Can we get son into the rugby playing schools in Croydon despite us living in West Sussex?

[AspirationalSussexMum]

We live near to the Sussex/Surrey border on the West Sussex side.

My son plays amateur club rugby at a good standard in his free time alongside attending his local comprehensive. We feel if he could attend a renowned rugby school for sixth form that this would improve his chances of securing a contract with one of the professional sides. It’s a chance we’d like to give him and we benefit from excellent train connections into East Croydon and Purley.

Question is: are Whitgift, John Fisher and Trinity commutable from Crawley/Gatwick? Does anyone from our area have a DS at one of these schools? Are T and W more lenient because inde? Is JF (state) still taking pupils from a wide area? Are Croydon schools prone to accept candidates who live just a few miles from the school grounds?

(In terms of the local options) We are probably a little too well off for Housey down the road - the places there are awarded to the mostly needy, including families from inner London estates and many are apparently in receipt of some government welfare (Housey is a bit of a peculiarity of the private sector). Ardingly would be a stretch as the fees are so astronomical.

Hopefully they aren't from inner London estates and in receipt of some government welfare though!

@LIZS Nothing wrong with widening access to some degree. I'm only stating that the situation at Housey has gone too far and to the detriment of local Sussex parents who would happily pay a reasonable set of fees.

Lots of appalling inverted snobbishness on this thread! My son has attended the local comprehensive for the last 5 years for god sakes.

I never understood why English people I knew thought it was a game for posh snobs but I'm gaining an understanding now.

Rubgy union was traditionally for the snobs. Rugby league is played where I live and is massively popular, and not at all posh.

It might only be 20 minutes to East Croydon on the train, but you have to factor in the wait for a bus and the time the bus takes to get to the school, plus time to get to the station in the morning. That is quite a long commute IMO.

W and T are very selective schools - last year both of them were in the top 100 highest attaining indies in England.

The chances of him getting a professional contract playing rugby are tiny. Lots of boys play rugby at a good standard.

He needs to be better than 'good'.

State schools no way, they have catchments and serve the kids in that area, and they are over subscribed. Private schools are different, your bank balance matters not location. Both are a bus ride from the station though (don't think the fast train stops at south Croydon) I'm really not sure how practical it is. If your son is really good he could try for a scholarship to a boarding school with links to a club, or professional teams have 6th form schemes (young Leicester tigers players go to DD's old state school in fact). If he just likes rugby but isn't likely to get to professional standard, how fair is it to expect him to travel 90-120 mins each way?

Btw, these days rugby like football contracts players young, he should try out. They board them here at Leicester tigers from all over, quite a few each year

Christ's Hospital used to be (and still is with its deserving cases) a haven for children from very tough circumstances - not the kind who will pull up the standards at their inner city Comps. The kind of Comps that actually do very well on a national scale - better than a lot of West Sussex ones.
But the deserving children are often from the kind of backgrounds where they are in danger of going into the care system, refugees and extremely deprived. But of course OP you don't sound as though you understand what charity means.
OP you can apply to John Fisher - but unless you are Catholic and can produce his baptism certificates - and even then it is very much an outside chance (sometimes the weirdest people do manage to get into a school).
But your son with have no school friends locally. Parties etc. that he is invited to will be a long way away, and you will have quite a journey to Parents evenings etc. Also if your DS gave up Rugby for whatever reason, would you have still chosen this school?

Fast trains from Three Bridges stop at Purley/East Croydon (25/30 mins ish) to change for South Croydon for W, which can involve a wait then walk. T is a tram/bus journey from East Croydon.

Loads of boys commuting to T and W from West Sussex on my train every morning - and we are considerably further out than you.

My DD has been commuting an hour into London (plus tube and walk at other end) since Y1. It's very doable.

The very best rugby schools do indeed converse closely with the big clubs, but your DS needs to be in the A team, and that’s not overly easy.
At appx 14, boys are syphoned off from the county DPP into the EPDG, as I’m sure you know, and then from this the clubs select players for their own academies. At a rough guess 1/3 of county players become EPDG, and then 1/4 of EPDG get to the club academy level.
At both of the top rugby schools that I’m familiar with, around 90% of A team players are in academies, but there are plenty of county level players in the Bs and Cs who are not.
Saying that, the quality of coaching at the good schools is exceptional - if your son is of good enough standard to get into an academy then good school coaching will help enormously; it just won’t really help them get in if they haven’t already started to get noticed / syphoned into the process.

Has your son already been noticed at his age? What teams is he playing for now? County? Academy? Etc