An Ashville College Sixth Former has been selected to captain the North England Ultimate Rugby Sevens (UR7s) U18 squad at a forthcoming tournament against their southern counterparts.
Kit Keith – who in addition to playing for the College’s 1st XV has represented North Yorkshire and Yorkshire U15-U18’s and will be hoping to win his first Harrogate Rugby Club first team cap in the next few weeks – will be leading his team at the UR7s regional festival, being held in Solihull on the last weekend of May.
Eighteen-year-old Kit, who lives in the Harrogate village of Darley, is currently studying BTEC Sport and A Level Art and from September is hoping to study sport and exercise science at Northumbria University in Newcastle.
Those chosen to play in next month’s regional festival, where each team of seven plays a series of games with each half lasting seven minutes, come from schools, rugby clubs and academies from across the UK.
And in addition to the games, all UR7s competitions include a 7s masterclass delivered by an international 7s player on the day.
Current UR7s coaches include Tom Michell England Captain and Sam Cross, a member of the GB7s side at the Rio Olympics in 2016 who recently made his Wales XVs debut, England 7s player Chris Cracknell, and Dan Norton, the leading try scorer on the 7s World Series.
Kit, who plays in the backline at either scrum half or fly-half, said: “The UR7s regional festival will be my first time captaining a team at this level. It’s a really exciting prospect and am looking forward to the challenge of leading the team.”
“I want to take my rugby career as far as possible, and I hope captaining the North England UR7s U18 squad will help me on my journey.”
Gary Mercer, Ashville College’s Head of Rugby who played Rugby League at international level for New Zealand, said: “We are absolutely thrilled for Kit. The UR7s festival is a fantastic opportunity for him to demonstrate his superb rugby skills, as well as developing his leadership qualities.
“During the Easter holidays, Ashville hosted a three-day sports camp and Kit was there every day helping to coach the young participants.
“He was a fantastic asset and someone the boys and girls looked up to. I know he will be a great captain and everyone at Ashville will be rooting for Kit and his North England U18s team.”
Ashville recognises Kit’s sporting achievements as a sports Scholar, as part of the Scholars’ programme. Scholars not only benefits from a financial scholarship, but they also receive dedicated support in the further development of their talents whether that be in sport, art, drama or music.
For more information about Ashville College, please visit www.ashville.co.uk or call 01423 566358.