News UK Schools Games Success 25.09.2026

Collyer’s Paul Nixon, part of the college’s Talented Athlete Support Scheme (TASS) and Crawley Athletic Club was recently selected by England Athletics to take part in the UK School Games at Loughborough University. The UK Schools Games is bi-annual multi sports competition, where Under 18 athletes represent the home nations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

A new competition format called Dynamic New Athletics (DNA) where 10 teams of 22 track & field athletes including para- athletes, take part in a range of selected events similar to London Diamond Athletics. Paul, ranked 8th in UK for 400m Hurdles was selected for the London Lions team.

On Friday against Eastern Eagles, Scottish Wildcats, Southern Scorpions and Welsh Dragons, Paul came 3rd in the 400m Hurdles race in 55.69s scoring 6 match points.  He was also part of hunt relay (600m F, 400m M, 200m F & 800m M), where each team has a staggered start based on the total team points being converted into a time split. The winner of the hunt relay is declared the overall match winner. The London Lions came 5th qualifying for the B final.

On Saturday against Eastern Eagles, Northern Irish Giants, Northern Wolves and Welsh Dragons, Paul finished 2nd in the 400m Hurdles race in 55.72s scoring 8 match points. He was again a part of hunt relay team that started 3rd, but won the race and the B match and were presented with gold medals.

Collyer’s Head of Sports Academy, John Burroughs, said: “Collyer’s sport could not be prouder of Paul’s exploits on the national stage. He is an incredible talent who has a bright future in athletics ahead of him.”