Sports Report

Cricket

The Cricket Club played 19 fixtures last week, with 10 wins over both boys’ and girls’ fixtures. Well done to the Boys 4th XI who had a solid midweek win and the Boys 3rd XI who recorded an excellent victory against Harrow, having lost three early wickets. Last week saw five girls’ XIs play, the most ever in one week, with three wins from five games recorded, including an excellent win for the Girls 1st XI. Week 1 also saw the Boys 1st XI open their season with a 37 run win against the Free Foresters CC, with the notable performance of Eddie (Bd) taking 7 wickets for 26 runs, including a hat-trick. Well done also to Aramaya (Pn) who scored 121 in the 2nd XI against Harrow.

Football

Great news came in this week, with Fabienne (Ap) selected for Sweden U18 Football at the European Championship finals this summer.

Netball

Well done also to Amelie (W) on her selection for Scotland U19 Netball.

Sailing

The Sailing team kicked off their term with six wins from ten races. Well done to Jessie (A) who stepped up with only recreational sailing experience and handled the intensity of team racing competition brilliantly.

BSDRA Southern Team Racing Championships, Spinnaker SC:
With the sailing team slightly thin on the ground for the weekend, Poppy (C) stepped up to helm for competition and Jessie (A) represented the College for the first time. Early wins against less experienced opposition saw the team in a good position after our first few races. However, we were overwhelmed by more practised and well drilled teams, as well as racing one race with only two out of three boats. Our final position was 9th of the 20 with much tactical analysis and learning points for next weekend’s event in Rutland.

Shooting

Over the Easter holidays, the Wellington Shooting team had a variety of shooting events. Just as school broke up for Easter, we saw Penny (A), Adrian (L), Ricky (M), Sayan (M), and Alex (R) go to Ex Maple Taste, where they trained and shot alongside their peers across the UK, whilst being coached by national and GB shots. Penny and Adrian are both part of the Athelings team (GB U18s) this year, an incredible achievement, and we are super proud of them. We also learnt that Ricky managed to secure a place on the small roster of 12 members for the UK Cadet Rifle team, with Alex securing a spot as a reserve. This team is always a hard one, due to the small number of places and the large amount of applicants, but all three (Sayan, Ricky, and Alex) impressed over the course of the week and are stronger for it.

The final week of the Easter holidays saw the Easter camp begin. Whilst not the coldest camp we have run, it was by far one of the windiest, with wind speeds of 25mph and gusts of 40mph whilst shooting. Despite these miserable conditions, every pupil attending did their best and pushed themselves to learn more. We even managed to have a team building exercise afternoon, with bowling and an escape room. All of this teamwork and shooting effort culminated in the end of week shoot in the Cobweb Buster, a competition organised by the Gloucester County. For first time shooters, brand new to the concept of “wind” and “self-coaching”, Siena (C) and Valentina (Hn) showed true mettle in not giving up and powering on with their shoots. After a struggle at 900, and some allowances made by the competition organisers, Valentina and Siena had a very successful 1000 yards and came out with some excellent scores. Adrian showed that consistency was key, beating other school competitors by 2 points to secure the top school shot of the day, and earning himself 3rd place in the top U25 spot, only being beaten by two university students (1st place being an OW and currently a member of the English Lions).

All in all, a very good Easter break for the Shooting team, with results from the final smallbore competitions beginning to filter in as we move into the Fullbore season.

Tennis

It was great to see the Summer Term start with a bang for tennis with 34 fixtures played. Conditions for tennis were highly challenging with the wind, but that makes it even more impressive for the six teams who recorded wins, especially the Yearlings 2, 3 and 4 who had very tight matches and got their Wellington tennis careers off to a winning start.

Waterpolo

Huge congratulations to Victor (Bd) and his team, who last weekend won the National Age Group, U17, Waterpolo Championships, a brilliant effort.

Team of the Week

It was an outstanding display of positivity, disciplined bowling and confident batting from the Junior Colt C cricket team, which  saw them beat Harrow by 6 wickets with 6 overs to spare.

Tight bowling from Fabian (M) and Conrad (S) and an incredible double-wicket maiden from Eashar (S) meant a target of 106 from 25. An exhilarating 42-ball 43 from Jasper (S) and a dominant 23-ball 18 from Ethan (R) saw them bring home the win.

Firstly, we wish the Boys U16 hockey team the best of luck at National Finals at Lee Valley next week; we are all behind you and wish you well.

Athletics

Well done to Arthur (Pn) who represented Team GB over Easter at the Jesolo Grand Prix. He ran a PB in the 400m and came 3rd in T13 and also ran his second fastest time in the 1500m and came 3rd amongst T13 runners.

Kingsleys

Huge congratulations to the overall winners Aidan (R) and Ella (W) who put in stellar performances, and to all the pupils and staff who took part. Well done to those houses who won their year group competitions too:

Juniors – Combermere (Girls) and Raglan (Boys)

Inters – Orange (Girls) and Picton (Boys)

Seniors – Combermere (Girls) and Talbot (Boys)

Rackets

Well done to Georgia (T) who played a super match in the National Rackets Championship and won 3-0, to become U16 National Champ. Well done also to runners up Seb (R) and Baz (Pn), in the Boys 2nd pair competition, with the final being a great game that went to 3-2. Well done to all those who competed and supported each other so well at Queen’s across the full week too.

Rugby

The final week of the Lent Term saw the Rosslyn Park 7s.

The U14s came 2nd in their group losing to Collegiate 26-19, but winning against Churcher’s 43-7 and Bennett Memorial Diocesan School 57-0.

The U16s won their group beating Windsor Boys’ School, St Edward’s Oxford and St Peter’s Gloucester, and narrowly going out in the elimination round 19-15 against RGS Guilford.

The Senior Vase side had the worst of the weather plus a strong group and did not progress, losing 2/3 of their games.

The Senior Cup side won their group beating Richard Huish College, Norwich school, Beechen Cliff and Oakland College on day 1. Day 2 saw a very tough group: Sedbergh, Millfield and Kirkham. The team beat Sedbergh, lost to Kirkham 19-14 and lost 19-15 to Millfield who went on to win the cup.

