Beachborough School is looking forward to continuing its ten-year partnership with Northampton Saints, after celebrating one of its biggest sporting achievements in recent years.
It was back in September 2013 when the Brackley-based school first started its relationship with Saints, with the Club’s community department initially providing a coach to assist with twice-weekly on-site rugby sessions.
The relationship has continued to grow through the years with Beachborough now an Elite Partner School while also benefitting from the ‘Saints In The Schools’ partnership programme, receiving extensive help and support coaching age groups from Under-8s up to Under-13s.
One of the proudest moments in the school’s recent history was seeing ex-pupil Henry Pollock make his Saints debut.
Textbook openside play 📚
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) October 3, 2023
1️⃣4️⃣ tackles
0️⃣7️⃣ carries
2️⃣9️⃣ rucks hit
Two strong line-ups at the weekend, but 18 year-old Henry Pollock more than held his own 👊 pic.twitter.com/VxMNiCXgMZ
Pollock, 18, was one of hundreds of students at Beachborough to take advantage of the school’s relationship with Saints, honing his skills from a young age with the Club’s community rugby coaches.
The flanker went on to join Saints’ Academy from the Under-13 age group onwards, progressing on to the Developing Player Programme (U13-U16), Player Development Groups (U15-U16) and Junior Academy (U18) while also earning a rugby scholarship at Stowe School.
Aged just 17, he made his senior Northampton debut in September 2022 against London Irish, and signed a permanent deal with the Senior Academy entering the 2023/24 season having also captained England’s Under-20s side. Pollock’s three performances so far this term earned him the Club’s September Player of the Month award.
“Beachborough played a big part in my rugby journey,” said Pollock. “It’s one of the places where I first caught a rugby ball, and got interested in the sport. They’re massive on sports there and it’s definitely where my hand-eye coordination skills started to grow.
“I remember there being five or six rugby pitches with indoor facilities and the coaching was great too. Saints coaches were on site with us, and the sessions were really good.”
Henry Pollock
Beachborough School’s director of sport, Mark Usher, has strong memories of the England Under-20s flanker.
He said: “It was one of the proudest moments in the school’s most recent history, seeing Henry progress through the DPP programme before signing a professional contract with Saints.
“Henry loved rugby from an early age and was always out at break times with a ball in his hand, eager to play. He was part of the Beachborough team who won the Sibford Sevens Under-12s festival in 2017, before playing an integral role for our Under-13A side, during his final year, who only lost once that season.
“Henry has provided those of us who knew and worked with him when he was at Beachborough with so much pride.
“Our partnership with Northampton Saints is now in its tenth year and it continues to grow. We look forward to working with the Club for many years to come.”
Mark Usher, Director of Sport at Beachborough School
Support through the partnership has also been provided for staff Continuous Personal Development (CPD) as well as taking teams to matches, refereeing games and running highly successful preseason closed camps at the school in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Girls rugby has also taken off at Beachborough as a result of its ‘Saints In The Schools’ partnership. Saints has delivered sessions across a number of age groups and in March 2022, the first-ever Beachborough School girls rugby team took to the field when the Under-13s competed in the Sibford Sevens festival.
The school hopes to build on this further and intends to enter IAPS competitions and expose more age groups to competitive rugby.
For more information on any of Northampton Saints’ schools programmes, please email [email protected].
Next Home Match
