OBITUARIES training he also found himself in the 1st XV . He was a mobile flanker ( wing forward , we would have said in those days ) with good hands and a sound defence . After school he ventured into club rugby , was soon recognised , and represented the 1st XV at Sevenoaks RFC . The pinnacle of his rugby career was playing against a London Welsh celebrity side which included JPR Williams !
Eventually squash and tennis became the centre of his sporting activity . He qualified as an LTA tennis coach , acquired a part 3 Squash Rackets Association coaching certificate and became a member of the United States Professional Registry UK . He returned to Sevenoaks School to develop a squash programme , becoming a dedicated , innovative and well-respected coach and producing Kent Cup-winning teams .
TONY HOWCROFT 1940-2021
Old Sennockian and sports coach Anthony Russell Howcroft was born in Gravesend on 29 July 1940 . He attended a local convent school then joined Sevenoaks School in 1951 , moving to the town in the same year with his parents .
From the very beginning at Sevenoaks , Tony ’ s passion for sport was his main sense of direction and he contributed to the school ’ s sports programme from thereon . He had a natural flair for all sports and in 1957 as a 15-year-old represented the 1st XI cricket team and was awarded his full colours at the end of his first season .
Tony could have made a mark in club cricket as an excellent all-rounder , but his contribution to school athletics and particularly tennis channelled him away from being a first-class cricketer . With his natural athleticism and dedication to fitness and strength
Academically , Tony never felt that he had achieved what he could have done at school , but he later gained additional A-levels , a Postgraduate Diploma in Recreation and Leisure Practice , a BA in Sociology and Social Policy and Administration , and a further degree in History and International Relations , which had become a consuming interest for him .
After school , travel became a very important part of Tony ’ s life , and there were few parts of the world he did not visit , from the Norwegian Fjords and the Arctic Circle ; Nepal and the Himalayas , as far as Everest base camp ; the USA ; the Andes ; East Africa , taking in Kilimanjaro and a visit to his beloved gorillas ; South Africa ; Tanzania ; Australia ; to Israel in a kibbutz , and Russia – the most significant of them all , as it turned out , where he met a doctor , Kadriya Agisheva , in 2001 . The couple married in 2006 and spent the best 16 years of Tony ’ s life together . He stepped into a father ’ s role quickly and spent many hours supporting Kadriya ’ s daughter , Victoria , through her middle school years and her studies at Tonbridge Grammar School .
Tony was the most unassuming , modest gentleman , a scholar and a true friend who was respected and well-liked by everyone .
Peter Hill , former Head of PE and Sport
144 ALUMNI REVIEW