As ever though, a great week of school Rugby 7s for everyone.

Shooting

A full Easter Camp report is to follow.

Triathlon

Over the break the Bermuda Triathlon Association hosted its annual awards dinner and Nell (Hg) was awarded the Junior Female Triathlete of the Year award, a wonderful achievement.

International Honours and more….

A massive congratulations to three pupils playing internationally over the break, as well as Arthur (Pn), already mentioned above:

• Cecily (O) and Tom (Pn) who played for England U16 Hockey
• Tyler (Pn) who represented England U18 Rugby in the U18 Six Nations

Well done to Jaz (W) who competed in the Formula Woman competition, which included 80 women who had travelled from around the world to compete. Jaz made it through to the closing stages, leading to her being in the final 15 who raced a fastest hot lap. Unfortunately, Jaz did not win but she finished in the top few competitors and received great feedback.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Badminton

This week was packed with exciting badminton events at Wellington College. On Monday, the school had the honour of hosting a masterclass led by none other than world-class player Ethan Rose. With a focus on perfecting the smash shot, students eagerly listened to tips and techniques from the seasoned athlete, and engaged in spirited 5-point games with him. Then, on Thursday, the badminton team showcased their newfound skills in a showdown against Epsom College, securing an impressive 15-3 victory. The momentum continued into Saturday’s match against the Sports Centre Adult Club, where Wellington College faced off against experienced opponents. Despite the challenge, Wellington emerged victorious, clinching the overall win.

Basketball

Last week started with our U14 Boys playing hard but ultimately losing 29-41 at home to Eton College.  We then saw our U18 Girls win 46-13 in the Friday night league. Anna (W) was the highest scorer with 22 points, with Jill-Marie (C) chipping in with 10 points.  On Saturday, the Murray won the House Basketball for the Fourth and Fifth Form boys, with one coach calling them ‘the Man City of Wellington Basketball’.

Fencing

This week the fencing squad attended the Public Schools’ Fencing Championships. The Public Schools’ Fencing Championships is an annual three-day fencing competition for children ages 11-18, with fencing at all three weapons. It is the largest competition of its kind in the UK and attracts schools from all over the country.

This year, Wellington College took twenty fencers across the three days, age groups and all weapons. Fencers ranged from recent beginner to those who had been taking part in the sport for a number of years. Each competition consisted of two pool rounds (where fencers competed in a round-robin style against five other fencers in the pool) followed by direct-elimination rounds initially based upon their seeding from the second round. The majority of our fencers were promoted from the pool rounds to the direct elimination – a good result to start with! Once in the direct-elimination draw, fencers were then in bouts where the first to fifteen hits was promoted to the next round.

All Wellington College students performed well, relishing the opportunity for individual competition and everyone stepped up their performance. Highlights from the many excellent results:

Boys:
• Joshua (R) – 5th Boys’ Senior Foil
• Victor (R) – 11th Boys’ Junor Sabre

Girls:
• Annie (Hn) – 13th Girls’ Junior foil, 6th Girls’ Junior Sabre
• Keely (O)  – 13th Girls’ Senior Sabre

When all the results were combined, Annie (R) achieved second place in the Champions of Arms competition (a competition taking into account all entries and all results). A great achievement considering she is in the younger part of the Junior group and has another year to improve this! During the day, all team members were proactive in watching and supporting each other. A real demonstration of College values!

Football

Last week saw the highly sought after Interhouse Football competitions contested.

The winners were:

Junior boys – Raglan

Senior boys – Benson

Girls’ competition – Combermere

Hockey

There has been more success in the U16 age group in the hockey club this week with the boys putting in a really gritty performance to win their National Tier 1 quarter-final against Repton. The boys went 1-0 up midway through the first half thanks to an exceptional counter attack by Carter (Bd) that saw Dylan (H) put the ball into an open goal. The remainder of the half saw the boys endure prolonged periods of pressure to go into half time 1-0 up. The second half was a similar affair with both teams going close. Eventually Tom (Pn) carried powerfully into the D to set up Carter (Bd) giving the boys a little breathing space as they snuck into a 2-0 lead. Repton came back strong and scored with twenty minutes to play but thanks to some outstanding defending by the entire team and a remarkable performance in goal by Archie (S) the boys hung on to qualify for the semi-final next term. Well done boys!

Netball

Last Saturday saw an absolute marathon of high class netball for both the U16s and the 1st VII at National Finals. Despite battling hard, the 16s faced some strong opposition and were not able to progress to the final stages, but a stunning effort to get to the last 18! The 1st VII netballers had an equally tough day, showing high skill and physical capacity throughout, playing brilliantly to finish 3rd in the country from over 1,500 teams. Well done to all those involved.

Last weekend also saw the Interhouse Netball competitions.

The winners were:

Junior girls – Apsley

Senior girls – Apsley

Sailing

Well done to Harry (Hl), who has qualified for the ILCA4 World Championships in Portugal later this year.

Shooting

Ahead of Maple Taste, the selection weekend for the UK Cadet Rifle Team and the GBU18 teams, a quick practice was in order. Penny (A), Adrian (L), Sayan (M), Ricky (M), and Alex (R 5th) put in a good solid afternoon of zeroing and making sure that they were ready. Good luck with upcoming selections to all.

Team of the Week

The 1st VII netball team, who finished 3rd at the National Finals out of over 1,500 schools that took part.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Badminton

The Wellington College badminton team demonstrated exceptional skill and resilience in two significant fixtures this week. At the highly anticipated annual Harrow Cup on Tuesday, the team engaged in the intense competition, with both pairs showcasing impressive form and coming tantalizingly close to defeating Harrow’s top pair. Despite the narrow margin, Wellington secured a commendable third-place finish, showcasing their strength amongst tough competition, closely trailing behind Eton. Building on this momentum, Saturday saw Wellington facing off against Bradfield in a mixed game filled with excitement. The team delivered a standout performance, clinching a convincing 10-6 victory. Notably, Sherya (W) and Kaiyu (Bd) stood out for their exceptional play, earning a special mention for their contributions to Wellington’s success.

