Sport after Hampton: Freddie Skinner
By Arun Crowe
Sport and Hampton are almost synonymous. Every pupil gets the chance to represent the school in a number of different sports throughout their time in gold and black, with the wealth of opportunities not just displayed alongside academics, but rather used to complement and enrich them. However, not everyone out on those pitches, courts and tracks can be a Josh King or a Louis Lynagh, representing their countries on the international stage. And so it raises the question: what does sport look like after Hampton?
Freddie Skinner started his sporting life at Hanworth road like countless before him and many since. Since being signed up by his dad at six years old to London Scottish Rugby Club, he had developed that same love for the sport, and started his schoolboy rugby as a fullback for the U12A team, continuing for three years in that same position and mostly in that same team.
But it was in that third year that brought with it the hardest moments of his Hampton career, as after years of being a consistent and prominent player for the A team, he was dropped unexpectedly to the Bs, a huge knock to his confidence due to the shock and upset of this moment. But he was determined to not be weighed down by this setback, moving onwards from it and using it to fire his graft in the gym and on the training pitch, and it took just three matches for him to be moved back up to the As, something he never took for granted again. Instead, he decided to push further forwards, utilising these newfound strengths of resilience and appreciation for hard work, and refining his own game. The following year, in an U15 season ravaged by injuries, Skinner adapted his game to the needs of the team, playing every possible position across the back, including the unchartered, and slightly perilous, territories of scrum half, and thus becoming a crucial player for the A team.
These qualities of perseverance and versatility elevated his game even further, seeing him earn a place in the 1st XV, where he played for two years at the highest level of schoolboy rugby. Skinner helped the team reach an impressive 7th place in the national NextGen rankings while also claiming individual success in the form of the ‘Most Improved Player’ award at the end of his time at Hampton.
However, after those years of triumphs and comradery out on the rugby field, experienced by Skinner and likewise by thousands of Hampton pupils, there can be an uncertainty about what comes next. With the imminent pressures of university and future job prospects, many end up leaving those sports behind in pursuit of academic targets.
But Skinner decided against this, with rugby such a significant part of his life that he wasn’t able to simply give it up. Studying economics at Exeter University, he opted to continue his rugby in tandem with his course, using not only the lessons he had learned in his time at Hampton, but the entire experience. The outstanding facilities, the teachings of ex-professionals like Andy Beattie, the forever crucial social aspect of the sport; he used all of these to push his game further, and these efforts brought with them unprecedented success.
Attending fresher’s trials, Skinner had a standout performance that landed him in the position of starting nine in the 3rd team. And this already considerable achievement was only the start, as a continued vein of strong performances saw a promotion to the 2nd team, where he played nine games and even featured once for the 1st XV, a feat almost unheard-of for a freshman in a university as competitive in rugby as Exeter. In his second year, this meteoric rise continued its exponential gradient, with Skinner claiming the position of starting scrum half for the 1st XV, where he earned 21 caps that helped the team reach the BUCS Super Rugby Semi-final and even win the University 7s.
As Skinner’s time at Exeter continues, chasing dream careers in both rugby and finance, his experiences underline the possibilities of maintaining sport and academic balance after leaving Hampton. The importance of sport, at any and every level, can never be underestimated, and so that balance, if struck correctly as Skinner has, can allow and help pupils to flourish both in the classroom and out on the fields.
