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Meet the Team

The Partnership Team and School Sport Co-ordinators (SSCo)

Richard Hayward Partnership Development Manager Richard joined the Partnership in June 2006; he completed a degree in Sports with Business at Solent University, Southampton in 2002. Since graduating he as worked in several Sports development areas, firstly in New Zealand for their Soccer federation working with grass roots and regional football players and then for Greenwich Leisure Limited developing sports courses and community projects. Richard plays football for the Old Ruts in Merton Park but enjoys most sports including cricket, tennis and rugby. His favourite part of working for the partnership is running projects and helping to improve the standard of sport within the Borough.
Debbie Griffiths Assistant Partnership Development Manager Debbie joined the partnership in March 2010 after three years of working as a Sport Development Officer in a County Sports Partnership. Debbie graduated from UWIC, Cardiff in 2005 with a degree in Sport Science. Her favourite sports are netball, football and tennis but will try her hand at any sport! She currently plays for her local netball club and helps to coach their junior sides. She also coordinates a multi-sport club for visually impaired children, using sport as a tool to boost their confidence and sense of well-being. Debbie is looking forward to supporting and improving the quality of sporting opportunities for young people across the borough.
Nicola Ryan Senior Competition Manager (and CM for Merton SSP) Nicola has been working as Senior Competition Manager since December 2006, previously working in Merton as a Leisure Development Officer. She gained a degree with honours in Sports Science at St Mary’s University, Twickenham in 2001 and went on to pursue a career in the sports industry. Her role as Senior CM sees her managing the CM team and working with NGBs and other partners to ensure national priority competitions and clear performance pathways are accessible to all South London school pupils. As well as this Nicola has the responsibility as the CM for Merton School Sport Partnership where she works as part of the SSP team to ensure the national competition framework is delivered at local level and pupils have every opportunity possible to take part in high quality interschool competition. Nicola is herself a keen all round sportsperson, regularly playing football for Surbiton Town Ladies FC and Netball for New Malden NC. She is a level 2 UKCC Netball coach and has recently set up and developed the Merton Merlins Junior Netball Club.
Christine Murrell Administration and Finance Assistant Chris started work for the Partnership in December 2006, after being off work for 5 years whilst having a child ‘break’. Chris enjoys working in the Partnership as sport is something she is very interested in especially encouraging children to participate. She enjoys running, playing badminton and watching sport, especially Ipswich Town and horse racing. She is a member of the Elite Racing Club and loves a day out to watch her horses run. Chris lists her favourite achievement as running the 5km race for life.
Lee Pritchard School Sports Coordinator (SSCo) Bishopsford Community School Lee recently joined the partnership after nine years as a PE Teacher and Year Head at Bishopsford Community School. Lee qualified as a Teacher at the University of Brighton having completed his degree in Sport Science and English at Roehampton University. His favourite sports are Cricket, Football, Athletics and Ski-ing. His proudest achievements include scoring a ‘record-breaking,’ hatrick in only 8 minutes for Roehampton University and securing the captain’s armband for Cheam Village FC. Lee is a member of Surrey County Cricket club and enjoys nothing more than a day at the Oval! Lee is keen to pass on his enthusiasm and experience for school sport at all levels onto the young people that he works with as well as to strive hard to raise standards in PE across the borough.
Rachel Goodman School Sports Coordinator (SSCo) Harris Academy Merton Rachel joined the partnership in September 2007 as the SSCO for the Harris Academy Cluster. Rachel qualified from Chelsea school in Eastbourne and has been teaching for three years. Her favourite sports are dance and gymnastics in which she has won the British Isles Street Dance Championships and a gold medal in the National Universities Sports Acrobatics Championships. Rachel is looking forward to passing on her enthusiasm for P.E. and helping to raise standards.
Steven Hayes School Sports Coordinator (SSCo) Raynes Park High School Steven qualified as a teacher from Chichester University and has worked as an SSCo since September 2006. His favourite sport is football and he supports Chelsea. He likes teaching football, gymnastics, volleyball and ultimate Frisbee. His favourite part of the job is being able to pass on his passion for sport every day of the week. Steven likes to relax in his spare time by pitting his wits against others at the poker table.
Rachel Corrigan School Sports Co-ordinator (SSCo) Ursuline High School Rachel joined the partnership in 2009 and has been a PE teacher at the Ursuline High School since 2006. She completed 2 degrees at St Mary's College, Twickenham in PE in 2006 and an MA in Education in 2008. Rachel is also a fully qualified coach driver and has worked extensively for Hammersmith and Fulham Community Transport before joining the teaching profession. Rachel has experience in a wide range of sports and Dance and formed part of a World Champion Irish Dance Ceili Team in 2003 with Scoil Rince Ni Loinsigh Dance School. Since leaving the world of Irish Dancing, Rachel has taken up Rugby and features regularly for Sutton and Epsom RFC Ladies. She is a loyal Fulham FC fan and her favourite part of working with MSSP is helping to improve the competitive opportunities that pupils have access to at Primary level with the festivals and tournaments organised.
Michael Gray School Sport Coordinator (SSCo) Rutlish & St Mark's Academy Michael joined the team in January 2009 as the SSCo for Rutlish and St Mark’s Academy. He studied at the University of Newcastle in Australia, since graduating Michael worked for 2 years in Australia before coming to the UK and teaching at a variety of schools. His favourite sports are Australian Rules Football & Cricket, Michaels biggest claim to fame would be uprooting Mike Atherton’s middle stump in the nets on the 1994/95 Ashes tour in Australia when he was only 9 years old.