Football

Saturday afternoon saw the football club entertain fixtures against Radley, Haileybury and Sevenoaks. The senior boys played Radley away. Five really entertaining fixtures with the 1st XI narrowly losing 5-3 in an end to end game with lots of attacking football on display. The highlight performance came from the 2nd XI who won 3-2 in a hard fought win.

The junior and senior girls’ teams both played away at Sevenoaks. Some really entertaining football was played from both sides but unfortunately Sevenoaks ran out winners in the end. It was extremely pleasing, however, to see lots of progression from both teams. Other highlights came from the U15As who beat Radley 3-1 in a convincing win, and the U14As who won 3-2 against Haileybury in a resilient performance.

Golf

At the Micklem Trophy, Wellington beat Harrow in round 1 (5-0), Eton in round 2 (4.5-0.5), and Stowe in the final (3-2). The final was decided on the second sudden death play off hole. Joe (Hl), birdied the second playoff hole, a 215 yard par 3, to win his match and therefore the Micklem for the team (career birdie – one of the hardest holes out there!). This is always a heated match between Stowe and Wellington as both are strong teams. Last year, it came down to Joe’s match where he couldn’t seal the victory; however, this year was different – a great redemption story for Joe.

Gymnastics

Amelia (W) and Jemima (Hn) and their team won the gold medal at the TeamGym Southern Qualifiers last weekend. They have the highest qualifying score for the British Championships in July.

Hockey

Last Tuesday afternoon the U16 girls set off to Lee Valley National Hockey Stadium with the hope of winning the National U16 Hockey Finals. Standing in their way would be Manchester High and the winner of the other semi-final played between Epsom and Oakham. Wednesday’s semi-final was a tense affair and the girls demonstrated grit and resilience in spades as they hung on to a 1-0 win in what was not their best performance of the season but one that they could be proud of, as in knock out hockey, it is sometimes just about getting the job done. Epsom and Oakham finished 2-2 at full time with Oakham winning in the shootout. The final was always going to be tough especially played in front of the 250 supporters that Oakham had bussed to the stadium that morning. The girls were determined to put the disappointment of yesterday’s performance behind them and show everyone in attendance what they were capable of. After a tense start the girls kicked into gear and played some simply outstanding hockey with incredible individual performance across the entire squad that saw the Oakham crowd silenced as they took a commanding 3-0 lead into half-time. The start of the second half saw a period of pressure from Oakham, as they fought to get back into the game, but the girls rallied and scored a further two goals putting in their best performance of the season when it mattered the most. A 5-0 win in a national final is something very special but the performance of the entire squad was even better! To produce their best performance, at a time when their best was required, was exceptional. All year we have emphasised joy and teamwork as our core values, and this could not have been displayed more.

Netball

Great work from the netballers this week in their block fixtures against Hurst. There were some very mixed results due to the strength of both sides but a great match up nonetheless. This was the last fixture for a lot of the teams this week; a huge well done to all teams this season, so many huge successes along the way but mostly we hope everyone enjoyed their fixtures and time with their teams. A huge thank you for our coaches too!

The 1st team had their last home fixture this week and won a very close game against Hurst finishing 50-52. It was nailbiter for a last home match for a few of the girls: Saskia(Ap), Charlotte (Ap), Scarlett (W), Macy (C), Annabel (C) and Saffy (Hg)! These girls have been a huge core of our 1st team for many seasons, they will be greatly missed next season but we wish them all the very best with their future netball ambitions and we are sure achievements.

The 2nd team had a tough match up with Hurstpierpoint, suffering their biggest loss of the term. Nevertheless, this did not distract the girls from putting in all the hard work and effort throughout the fixture, which is why they should be extremely proud of themselves. They have shown resilience, passion, dedication and willingness to keep working hard, some core values that should never go missed. Albeit the score wasn’t the way Wellington would have liked, it didn’t distract from the fact that the girls had had a successful season and have improved throughout the term, both individually and as a team!

Well done to Amelie (W) and her Scotland team, who finished 2nd last weekend at the Netball U17 European Championships – she was captain too, making this even more special.

Best of luck this weekend to the U16s and 1st VII at National Finals.

Polo

On Thursday afternoon the polo team met Eton at Emsworth arena. The A team held the winning score at each quarter, but narrowly lost to Eton within the final chukka with an end result of 16-17 to Eton. The B team held their position throughout their match too, confidently riding the boys off, and challenging them at every moment, resulting in a nailbiting final chukka. The girls narrowly lost with a final score of 11-12 to Eton. An excellent and challenging end to the Arena season for all of the students in the polo team.

Rugby

Sunday saw our U14 team play in the QE Barnett tournament; in horrendous conditions, the boys dug in and played well. In the group stages we beat both Dulwich and St Albans, but came second to Bedford. This meant a quarter-final against Berkhamsted, where we were 12 apiece after regular time. The golden point did not go our way and we finished as runners-up in the Plate. The U16 team went to the All England tournament in more wet conditions. The boys played some excellent rugby, but were eventually knocked out by Epsom College in the quarter-final, Epsom going on to win the competition. The seniors took on the first TSC schools 7s at Sixways stadium, former home of the Worcester Warriors. We went with nine intrepid, brave Wellingtonians. The boys, against the odds, played some sensational rugby against the best schools in the country: Sedbergh, Ipswich and Sir Thomas Rich’s School. Even with the odds stacked against them, the boys managed to best RGS Worcester in the semi-final of the Plate playing some of the best VIIs the seniors have played this term. In the Plate final we went down fighting against Llandovery College; we were down to 6 players at some points in the final, which meant we were always going to struggle against a big and physical Llandovery side. Earlier in the week at the Surrey 7s, the seniors also played some fantastic and physically challenging 7s on a big pitch, where they reached the semi-final before the fatigue caught up with them.

