By Iris Feliks, Games Captain

The annual sports awards took on a slightly new format this year, in many ways very different from the dinner and environment as previous years, but the ever-strong sporting spirit at Notting Hill was still conveyed through the tremendous live streamed video. This year, with students and staff unable to go into school for the normal event, the virtual sports awards were presented on Wednesday evening via a virtual live stream.

The evening was presented by a series of inspiring elite athletes who announced the nominations and winners of each category. With each award we were amazed to see one top athlete after another introducing an award – all organised by our wonderful sports department.  Athletes presenting awards included Rugby World Cup winner Emily Scarratt,  World & Paralympic athletics champion Sophie Hahn, Olympic gymnastics medalist Beth Tweddle, England rugby captain Sarah Hunter, England netballer Kira Rothwell, England hockey player Esme Burge, Olympic swimming medalist Cassie Patten, Team GB badminton player Lauren Smith, dance professional Rebecca Ibbot, England rugby player Natasha Hunt and England footballer Nikita Paris. Girls were nominated for awards for different sports, with a Junior (Year 7-9) and Senior (Year 10-13) winner for each, with awards also announced for each sport’s ‘Rising Stars.’

There were also awards for Outstanding Contribution, Unsung Hero, Sports Personality, Team of the Year and Games Captain.

Aside from announcing awards, there was a large collection of photos and videos to remember all the sporting ventures of the year, showing a range of clubs, matches and tournaments across all the years of the school. The presentation ended by showing some winners of at-home dance competitions including Year 12 Georgia’s very accurate recreation of a dance by ABBA!

To end, I would like to say a big thank you to the sports department, the guest athletes and Games Captain Jojo, who gave a lovely speech about her year in the role. The live stream of the sports awards can still be watched through the school’s firefly so if you haven’t seen it and get a chance I would heavily recommend watching it to relive some of this years best sporting moments at the hill!