Barnard Castle School is once again supporting the RFU Aspirational Pathway by providing the Durham County U18 squad with 7 players and the U16 squad with four. The School believes that providing players with an appropriate exit route to the next level of their development is crucial.
James Jennings from Durham, Sam Adamson from Crook, Harvey Barkes from Greta Bridge, Joe Pickering from Bishop Auckland, Jamie Preston from South Shields, John Clouston from Washington DC and Tom Metcalfe from Headlam were all selected on the back of their success whilst representing the U17 and U16 teams least year. The U18 squad have played Cumbria, Cheshire and Northumberland this season and won all 3 matches.
James Jennings, Harvey Barkes, Joe Pickering, Jamie Preston, and Tom Metcalfe have reason to celebrate further having being selected to attend the North of England trial at Woodhouse Grove School on the 30th December. The North has one game, then an U18 England squad will be chosen to play Ireland in the spring.
Meanwhile in the U16s, Jamie Adamson from Crook, Tom Tyrell-Edwards from Richmond, Matthew Shepherd from Cockermouth and Ben Johnson from Newcastle have represented the County against Northumberland at Kingston Park, where again they came away with a win.
The School are delighted to have several players involved in the Performance Pathway too; Falcons Academy have their second of their fixtures against other Academies in December, with the remainder after Christmas. It is hoped that the following will get the opportunity to play some part: Rowen Hall-Beasley from Darlington, Isaac Brace from Stockton, Tom Metcalfe, Joe Pickering and Josh Gray from Bishop Auckland.