Squash

Wellington girls played Bradfield last week and ran out formidable 11-0 winners in the first round of games, and even with a change of formation in the second round, the girls played brilliantly to win 8-3. A fantastic effort from all involved.

Triathlon

Well done to Nell (Hg) who has received a prestigious award from the Premier of Bermuda for her national representation in triathlon, particularly at Commonwealth and Caribbean levels.

Team(s) of the Week

It will likely come as no surprise that this week we have two teams of the week, both incredibly deserving.

Firstly, the Girls U16 Hockey National Championship winning team from last Thursday, who won a really tough semi-final against Manchester High, but then dominated the final winning 5-0 against Oakham, with the performance described by staff as, ‘some simply outstanding hockey with incredible individual performance across the entire squad’. A huge well done to everyone involved!

Secondly, the Golf team who won the Micklem Trophy, which in many ways represents a national trophy. Over two long days, the team defeated Harrow, Eton and Stowe, with the final being settled after two sudden death playoff holes, an incredible display of resilience and determination. Well done again to all!

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Basketball

Last week was a busy one!

• The Talbot won the 4th and 5th form Girls’ House Basketball
• The Raglan won the 3rd Form Boys’ House Basketball
• The U14 Boys lost 22-43 away at Harrow
• The U18 Boys lost 25-52 away at Harrow
• The U18 Girls beat Bracknell Cobras 36-6 in their Friday night league fixture. Lily (W) and Gabi (Hg) stood out for their shooting and defence, respectively.

Football

Unfortunately, it was a week of football that was heavily influenced by the weather. No fixtures, but lots of training over the weekend with the 14s and 15s holding a round robin tournament, the 16s participating in gym sessions and the seniors boys and girls team going on a training run. Radley, Haileybury, Shiplake and Sevenoaks are all part of the fixture list for this week.

Hockey

It was another busy week in the hockey club with some tough games against Abingdon and Bradfield, plus the boys found out their opposition for the next round of the Tier 1 England Hockey competitions. The U16 boys will take on Whitgift in the national quarter-final, which we wish them the best of luck for. The boys’ 1st XI also took on Alleyne’s at home on Tuesday afternoon in the next round of the Tier 2 England Hockey Cup, in what was a tough but competitive game.

Netball

Last weekend saw a great round of block fixtures played against Seaford both at home and at the 7s tournament away.

A special mention this week goes to the U14B team who have showed such great efforts this term and again rallied through with a big win of 33-6 on Saturday, adding to their stellar winning streak. Following on from their 42-25 win against Bradfield last week, they won against Seaford 32-16. Players of the match, as chosen by the opposition, were Sophie (O), for some truly impressive interceptions in the D, and Amy (O) for her super fast performance as Centre. Special mention must also go to our shooters Gigi (O) and Francesca (O) who dealt valiantly with strong winds and glaring sun to score some really cracking goals. All in all, another wonderful show of teamwork from an incredibly strong team in all areas of the court. Congratulations girls!

The U16 girls headed to the Seaford netball tournament ready to fill their boots with tournament experience in the lead-up to Nationals in two weeks’ time. They were grouped in one of two pools and started off with a match against Portsmouth Grammar School. The girls did well to come away with a 4 goal win, with some excellent turnovers from Freya (A) and Freya (T), and looked ahead to Seaford in the following round. After starting strong and going into the half time break with a 4 point lead, the Seaford team pulled it back to equal, when Eden (C) cooly sunk the final goal right on the full time whistle to ensure the Welly girls went up by 1 to take the win.

They then turned their attention to the 3rd round match against St Joseph’s College. The girls did well to pull ahead by 4 goals with some outstanding shooting from Eden (C) and Kiera (C); however, a clash between Freya (T) and Kiera (C) while both going for the same intercept meant Kiera (C) went down in a heap and was replaced by Sofia (A), who finished off the second half shooting beautifully. Finally, the last pool round saw the Welly girls come up against Brighton College. Some outstanding turnovers from Freya (T) and Freya (A) and great feeding from Tehya (W) and Annabel (C), meant they sealed their place in the cup final, winning by 4.

The final was a match-up between Wellington and familiar faces, Hurstpierpoint. The girls gave it their all, but it wasn’t meant to be. Hurst pulled away, eventually winning the match 10-4 with some avoidable errors made after a long day of netball. This was a great tournament for the girls to be a part of and puts them in good stead leading into the Nationals tournament next Saturday. Congratulations also to Kiera (C) who was given special mention in making the tournament team.

The 2nd team had an outstanding day as they were crowned champions of the Seaford College Netball Shield Tournament. The girls had a long day of netball where they played four games in a round robin tournament. Wellington started the competition with a loss to Seaford 2s, which fuelled fire in their next three performances where they beat Portsmouth Grammar School and Gordon’s. After having secured these two wins, Wellington had to win their final game against St John’s Leatherhead, who were one point ahead of them in the table. The game was extremely competitive, however Wellington kept their heads and played some of their best netball this season, narrowly beating St John’s to secure top place, thus winning the Shield! They were outstanding, every single player played a part in the team’s victory, with special mentions to Jess (W) and Sarah (Ap). Jess was exceptional as GD and worked incredibly hard and turned ball on many occasions. She was an attacker’s nightmare! At the other end of the court, Sarah (Ap) was half of the shooting duo alongside Lucy (W) and was on fire with her shooting across the tournament. She was calm and composed and worked alongside Lucy (W) in the attacking circle. The girls were thrilled with the win, which shined a light on a very long day!

Rugby

It was a busy week of 7s. The Seniors played on both Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday saw the boys go to the Middlesex VIIs at St Bendict’s. We won our group beating Windsor boys, John Fisher, London Oratory and drawing with NSB. That meant we played Hampton in the final who came away as winners. Friday saw us at the play in the Ipswich School 7s held at the Grasshoppers RFC in London. This tournament was shortened due to weather and an injury. The Seniors had a tough group but beat Whitgift, Clifton College, RGS Guilford and drew against Hartpury College. Time was not on our side due to delays, our final group game finished at 10.15pm which meant we played the final at 10.20; however, putting in a valiant effort against Millfield, we went down to a slightly fresher side.

