the year. Ethan has competed all over Europe with some promising results (9th - World Rookie Tour and 12th - Europa Cup)
- Zak Mahamed -Athletics - represented England in several competitions all over Europe this season with the highlight of finishing 11th in the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal.
- Ollie Thatcher - Athletics - achieved his first England vest this year and represented England in the Home International Athletics meet.
The Dual Career Accreditation Scheme provides an enhanced level of academic flexibility and understanding within the college, allowing talented athletes to balance their studies with a hectic sporting schedule. If you are an athlete competing at the top level, or if you believe that you have the potential to do so, then contact James Bedwell (jbedwell@itchen.ac.uk) and find out more about the programme at www.tass.gov.uk and www.tass.gov.uk/site/itchen-sixth-form-college