We caught up with former student Luke who joined our Elite Rugby Programme in 2018, to find out what he did next and what his advice would be to 15-16 year olds.
“My name is Luke, I’m from a small village in Sussex and I’m currently studying a sports and exercise science degree at Brunel University whilst training in the Ealing Trailfinders senior academy.
I came to Henley college in September 2018 and studied Sport and Exercise Science Extended Diploma (Level 3) and achieved a full criteria of D*D*D*. I was also on the Elite Rugby Programme.
I felt very comfortable at the College and I knew where everything was and where to go if I needed anything. I was also on the Elite Rugby Player Programme and had a close group of friends on the team who really bonded during the pre-season training in the summer.
I chose to come to Henley due to the Elite Rugby Player Programme. I was made aware of the programme around the end of year 10 and I had already made up my mind of where I wanted to go after I finished school.
As I am from Sussex, I had to live in a host family alongside a few mates which definitely made me a more independent person and taught me life skills that you wouldn't normally learn at the age of 16-18.
My best memory was either playing at Sixway's Stadium in Worcester or Finals day in December 2019. They were both times where we built up all this time together across the 2 years and then got to play one last time together on finals day and we all just performed very well on the day.
The Ealing Trailfinders and Brunel partnership started towards the end of my first year of College, so I focused and dedicated my time to getting a place there.
My ambitions are to play full time professional rugby and to potentially try playing it in another country as I think that would be a great life experience.
I have always wanted to be a professional rugby player since I started playing at the age of 4, but rugby can't last forever so I knew I had to have something to fall back on so I would also like to knuckle down and put myself in the best position by excelling in my course at university.
I would like to do a masters in physiotherapy after my Sports Science course and become a physio in elite sport.
If I were to give one piece of advice to a 15-16 year old I would say plan your future as early as possible and that way you can start working towards it as soon as you can. Also do something that you will enjoy but don't be afraid to try new things.”
Find out more about our Sports and PE Courses, as well as our Elite Rugby Programme by joining our next Virtual Subject Taster Session on Thursday 26th November. Register here> Virtual Subject Taster Sessions
