What an absolutely brilliant evening we had at the Senior School and Sixth Form Sports Awards Dinner on Friday, 12th June 2026. With over 230 students, parents and staff in attendance, Carrow Road was buzzing with an electric atmosphere as we celebrated another outstanding year of sport.

A huge thank you to Norwich City Football Club who looked after us so well at their lovely venue and for their outstanding service throughout the night. It was wonderful to see so many well-deserved awards given out, celebrating the hard work, dedication and achievements of students across all our sports.

Opening the event, Director of Sport Mrs Debra Smith looked back on a phenomenal year of County, Regional and National sporting triumphs. Addressing the audience on the nature of athletic growth, she spoke about the pathways to sports specialisation.

A real highlight of the evening was our special guest speaker, Norwich High alumna and former GB cyclist and bobsleigh athlete, Victoria Williamson. Victoria shared her extraordinary sporting journey, which began when she was chosen from over 3,000 trialists in the UK Sport ‘Girls4Gold’ talent programme. She rose rapidly through the ranks to compete at the World Championships, but just months before the Rio 2016 Olympics, a horrific velodrome crash shattered her dreams. Left just 2mm away from permanent paralysis, Victoria refused to give up. Showing monumental resilience and determination, she fought her way back to fitness and elite competition before remarkably switching sports to represent Great Britain in Bobsleigh. Now retired from elite sport, Victoria continues to inspire others through her work as a strength and conditioning coach.

Victoria’s amazing journey of determination to overcome injury in professional sport inspired the launch of the new Vicky Williamson Resilience Award, presented to Poppy and Saskia. 

Many awards were presented throughout the evening to celebrate individual and team success across swimming, hockey, cricket, rowing, equestrian, and netball. Highlighting the dedication of our senior leaders, the U18 hockey squad was named ‘Team of the Year’ following a spectacular season, with Emily taking home ‘Captain of the Year’ for her superb leadership. In a moving moment, Thalia received the ‘Nursery Long Service Award’ for representing the school since she was just six years old – representing Norwich High School for Girls this year as a vital member of both the 1st XI hockey and 1st VII netball teams. Closing the night was the highly anticipated, audience-voted Sports Personality Award, which saw Zoe crowned as this year’s well-deserved winner.

A huge thank you to all the auction prize donors and everyone who has supported the sports department this year. Your generosity makes a real difference. And finally, a massive thank you to our fantastic sports teachers – your passion and commitment are the backbone of our thriving sports programme.

It was a truly memorable evening celebrating another successful year in Norwich High sports with speeches, awards, a sumptuous dinner, teacher penalty shoot outs and fun dancing!