Concordia
Merchant Taylors’ School
Michael
Ridout
Michael Ridout
(1998-2003) read Sports and
Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham.
He has been working at International Management
Group (IMG) since graduating and currently presides
over the commercial strategies for a variety of
sporting rights holders includingWimbledon, The
Open Championship and the RugbyWorld Cup
me. By the time I joined Taylors’ at 13 years
old I was already content that I knewwhat I
wanted to do when I was older – something
which I came to realise was fairly unusual for
someone so young.
My first memory of MTS was,
unsurprisingly, seeing the spectacular sports
pitches. Having played sport against many
other schools at their grounds I can safely
say that no other facilities came close to
Taylors’. The condition and the standard
of the pitches were second to none and
the imposing backdrop of the cloisters
enhanced the setting. They also seemed to
go on forever!
Whilst I have fondmemories of the
educational side of Taylors’ it is the
sporting aspects that really stand out; my
closest friends to this day are those that
I met playing sport at MTS. Of all the
years I represented Taylors’ at rugby it
was the U16B’s campaign that brings back
particularly fondmemories. The success of
that season was brought about by the fact
that each one of us were such good friends
– we all wanted to go the extra mile for one
another and our coach, the late great Paul
Overton – or CPO as he was aectionately
known. CPOwas a unique character whose
passion for the school was clear for everyone
to see and that rubbed o on all of us. I
will never forget CPO cycling across the
grounds to get to practice, nor some of his
refereeing decisions that may not have got
past a “TelevisionMatch O
cial” had one
been present.
A rugby tour to Italy followed that
season, where the social aspect may have
aected our on-pitch performance but a
great time was had by all. Trips abroad were
not only fantastic fun, they presented great
bonding opportunities. Looking back now,
I realise how important they were in my
personal development. It sounds trivial,
but interaction with teachers in a social
environment is actually great training
for later life when you are thrust into the
working world and are expected to deal
with “adults” as if you have been doing it
your whole life. It’s probably fairly unusual
to think of school teachers as your friends
but, after golf trips to Spain and Portugal, a
ski trip to Whistler, cricket tours all over the
UK and the rugby tour to Italy, I was able
to call the likes of Geo Colley, Richard
Laithwaite and Harry Latchman my friends
as well as teachers.
It was Harry who showed faith – maybe
slightly misplaced – inmy cricketing ability
and I made my debut for the 1st XI whilst
still in the 4th Form. I would go on to play
for the 1sts throughout the rest of my time at
Taylors’ and it was a shame that by the time
I was 17 the newAS and A2 level system
hen I went for my first golf
lesson at Oxhey driving range at 6
years old, little did I know that the
sport I was about to try for the first
time would shape the next 24 years
of my life...
Golf for me was love at first sight...or
maybe first hit! Shortly after that initial
experience I took up membership at my
first club (“Tricky Ricky”) with the help of
my DT teacher at St John’s School, David
Scott. As my game progressed and with
the support of St John’s I would later play,
and performwell in, the Stowe Putter prep
school golf tournament. It was at that event
that I was approached by John Simpson
– at the time the Head of Golf at IMG and
managing the careers of, amongst others,
Nick Faldo, ColinMontgomerie and Ian
Woosnam – who invited my parents and I
for a meeting at his o
ce. The message was
that if I wanted to become a professional
golfer it was time for me to forget about
playing any other sport, forget about
socialising with my friends and that my
life would now be wall-to-wall school and
golf – not the most appealing thought for a
13-year-old, despite howmuch I loved golf.
What did appeal though was John’s
job. Travelling around the globe from
tournament to tournament working with
the world’s best golfers would certainly suit
W