On Tuesday we took two U14 teams to the London Oratory 7s. There was a great deal of excitement, as the boys were able to tick off all the Gail’s coffee shops they have been to as we drove through London on the way to Barn Elms sports grounds. Both teams won their groups playing some excellent 7s in lovely sunny conditions. Wellington A drew John Fisher in the semi-final who were a very big physical team and narrowly lost in a game that ebbed and flowed between the two sides.

Wellington B met a very aggressive Dulwich side that played some high quality 7s, and this proved too much as the boys went down, but never stopped trying. A brilliant day that saw 24 boys playing in the sunshine!

The U14 7s boys then played at Warwick School 7s on Saturday, in spite of a lot of rain, coming away as the Shield winners – a great effort from a tough day. The top performer of the day was Toby (R).

Shooting

Despite it being a long weekend, the shooting team had a small representation of four competing in the inaugural CCRS 100 team finals. As CCRS is a Cadet outfit, this meant the team had to be in CCF uniform – looking pretty sharp!

Each member shot two 10 bull match cards to get a score out of 200, with the team averaging a final score of 96 per target. This was an excellent team average, resulting in the team winning 1st place. Well done to the team – Julius (T), Adrain (L), Chung Hang (L), and Natty (W).

Two members of the team, Natty (W) and Adrian (L) had a three-way tie shoot to settle for the top individual, having both scored 195/200 and one of the Gresham’s team members tying as well. The look of joy on their faces was something to behold; other methods for breaking the tie were discussed – a game of Uno; rock, paper scissors (best of 3); one shot sudden death competition… Alas, another card was deemed fairest. This led to another tie between Natty and the Gresham’s shooter, both getting a 98, beating Adrian out with a 97. Countback was then applied, leaving Natty as the overall winner. Well done to Natty!

The final event was the Falling Disks – a rapid team shoot event, where teams of three try to shoot 12 clay disks as fast as possible, with a 60 second time limit. Due to being odd numbers, one student from each school created a 4th team aptly named “Barbarians” who shot for “Honours”. Wellington lost to RGS but beat Gresham’s, with RGS winning all their matches and so were crowned the winners, Wellington 2nd, and Gresham’s 3rd.

Swimming

Last Friday, the swimming team attended the annual Bath Cup event at the London Aquatic pool. The boys’ team put in a fantastic effort, despite facing fierce competition from older competitors. Special mention for Josh (M) who achieved PBs in each of his races. The highlight of the event, however, was the girls’ team who came 8th out of 72 schools in the medley relay, placing Wellington firmly on the swimming map. Well done to all involved.

Team(s) of the Week

The Netball 2nd VII, who won the Shield at the Seaford 7s tournament last Saturday.

The Rugby 7s U16 boys who, at the Guildford Grammar 7s, won their group and quarter-final before coming so close to beating Trinity in the semi-final, narrowly losing 12-14.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Badminton

The Monday proved to be one of the highlights of the badminton year so far. A session in the evening run by Marcus Ellis and Laruen Smith, Rio 2016 bronze medallists, gave the Wellington students a masterclass in badminton. The starstruck badminton team put on their best performance and tried to learn as much as they could.

Basketball

On Thursday, a mixed U14 team lost 19-50 to an undefeated LVS U14 Boys team.

On Saturday, the U16 Boys travelled to Tonbridge looking to continue their unbeaten record against other independent schools this season.  After going 18-4 down in the first quarter, a huge three-pointer from Ishan (M) was one of the standout moments of a rally, which saw our boys finally take the lead with three minutes to go.  At 54-52 up with 90 seconds to go, a frenetic finish saw our boys lose 54-56.  Standout performances came from captain Hakan (L), Hugo (M), Ollie (M) and Suveer (M).

Fencing

School commitments and injuries again forced a number of changes to our regular teams for a return fixture to the RGS.  The hosts requested the matches using the old system of best of nine fights to five hits instead of the modern race to 45 hits over nine fights.

Foil and sabre were fought at the same time with James (L) captaining for the first time. He was joined in epee by Tom (Bl) and Helen (W). RGS took an early lead but some determined fencing narrowed the gap and the match hung in the balance over the last two fights with the difference being one hit to give RGS a 5-4 victory.

Our sabre team were expecting a tough away match after their last encounter with their strong sabreurs. Victor (R) and James (Bl) were joined by Keely (O) for her second cap, but the hosts proved too strong claiming a 9-0 victory.

Foil followed with Tom again volunteering to fence two weapons and he was joined by Annie (Hn) and Radley (R). RGS again took an early lead, but Annie secured two good victories and Tom showed he had great potential in foil as well as epee. One additional hit from him would have given him two victories as well, but RGS edged it 6-3.

Football

Another very busy weekend for the Football Club which saw 14 very competitive fixtures. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd XI senior teams ran out winners against Magdalen College School with the stand out performance coming from the 3rd XI who won 9-0. The 5th and 6th XIs had some terrific performances against Sevenoaks with the 6th XI extending their unbeaten season with a 10-0 win and the 5th XI narrowly losing 4-3.

The U16s, 15s and 14s all had hard fixtures against St Paul’s School. With the opposition being very strong, it was pleasing to see some tightly contested games with a stand out performance from the U14As, who narrowly lost 3-2 in a high quality game.

Golf

This week, seven players competed in the Swift Schools Strokeplay event at Dundonald Links in Scotland. A hugely competitive field of 49 players turned out for the 54-hole world ranked event across two days. The team finished 6th overall in some cold conditions, maintaining our current 3rd place in the national order of merit. Highlight of the week was an eagle 2 from Grace (Hg) who holed out from 145 yards on the signature 13th hole! A great trip and experience for all involved – well done everyone for representing Wellington so well.

Hockey

This week saw the boys’ 1st Xl travel to St George’s in the next round of the England Hockey Tier 2 Cup. After conceding goals in the first half, the boys found themselves 1-4 down but rallied superbly well in the second half to score three late goals and take the game to a shootout. Arthur (R) was superb in goal and the boys held their nerve to win 2-1 on shuffles. The weekend saw the 2nd Xl record a convincing win over Teddies too, thanks to another all round team performance.

