Congratulations to St Mary’s College student Charlie Hutchings who has now become the Association of Colleges National Tennis Champion for 2016.

Charlie participated in the British Colleges Tennis Tournament Regionals in December of last year and battled against 15 other competitors to win the whole competition. This put him through to the final, which was held in Sunderland on the weekend of 15th - 17th April, and after beating off strong opposition from all the other regions, he was crowned the National College Champion: he qualified from the group stage without dropping a set and claimed another straight sets victory in the semi-finals. Even though the final was a very close affair, Charlie managed to produce his best when it was most needed in the deciding final set tie break.
Charlie was also awarded the Donald, Race & Newton Sports Award at our annual Prize Night due to his sporting achievements. The prize was a monetary donation which he put towards new tennis rackets for the tournament.

Head of Sport, Mr Best, who watched the competition said, “Charlie has managed to balance his studies with his intensive training and this result is fully deserved and a just reward for the hours that he has put in. It should go a long way to helping Charlie gain a tennis scholarship at a US university”.

Charlie says on his achievement, “I’m thrilled to have won a national title, knowing that this accolade would help in my quest to gain a scholarship at a US university provided me with the extra motivation to succeed. I have been lucky to be able to study and train at the same time and St Mary’s has helped enormously by adapting my timetable to fit in with my training and also giving me financial support through the Donald, Race & Newton Sports Award”.