Rydal Penrhos sports stars benefit from visit of touring independent school
Rydal Penrhos was recently visited by Buenos Aires’ Belgrano Day School, whose boys and girls teams took on Rydal Penrhos’ best sporting prospects in some thrillingly close games.
High performance sports teams require not just talented players and incisive coaching but top-quality sporting facilities in which to train, learn tactics and develop a cohesive team spirit. In major sporting competitions each year, we are endlessly reminded of the small margins that decide victory or defeat. In the high-stakes world of elite competition, training venues and their merits are a large determinant of success.
Over many years, the quality of Rydal Penrhos’ enviable sporting facilities has been recognised by countless top-level teams. Historically, New Field was the venue for Wales Cricket when they took on South Africa as part of a three-day test match. In more recent times, Rydal Penrhos remains the go-to for high calibre teams training and competing away from home; in 2021, St Helen’s Rugby League team, currently the reigning Super League champions, visited Rydal Penrhos for their pre-season training camp.
Over the past month, Belgrano Day School’s boys and girls sports teams have become the latest visitors to benefit from a trip to Rydal Penrhos. Travelling thousands of kilometres from their hometown of Buenos Aires, the independent coeducational Argentine school set up base in our corner of the North Wales coast as they brought their extensive European sporting tour to the UK.
Both Belgrano’s girls and boys teams showed great friendship and sportsmanship as they faced our hockey and rugby teams. The games proved a fantastic opportunity for Rydal Penrhos' budding sportspeople to measure themselves against opposition from a different continent, pitting teams that would never ordinarily cross paths against one another.
Rydal Penrhos pupils – both those involved in the games and those watching from the side lines – got an immense amount out of the chance to play against Belgrano, not just in terms of sporting development, but in the broader sense that new friends were made and experiences shared. For Rydal Penrhos’ girls, the laughter, chatter and fun that they shared over lunch with their Belgrano counterparts will live long in the memory.
Thank you to all the staff and pupils from Belgrano for being exemplary guests, and to our own pupils for their role in a fantastic occasion that showed the power sport has to bring people together.
We leave you with some photos from the showdown between Rydal Penrhos’ first XV rugby team and Belgrano. The game, watched intently by many pupils, staff and parents, was close to say the least! In the final minutes of the match, Ethan Akoryd’s kick gave Rydal Penrhos a two-point lead with one minute to go, only for Belgrano’s number 10 to step back in the pocket in the dying seconds and kick a drop goal to deny Rydal Penrhos the win by a single point. Congratulations to all our players on an outstanding display nonetheless; particular mention should go to James Copeland for a superb Player of the Match performance.