Netball

The U14s had a warm up game against Eagle House on Wednesday ahead of their IAPS tournament this week and last week’s Friday Night Lights match for the U14s. It was a great game, very well contested by both sides, a good squad performance. It gave the girls an opportunity to try out some other positions. Olivia (Ap) and Lily (C) had a go in the shooting circle and Isabel came out at centre; having played so well, they will be good contenders in those rotations for the future.

The U14Cs had a good performance against a strong Bradfield team (unbeaten other than losing the first match of season). The victory was largely due to great execution of Tuesday’s training. Defensive skills added to repertoire: hands/restrict/intercept, which was really noticeably improved!  Well done to Katya (T) and Clara-Rose (C) for winning players of the match!

The U14Ds had an extremely convincing 45-4 win, with the girls continuing to work hard throughout even when playing out of position. A particular highlight was regular GK Clemmie’s final goal of the match. Well done to Ava and Mila for winning player of the match!

The U14Es went out in full force on Saturday with a squad large enough to cover two teams. Inspirationally led by Bea (C), the girls gave every quarter 110% effort; they were determined to win from the forefront and were delighted with their 22-19 achievement. Our attackers were particularly strong and led with multiple goals from the offset, missing very few. Well done to Saskia (Ap), Ella (T) and Bea (C) for their stalwart goal scoring. Neve (T) and Valentina (Hn) were inspirational in maintaining energy in the centre court even when the first quarter was a little longer than expected.

The U14F team played with resilience and determination last weekend. Their final score was impressive – winning 24-14. Gayatri (A) showed great leadership, being captain of the team. Diya (W) was awarded Woman of the Match, for her shooting skills.

The U15Cs won 28-15; A fantastic match thanks to excellent teamwork from all players. Ava (Ap) (defence) and Vivi (Hn) (attack) were the players of the match.

An excellent game of netball for the U15Ds winning 47-17, with their skilful passing even being complimented by opposition parents! Several brilliant interceptions were made throughout the game by our centre court and defence, as well as very consistent shooting from both GA Matilda (A) and GS Lelia (O), who both won player of the match.

A very rewarding and worthwhile game for the U15Es of chaotic intensity mixed with super netball from both sides culminating in the smiles of two teams who had clearly enjoyed their time on court in the sunshine. The WC players have certainly improved greatly over the term and the parents who were watching echoed this feeling. Player of the match is not appropriate as none deserved not to be mentioned. The final score was 22-10.

Friday Night Lights
U14As made a strong start against St Helen’s and St Katherine’s in the Friday Night Lights match.  At the end of the first quarter the teams were level at 4-4. The opposition came out strongly in the second quarter and opened up a lead (12-8) by half time which they extended further in the remaining quarters.  The U14As fought hard in front of a supportive crowd to try to close the gap but HelKats took the win comfortably 25-14.

The 1st team put on a fantastic performance against St Helen’s and St Katherine’s for Friday Night Lights! Starting very well contested, the girls were able to pull away quite considerably. Well done to the newest member of our team Lydia (C) for winning player of the match!

The 1st team won the Bradfield Invitational tournament on Saturday. Having got off to a slow start and losing their first match against Bradfield 6-4, the girls fought back hard to win the remainder of their games. The result came down to goal difference but with some high scoring games, the advantage fell in our favour and the girls took home the gold! Well done to everyone but a special mention to Lola (Ap) and Juliet (A) for coming into the team and making such a great impact throughout the day.

Rugby

The Senior 7s team went to Gordon’s School under the lights and played some superb 7s in the group stages, but went down to an excellent Brighton College side in the semi-final.

The U16s went to the Guildford Grammar 7s on Sunday and won their group beating some excellent sides: RGS Guildford, Eton, Portsmouth Grammar and Hampton School, then Brighton College in the quarter-finals, and came so close to beating Trinity in the semi-final, narrowly losing 12-14.

The U14s went to Eton on Sunday coming second in their group, meaning they played in the 3/4th playoff where they met a very good St Paul’s side, who lost narrowly to Radley who went to win the tournament. Bertie (Hl) worked tirelessly all day and made a number of try-saving tackles, and the team finished 4th overall.

Well done to Bill (Bd) who played for Italy U18 against France. Bill came off the bench and was involved in the maul drive that scored the only try of the day for Italy.

Shooting

With only one shoulder-to-shoulder match left for the calendar year for the .22 season, our attention now turns to the remaining postal competitions; The biggest of these is the British Schools Smallbore Rifle Association (BSSRA) National Match. We’ve been very fortunate with 10 members of the Shooting team being selected to represent England’s A, B, C, and D teams against the other home countries. This is an amazing achievement, when there are 12 spaces per team up for grabs, and to have nearly 25% of the representation is a testament to the depth of talent our shooting team has.

Congratulations to Penny (A), Liam (R), and Fabian (M) for making the A team. Congratulations to Natty (W), Ilyas (S), Ricky (M), and Julius (T) for making the B team. Congratulations to Alex (R 5th) for making the C team. Congratulations to Sayan (M) and Chung Hang (L) for making the D team. Wish the team and these individuals all the best as we make our final push to the end of the season with more success.

Squash

The girls’ squash team faced Wycombe Abbey, with the match turning out to be the closest girls’ match ever. It ended up with Jess (C) gaining the winning match for the whole fixture on the last match, with a tight 3/2 win. Every game was very tight with some fantastic rallies and lots of smiles all round. The girls have been working so hard lately and this could be seen in their performance. Well done all!

Team(s) of the Week

This week’s Team of the Week goes to the girls’ squash team, following their closest ever win against Wycombe Abbey.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Badminton

Wellington played against Eton. With some of the top players out of the fixture, it proved to be a challenging game with home ground advantage going towards some fast shuttles. Welly lost 8-1, but with some tightly contested matches. All the players developed their skills and teamwork. Shout out goes to Danny (M) and Kit (Bl) for the only pair to win their matches.

