Newham Education Business Partnership - Mentoring

Ravinder Singh “Puppy” Bopara was born 4 May 1985 in Forest Gate. He was educated at Brampton Manor School in the borough of Newham. He plays cricket for Essex and England.

Ravinder signed for Essex when he was just 17. He made his first class debut in May 2002 and has not looked back since. He played for the England youth teams and England ‘A’ before making his One-Day International debut on 7 February 2007. Only a fortnight later he was named in the England squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Born in Newham on 16 November 1961, Clarence Callender combined his passion for athletics with a military career. His talent and dedication resulted in a silver medal at the Seoul 1988 Olympics at 4×100 metres relay.

Apart from his Olympic achievement, he also won medals in the 4×100 metres at the Commonwealth Games: a silver medal in 1986 and a gold medal in 1990.
Currently he is on the elite coaching staff of the Newham Sports Academy, which aims to identify young talented sports people in the borough. The aim to give local young people the opportunity to reach their full sporting potential in time to compete - and hopefully win medals - at the 2012 Games.