National Schools Tournament
Alleyn’s School, Dulwich, 14-22 August 2021.
The RFA is delighted – ecstatic, even – to announce that it is planning to hold a tournament later this year. In fact, it is planning to hold several tournaments.
The National Schools Tournaments are to be held at Alleyn’s School in Dulwich, London, in mid-August, and the dates and details are being confirmed now in the hope that as many pupils as possible will be able to take part. The tournaments are the 2021 National Schools Championships (which ordinarily would have taken place in April 2021) for the academic year 2020-21. However we are also holding a backdated U18 Open Tournament for the previous 2019-20 academic year, to give those who missed the chance to compete in their final National Schools tournament an opportunity to do so.
However it should be noted that, while it is the Association’s intention for the tournaments to constitute the National tournaments for the academic year 2020-21, the board reserves the right to remove this status if it deems the draw is significantly weaker than expected due to the tournament being held in the summer holidays.
The events span the usual age ranges, from Under 13 to Under 18, with both singles and doubles tournaments taking place, and for the first time the Girls’ Championships will be held alongside the Open events. What is also different about this event is that entry to the tournament will be made directly by parents and/or pupils in the first instance. This is to ensure that no extra organisational burden is put on teachers/club organisers during their summer holidays. Contact details for the organisers of each event can be found in the National Schools entry letter.
The exact structure of the tournaments will be decided based on the number of entrants, but the aim is to provide Fives for every entrant on every day of each respective tournament. But the organisers also hope to have other activities and events throughout the tournament week, including exhibition matches between the top players in the country, and other handball-related skills games/competitions with prizes taking place on the grounds (weather permitting).
Full details are available on the National Schools entry letter, which you can download by clicking on this link.
Here is a brief overview of the events:
U13 Open – 14th August – for pupils in Year 8 or younger in the academic year 2020-21 – organiser Sam Russell
U14 Open – 19th-21st August – for pupils in Year 9 or younger in 2020-21 – organisers David Butler/Hamish Buchanan
U16 Open – 19th-22nd August – for pupils in Year 11 or younger in 2020-21 – organisers David Butler/Hamish Buchanan
U18 Open – 19th-22nd August – for pupils in Year 13 or younger in 2020-21 – organisers David Butler/Hamish Buchanan
U18 Open 2019-20 Tournament – 21st-22nd August – for pupils in Year 13 or younger in 2019-20 – organisers David Butler/Hamish Buchanan
U13-U18 Girls – 15th August – Eligibility for age groups as in Open categories (above) – organiser Alex Smith