The school that helped develop professional footballer LeiLanni Nesbeth and top cricketer Delray Rawlins is among a number of British institutions recruiting at the Kappa Classic this week.

Senior staff at Bede’s, a top independent boarding school, will attend the four-day tournament alongside delegates from Ardingly, Culford, Dallam, Clayesmore, Repton and Scarborough College as a result of a partnerships with Bridgeway Education, a Bermuda business set up by Neil Speight to help students find the right place to continue their sporting, academic and other aspirational paths.

Nesbeth, who plays for the Chicago Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States, and former Bermuda cricket captain Rawlins spent their formative years at Bede’s, with 14 Bermudian students aged between 9 and 13 now gracing its halls and sports fields.

Richard Mills, director of admissions at Bede’s, is looking for the next generation of student-athletes, with Bermudians top of his list of new recruits.

“The Bermudians that we have had over here play a major role in our society, and they have given a massive contribution,” Mills said.

“They are a special lot and that’s why we are coming over here again. International students equate to about 25 per cent of our student body each year and they are important to us.

“On average we have 30-plus different nationalities and we want them to maintain their own culture and share it with each other. It’s important to have that diversity so that no one community dominates.”

Bede’s has four core sports in football, field hockey, cricket and tennis, but Mills is keen to emphasise that the East Sussex-based institution places the importance of the individual above the school.

“Having four main sports academies allows students to fit their training into their timetable alongside a strong academic programme,” Mills said.

“Our coaches are great, we have a strong fixture list and great facilities, but it’s about the pupil and not the school. LeiLanni, who also played cricket for Sussex while she was here, joined Brighton Football Academy and we allowed her to go to the next level up, which developed her football and got her the scholarship in America.

“Delray was off training and playing for Sussex. That was the best thing for him, but almost to the detriment of Bede’s because he wasn’t playing that much for us.

“But that’s what I mean about the pupil’s development being more important than the school. The coaches and the coaching we have here complement the professional academies. Their mentors here were ex-professionals, so they were able to tap into the knowledge that we have on what it takes to become a professional sportsman.”

While boarding schools are often perceived to be elitist, Bede’s has scholarship and bursary opportunities to ensure that those who need financial assistance can still get the chance to attend.

“If a family need that support and if funds are available, then we can offer it,” Mills said.

“Our scholarships are worth a maximum of 10 per cent because what we want to do is ensure we give the funding to people who genuinely need it, which is why we have a means-tested bursary.

“There is nothing worse than giving a large scholarship to a family who can quite easily afford it. Our funding is targeted at the people who genuinely need it. So LeiLanni, for example, when she came was on quite large financial support, which was good for everybody.”

Bedford School may not have the same number of Bermudians, with nine former pupils hailing from the island, but they have some glittering alumni, including former England cricket captain Sir Alastair Cook and Olympic sprinter Harold Abrahams, whose sporting achievement was portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire.

Richard Midgley, the admissions director, is making his second visit to Bermuda in the hope of identifying families and children interested in life in England.

“I came to Bermuda last year for an event at the same time as Kappa, but never got to go to the tournament,” Midgley said.

“We just had an independent exhibition at BUEI. We were there for a couple of days and it was pretty slow, so we said if we are going to be anywhere this year it will be at Kappa. That’s where the top student-athletes will be and it will be a great chance to meet some families. I’ll be there from 5pm on Friday night all the way through until Sunday, and urge people just to come and get in touch with me.”

While schools are here on island hunting for talent, Midgley wants Bedford to be seen as a nurturer of top talent, rather than a poacher.

“What we don’t want to be seen to be doing is poaching all the top sporting talent off the island, as we know sport is central to the lives of many families in Bermuda,” he said.

“But what we do want to offer is the combination of a British education with elite sports provision and pathways to professional sport.

“We are an all-boys school and so for boys in Bermuda who play rugby, cricket or football, we offer the chance to play every day as part of the school timetable, with professional coaching and support.

“That is what we offer at the elite end, but even for the sporting enthusiast we offer depth of provision. My son is in the H team for rugby and is A team for cricket. I know a lot of families on island consider a British education for their children, and it’s nice for families to know what is there on the sporting front at a school like ours.”

But it’s not all about football at the Kappa Classic, with many of the schools hoping to speak to families with youngsters interested in cricket, hockey and swimming. Away from the pitches, the schools have vibrant programmes in the performing arts.

Martin Speight is the technical director of cricket at Repton School, where one of St George’s newest Cup Match players, Luke Fulton, is boarding now while Bermuda defender Harry Twite is a former student.

Speight, who coached England’s new white-ball captain Harry Brook at his previous school Sedbergh and teaches Harry Moore, a young cricketer who recently played for English Lions, is well aware of the sporting talent on this small island.

“I’ve been out to Bermuda with my previous school probably ten times and we have a number of Bermudian families already with us,” he said.

“Luke Fulton and Harry Twite are probably well known in Bermuda. They have done well and we are hoping to find more similar-minded young people.

"We’re looking for people who want to expand their horizons outside of Bermuda, but Repton is not only about sport. Last year 93 per cent of our students got their first-choice university. The head of school got a place at Harvard, and a few went to Oxford and Cambridge.

“Academics are really important, and at Repton we help students to excel at that, but also manage their other activities.

“We also have a standout hockey programme and we won our 54th national title this year. We have Harry Moore in the school, who has been away this winter playing cricket with England Lions.

“We have five Bermudians at the school now, but plenty more have been through the school and they all excel at different disciplines.”