Cricket

Half term saw a senior boys’ cricket trip to South Africa, with 15 boys travelling to play some of the toughest cricketing schools in the Western Province and South Africa as a whole. This is the first time since COVID that the tour has returned. There was some incredibly tough cricket for the group, in some sweltering conditions at times.

Having landed, the tour party headed for Somerset College for an early training session to get the travel time out of the legs, ahead of a T20 game against The Leading Edge Academy on day 2. The first T20 game saw WCCC make 123-7 off their 20 overs, which was a respectable total for their first outing. In reply The Leading Edge Academy also made 123, seeing the game tied, with Rory (Bl) taking 4 wickets and Tom (Hl) 3 wickets. The game went to a superover, which WCCC won courtesy of two towering sixes hit by Eddie (Bd) and Toby (S). Day 3 of the trip saw the group entertained at the Newlands Cricket Ground watching the SA20 final, which provided some inspiration for more cricket to come. The team took part in a T20 festival at Somerset College, recoding two wins from three games with leading performers with the bat being Toby (S) making a score of 50+ and a magnificent 101* off 41 balls, Eddie (Bd) who made 47* against Somerset College and Hugo (Bn) who made a score of 57, Hughie (Hl) scoring 44 and Sam (R) 39 not out. Wickets on the day were largely shared around, but notable performances came from Sam (Bd) taking 4 wickets and Eddie (Bd) 3 against Outeniqua and Alex (R) 4 against Somerset College. The team finished 2nd overall but Toby (S) received the player of the tournament award for his magnificent century.

Tougher games followed for the team against Rondebosch and Bishops, under their floodlights, representing for many a real one-off opportunity, albeit all the grounds played at are stunning with the back drop of Table Mountain. The group were unable to record wins against the likes of Rondebosch and Bishops, but in the final game against Wynberg did show they were learning and beginning to adapt to the tough conditions, with the team bowling and fielding the best they had, despite a late onslaught from Wyneberg, seeing them reach 265-3 off 35 overs. In reply with the bat the team again showed they were moving in the right direction ahead of the upcoming English season, in reaching 174-6 with strong knocks at the top of the order from Toby (S) and Hughie (Hl) and good lower order scored of 30 and 20 from Rory (Bl) and Sam (R) respectively, but with Hugo (Bn) holding the innings together with a score of 55*. Hugo (Bn) also received Cricket Colours following this game too.

Despite tough fixtures, the team won three T20 games of seven games in total, with one of these wins coming from a superover decider, so all in all this was a great trip for all. Everyone on the trip will have learnt much about their cricket ahead of the upcoming season in England, which is something for the group to build on too. Particular well dones go to: with the bat, Toby (S) for scoring a hundred and a fifty in two T20 games and Hugo (Bn) for two scores of fifty and with the ball to Sam (Bd) taking six wickets and Eddie (Bd) eight.

Hockey

There was a lot of hockey leading up to half term, which saw the girls’ U15s finish as runners-up in the Independent Schools Hockey Cup, a fantastic effort and congratulations also to our U16 girls who have qualified for the National semi-finals/finals in March. Well done to all.

Netball

Unfortunately a lot of our Charterhouse block fixtures were cancelled due to poor weather, with only the U16A, U16B, 2s and 3s playing their fixtures in a shortened format. Both the U16A and U16B played out thrilling games against Charterhouse’s 1sts and 3rds. The U16As won narrowly 24-22, due to excellent shooting from Keira (C) and Sof (A). The U16Bs game went goal for goal, with a late interception from Amelie (A) denying Charterhouse the win – the final score 17 all.

What an amazing half term it was for netball overall. Some huge team successes and a lot to look forward to after half term with lots more matches and the U16 and U19 National Finals!!!

Polo

The Polo Club A and B teams met Harrow on Thursday 8th February at Emsworth.
The A team started off strong equalising in the first quarter. The second quarter saw Harrow take the lead, ending at half time 5/8 to Harrow. Across the last two quarters our team comprised of Leo (Pn) (Captain), Will (Bl) and Aramaya (Pn), who all worked extremely well together, keeping defence lines strong, making exceptional ride-offs, and backing each other up leading to some fantastic goals and pulling the victory back for Wellington. An excellent game and well-deserved win for Wellington with an end score of 12/9.

The B team comprised of Carl (L) (Captain), AC (Hn) and Elizabeth (T). Immediately this team ruled the arena. They held their game throughout the three chukkas, against an opposition who did everything they could to break down our team dynamic. Another excellent win for Wellington with an end score of 4/2.

Rugby

The Rugby 7s season is now in full swing and the U15s and U18s boys have already had early success, winning the Eton and Haberdashers’ tournaments respectively, and we look forward to more to come.

Shooting

Last week saw the shooting team compete against Charterhouse School in what is to be believed the first shoulder-to-shoulder match in smallbore in over 18 (possibly 20) years!

The match was hotly contested, with both teams putting forward strong junior (5 Bull match) and senior (10 Bull match) teams. For the junior team, Alex (R) and Natty (W) top scored with 100/100, with the team of five dropping only 5 points in total, beating their opponents by 7 points. For the seniors, with teams of four, Liam (R) put in our highest score with a 98/100, with the team scoring 388/400, 17 points ahead of Charterhouse.

All that aside, both teams gelled well together and it was yet another fantastic opportunity for students to meet and talk, helping build good relationships with other shooters from other schools – an important thing for any of our shooters wishing to go touring with either the UK Cadet Rifle team, the Athelings, or the GB U19 team!

Skiing

The trip report for the British Schoolgirls’ Ski Races is a week delayed as the organisers needed some time to finalise the race results. For the Wellington A team of Emily (Ap), Lucy (O) and Kitty (Hn) it was the worth the wait. The A team finished 2nd in Giant Slalom, 1st in Slalom and for the second year in a row were the best school in the whole competition, winning the Lilywhite Trophy for best overall school, the first successful defence of the title since 2008. Team Wellington did well in the induvial awards too, Emily (Ap) won the U18 Giant Slalom, Slalom and overall, Kitty (Hn) was 3rd in the U14 Slalom and Georgia (O) was 3rd in the U18 non-registered Slalom and overall. A great week had by all on and off the slope.

