Sports landmark for boys’ school

THE Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, Elstree, has opened i t s Medburn Sports Centre. Named after the brook running by the school’s 100 acres of parkland, the centre has a 25m, eight-lane swimming pool, fitness suite, squash courts, climbing wall, sports hall, conference room, school shop and café. Facilities are named in honour of Michael Palmer and Vic Matthews, a former member of staff and a student respectively, who both went on to represent Great Britain in Olympic Games.

This is the latest addition to the school’s sports f acil i - t i e s w h i c h include seven rugby/football pitches, two allweather pitches (one floodlit) for hockey (they become 18 tennis courts in the summer term), Habs boys put in focused effort on the pitch three grass cricket squares, three artificial cricket wickets (plus grass and artificial cricket nets), an indoor cricket centre, a double-size sports hall, gym, fitness suite, a 400m grass running track with synthetic sprint track and jump/throw areas and a shooting range.

Through partnerships with professional bodies, the boys have been working on technique, fitness and strategy with coaches from Saracens RFC, Middlesex CCC, Watford WP and Hampstead and Westminster HC. This year has already seen Olympic gold medallist Samir Barac visit to talk about his experiences as a professional sportsman and to run a training session for year sevens.