Kate MacKenzie School Sports Co-ordinator (SSCo) Ricards Lodge High School After several years as a sports advisor at Cambridge University Kate qualified as a teacher from Exeter University in June 2005 and joined the partnership in September 2009 as the SSCO for the Ricards Lodge Cluster. Kate has always been involved in sport competing nationally in athletics until the age of 18, playing netball and basketball for her university and playing football, once reaching the third round of the FA Cup, ever since. Kate is looking forward to being able to create opportunities for youngsters to engage more fully in physical activity and spread her enthusiasm throughout the borough and beyond.
Peter Shilling School Sport Co-ordinator (SSCo) Wimbledon College Peter has been part of Merton SSP since September 2005 and has over 30 years experience as a PE teacher; he also teaches maths and science. Peter’s favourite sports are basketball and athletics and he takes a key role in co-ordinating athletics competitions within Merton. One of Peter’s personal achievements was being a World record holder for continuous table tennis, keeping playing for 72 hours; he managed to hold this record for two weeks. Peter enjoys the opportunity to help raise P.E. standards and create more activities for students in his cluster.
Hendrick Delport School Sport Coordinator (SSCo) Wimbledon College Hendrik Delport joined Merton SSP in September 2008 and is sharing the role of Wimbledon College with Peter Shilling. Hendrik studied Industrial Physiology at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa before completing his teacher training. His interests include IT and gadgets of all sorts. Hendrik is also a keen sportsman with rugby, cricket, tennis and athletics being his favourite sports. He has representative colours for tennis and also won a Silver medal at the international Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales. Hendrik is looking forward to developing the opportunities for the students at the college and getting them involved with leadership and volunteering opportunities
Chris Mitchinson Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) Primary PE Chris joins the team as the advanced skills teacher (AST) for PE. Having studied at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle he has been teaching at Aragon Primary School. Chris achieved his AST status in 2007 and will be working with the partnership to support primary schools in delivering high quality PE lessons. His favourite sports include athletics, triathlon and football, coming from the North East Chris supports Newcastle United
Stephanie Dent Sports Development Officer Steph graduated from Brunel University in 2007 with a degree in Sports and Exercise Science, and has been with the team since July 2008. Before this, she worked with Horsham Council as a multi sports coach and sports development assistant. Steph’s favourite part of the job is increasing the opportunities for the local community and Harris students to participate in sporting activities. Steph’s favourite sport is hockey and she currently plays in the EHL National League for Horsham HC.
Tom Gardner Assistant Sports Development Officer Tom graduated from his Sports psychology and Coaching Sciences degree at Bournemouth University in 2009. Raising activity levels and developing young children is something that Tom feels very strongly about. Tom works within sport leadership, teaching skills that will have a positive influence on a young person’s future. Tom enjoys all sports, particularly football and cricket. His claim to fame is taking a hat-trick off the first 3 balls of an innings. When Tom is not watching the beautiful game (Spurs on TV) he is either playing for NPL FC or coaching his U12 team.
Sam Hull Community Tennis Coach Sam joined the team late in 2007 to improve the provision of tennis across Merton. Since graduating in 2001 with a Sports Science degree, Sam has coached tennis in various countries including the USA, Italy and Portugal as well as in other parts of London. Sam has coached in nearly all of the Merton schools and has his own squads at Harris Academy Merton. He is also involved in training young leaders and teachers to help deliver better quality tennis lessons and has enjoyed seeing the standard of tennis increasing across the borough.
Lee Fraser Community Basketball Coach Lee graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University Cheshire in 2007 with a degree in Leisure Management Sports Development, and has been with the team since November 2007. Lee’s aim was to increase basketball provision within the borough of Merton through school sport coaching with a focus on creating a community basketball club for aspiring young players. Since 2008 Lee is has been running the boroughs first community basketball club called the Merton Hawks which are currently competing in this year’s Surrey Central Venue League at Under 14 and Under 16 age categories.
Elaine South Competition Manager Croydon As an almost 'has been' and the oldest member of the South London Team, I am still a very keen sport enthusiast both actively and supporting. I play and coach netball on a weekly basis for Lifeline Netball Club and enjoy a challenge, marathon treks and runs, mostly to prove to my teenage children that I can still give them a run for their money! I cover the three school sport partnerships within Croydon. This year my target area has been to work more closely with the secondary schools in Croydon by introducing new priority sport competitions for Badminton, Volleyball and Tennis and to help fine tune Basketball where there is a wealth of talent. Watch this space for up and coming sport personalities in both Volleyball and basketball!
Kirsty Reece Inclusive Talent Pathways Co-ordinator – South London I have recently graduated from St Mary’s University College with a BA Hons degree in Physical and Sport Education and Sport Science. I am a level 2 general gymnastics coach and a level 1 trampoline coach, and still participate in gymnastics performing annually at the London Festival of Gymnastics. Being the new Inclusive Talent Pathways Co-ordinator for South London, my main role has been to co-ordinate the region’s Playground to Podium project and inclusive Multi Sport Festivals. However, I am hoping to extend my responsibilities to include more disability sports projects throughout the coming year.