PAUL STIRLING

CLASS OF 2009

Ireland International Cricketer

I was a pupil at Belfast High School between 2002 and 2009. I began a professional cricket career while still at school aged 17 and it is still my profession now. Hopefully there are still a few years left yet! My two main teams have been the Ireland national team, where I have amassed 347 caps to date, and Middlesex CCC, who I represented from 2009 to 2019. Recently, I have been fortunate enough to travel the world playing franchise cricket whenever my international cricket commitments allow.

There have been many challenges along the way, beginning with juggling my academic studies with the ever-growing fixture list. In 2009 I played in the T20 World Cup in England while taking my A Level exams in Radley College in between training and matches – something that couldn’t have been achieved without the help of Belfast High School.

Cricket has taught me how to deal with failure which, as a batsman, is all but guaranteed more often than not. It teaches you that success is worth the wait and that the hard yards you put in will come good at some point. It teaches you to enjoy the good times when they come and to stay in the present.

I thoroughly enjoy touring but the time away from home can be tough graft. I feel lucky to have been selected at such a young age. It made me immune to the strains and stresses the other players were going through at the time. I was still at school when I ‘got the nod’ for a six-week schedule in the UAE and Bangladesh. Learning about other cultures and seeing such poverty gave me an appreciation of what I had.

The joys of playing sport are in the everyday things: always striving to get better each day, the camaraderie of teammates and coaching staff in chasing a common goal, and overcoming the challenges that you encounter daily.

I loved my time at the High School and have wonderful memories, especially of the teachers and staff who worked there. They would always go the extra mile. The vast array of sports on offer had a huge impact on choosing my career path. Playing in teams and being given leadership opportunities allowed me to develop some crucial personal skills required later in life in the ‘real world’.

It gives me great pleasure to say that I would go back and do it all over again at Belfast High School. There was an elite standard of education, teaching, sport and extra-curricular activities. Friendships and bonds with other pupils there will last a lifetime. It has been great to watch how the school continues to develop from afar since leaving and it bodes well for future pupils to have a successful education there.