It is so, so important that ‘boys can be boys’ or ‘boys will be boys’, and in my view the boys at Merchiston, whether outstanding games players or not, enjoy the opportunities for recreation and sport. Again, I surmise that the simple variety of activity on a daily basis allows each boy to find himself, and sport as a life skill plays such an important role in this. So, over the course of this term, boys have participated in the following sports: athletics, basketball, cricket, sailing, golf, shooting, swimming, tennis and sub aqua, and the following is a very brief snapshot of sporting activity at the time of writing.
The athletics squad enjoyed success at the Scottish Schools Relay Championships with our U15 and O17 teams winning Silver Medals and our U17 team gaining a Bronze. In the Individual Championships, Fraser Scott won the U17 1500m in a new School record time of 4m 08.72s; he also won Silver in the 3000m. Lachlan Moore won a Silver Medal in the U17 Long Jump; Myles Paterson a Bronze in the U17 Javelin and Malcolm Mackenzie narrowly missed out on Gold in the O17 200m; his Silver Medal performance was 0.02 seconds off the winner.
 In cricket, the 1st XI have had a very good season so far though there are still four matches to go, including the Tour to Gloucester. Unfortunately, we were defeated by Fettes in the semi-final of the Lothian Schools Cup, which was disappointing, given that we had been the holders for the last three years. Six of the eight schools we have played so far have been defeated, seven centuries have been scored for the XI (four by Mark van Heerden, and one each by Carleon Brome, Patrick Baker and Kyle M Smith) plus 17 half centuries, and at times their batting has been spectacular. The weather has been kind to us and very few matches have been cancelled. The U15 XI are a very promising team and have played a lot of very good cricket, as have the Pringle 1st XI who also toured Dublin at Half Term. The U15 XI depart to King's School Bruton in Somerset for their Cricket Festival. The U14 XI travel to the Midlands of England for two tour games and the 1st XI go on a three-match tour to Gloucester after the end of term.
 In cross country, this has been an excellent year for Fraser Scott (Corstorphine Amateur Athletic Cub) in his first year at U17. Notable individual achievements included 2nd at the East District Championships, 3rd at the National Championships and 1st at the Scottish Secondary Schools Championships. Fraser has also represented Scotland and put in some very respectable races in the UK Cross Challenge series, including 5th at Gateshead. The School cross country race followed a shorter modified course this year, because of the construction of the new Sixth Form House, and was not surprisingly won by Fraser. In Pringle, cross country has had a successful season this year with many individual and team placings in the various events run at other schools. In the Merchiston relays, the U13 A team finished runners-up to a talented Ardvreck outfit. At The Compass event, the U11s came 3rd in a very competitive field. For the 2nd consecutive year, George Hairs won the Silver Medal at the Scottish Schools Cross Country Championship held at Kirkcaldy; and in recognition of his individual performances at the above events, he was awarded the Merchiston Junior Cross Country Trophy and the Pringle Senior Award. Jordan Chatt was awarded the Pringle Junior Cross Country Award for his achievements. He also won this Award last year.
In football, the Senior squad competed in the Lothian Schools Cup, the Scottish Schools Cup and the Scottish Independent Schools FA (SISFA) cup. They were unlucky not to progress to the quarter finals of the SISFA Cup after some very keenly fought fixtures. The U16 squad have been developing well, and we took part in an U15s tournament at Stirling University for the first time. The squad are now looking ahead to a coaching tour to CF Valencia during the October Half Term before the new season begins.
This year’s golf team has been very well led by Captain Ross Lumsden, and on paper it has been a very strong team with three boys playing off handicaps below 10. We had two excellent wins against Fettes (3-1) and Strathallan (5-1).
Shooting continues to be both successful and popular. In the Country Life Small-Bore Competition, our A and B teams, captained by Ben Goulter and Patrick Costello respectively, were placed 8th and 13th in a field of 188 from across the UK. They were the highest placed team from Scotland. Ben was selected to represent Scotland B in the Home International Postal Competition, which finished runners-up behind England; Ben’s personal score was 4th best in the Scottish team of 12. In the Strathcona Shield, the small-bore VIII finished 3rd, behind George Watson’s and Dollar Academy, with Nicholas Newbould the only competitor in the entire field to score the maximum of 100.
In swimming, the School was represented in three age groups in the Scottish Schools Team Relays in Glasgow. The S2 (our Fourth Form) group achieved 9th and 10th places in the freestyle and medley relays respectively. The S3 and S4 (Shell and Fifth Form) group gained 7th and 8th places in the freestyle and medley relays respectively, while the Senior team finished 11th and 12th in the freestyle and medley respectively. In the School Swimming Championships, Marc Wong won the Senior event, a fitting reward for his hard work in training throughout the year. Keith Biggart and Teddy Bonfield came 1st in the younger age group events.
 Finally to tennis: the Merchiston Castle Tennis Club was established last year, allowing us to enter U14, U16 and U18 teams in the East of Scotland League. The U14 team have won two of their matches and have drawn one match against Dunfermline Tennis Club. The U16 team have won two of their matches but they lost to a very strong Meadows Tennis Club team. The U18 team, however, have won all of their matches and are hot favourites to win their division. The School teams have had an excellent season. The U13 team have qualified for the Scottish Finals of the HSBC Competition and will play The High School of Glasgow on 12 September in Glasgow. The U15 team have to play a semi final against Hutchesons’ Grammar School to qualify for the same event. This match will be played after the summer break. The 1st VI won five out of their six matches against other schools, losing narrowly to Glenalmond with a very young team. One of our J5 boys represented the 1st team this year against Strathallan and this is a significant achievement for him. In the national competitions our 1st IV, consisting of Stewart Crerar, James McKie, Patrick Baker and Jasper Gonella, have reached the last 16 of the Glanvill Cup. This is a British tournament and the finals are held at Queenswood School, Hertfordshire, in the summer holidays. More recently, the team beat The High School of Glasgow in the semi final of the Scottish Cup and later the same day they defeated Madras College 4 – 2 in the final. This is the first time Merchiston has won the Scottish Cup since the competition began in the early 70s. A great season for the boys and the School!
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