Following his Silver and Bronze medals in the U18 Giant Slalom and U18 Slalom at the British Schoolboys’ Ski Races, Sebastian T (Bn) stepped up over half term to the adult International FIS races at the 2024 English Alpine Championships in Bormio, Italy, securing personal bests in his Slalom and Giant Slalom, before completing his first FIS Super G race (in which he got to race against the Swiss national team).

Following her U18 Giant Slalom and U18 Slalom Gold medals at the British Schoolgirls’ Ski Races, Emily T (Ap) stepped up over half term to the adult International FIS races at the 2024 English Alpine Championships in Bormio, Italy. Having managed personal bests in her Giant Slalom and Slalom races, she went one further in the Super G and not only achieved a personal best, she secured her highest FIS finish (8th), and, in her junior year, became the 2024 English National Women’s U18 Super G Champion.

Swimming

Congratulations to Martha (O) who has won the award of the U16 Girls category at the Bracknell and Wokingham Swimming Club, a testament to all her hard work.

Team(s) of the Week

The boys’ and girls’ ski teams from the British Schools’ Races.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Badminton

The Wellington mixed badminton team travelled the short journey to Bradfield on Thursday and brough back the win with some excellent teamwork and an increasingly assured display as the match progressed. The top two pairs of Amy O (W) and Oli S (T), and Kaiyu G (Bd) and Shreya S (W) won all four of their ties, showing great ruthlessness in finishing off points with smashes and net kills. James V (Bd) and Mirabelle L (Hg) shook off a shaky start to grow as a pair and only narrowly lost their last two ties to good opposition. Special mention, however, should go to Sasha P (Bl) and Hannah T (Hg) for an excellent display founded on great communication, position and shot selection to bag two crucial wins against the Bradfield 3rd and 4th pairs. Overall, it was a brilliant performance and a well-deserved 10-6 win.

Wellington also played in the Chartherhouse Cup. Bill S (T) put on his top performance and played some of his best matches for the school. With tough competition from Winchester, Wellington came in 3rd place.

Fencing

Fencing Match Report vs Marlborough Away  1/2/24

This week exams and injuries forced a number of changes to our regular teams but also offered new opportunities. At the request of the hosts, the matches were fought to best of nine fights instead of the modern race to 45 hits over nine fights

Foil and epee were fought at the same time with captain Joshua (R) joined by Tom (Bl) and Marwa (Hg) in foil. Epee also featured Tom (Bl) along with James (L) and Helen (W). Both Tom and Marwa had offered to switch from their preferred weapons to cover absences and it meant Tom had to quickly switch between concurrent matches.

While Joshua showed his usual prowess winning two fights and losing the third 4-5, Tom and Marwa found the change of weapons difficult and Marlborough won 2-7.

Epee was much closer and although the home team won 6-3, two fights were lost 4-5, so just two hits given the other way would have secured a win 5-4. James was again in fine form winning two and losing the third by just one hit.

An exciting end-to-end sabre match concluded the fixture with Keeley (O) making her debut along with Jacob (R) and Freddie (R). The home team were physically very strong and pushed hard but could not match our sabreurs for technical ability. Keeley scored some excellent ‘stop-hit’ counter attacks and showed she has the making of an excellent sabreur. Freddie’s performance showed that he is equally at home with epee and sabre and Jacob put in his usual quality performance. The match was won 5-4 but two hits given differently would have secured a 7-2 win.

Football

Lots of football on last week again, but special mentions to the senior boys 2nd and 3rd XIs, who were brilliant in their wins against Reading Blue Coat.

Hockey

The U15 Girls Indoor Hockey team had an enjoyable day on Friday at a friendly invitational tournament, finishing in 2nd place . The Girls 1st team had a good win against Kingston Grammar and the weekend saw some good wins for the boys against Haileybury.

Netball

The U19s finished as regional champions in regional rounds of National Schools on Saturday. They finished 2nd in their group to Stowe meaning they matched up against St Swithun’s in the semi-finals. The girls played so well in the semis, turning over lots of ball in defence from and in combination with some very impressive shooting. The game was extremely well played and finished with a very narrow margin score line of 7-6 to Wellington! The girls then took on Stowe in the final. Having lost to them in the group rounds, the girls were keen to show how they could perform under pressure; with some time to regroup and analyse from the first performance against them, the girls came out strong and took the game from the start. The game finished 14-9 to Wellington. An amazing team effort from all our girls who showed true grit and determination and got a very well deserved result.

A few days break from regionals, the 1st team had a very quick turn around with a semi-final cup match against Berkhamsted on Monday. Unfortunately, the game got off to a slow start with the first quarter score ending 8-18. The girls came back fighting in the seond quarter with the final quarter score being 12-12. In the last half of the game, the girls battled hard but it unfortunately proved too big a margin to pull back from. The final score was 42-57 to Berkhamsted. Well done to all our girls, it was a great squad effort. The girls still have lots to look forward to and train for ahead of Nationals.

The U16 netball team finished 2nd in our group and therefore, had to face St Helen and St Kat’s in the semi-final who are a tough opposition. The girls showed incredible character and started so strong with an early intercept from Tehya (W) at C really inspiring the team and pushing them forward. They played with composure and displayed such intelligent play. They won the game 12-7! In the final they displayed dominance again with a slick performance against Hurst to become the South Regional U16 winners. What really impressed me was their resilience and teamwork; all 10 girls stuck together, cheered each other on and really believed in themselves and each other in those final two games! We are so proud of them!

Skiing

The boys’ ski team had success on their recent trip to Wengen, Switzerland for the British Schoolboys’ Races with some tough competition against some national team talent. After two great days of training and a tight loss against Harrow for the A team in the parallel slalom, the Boys competed in the Giant Slalom on the famous Lauberhorn piste. Success came from Sebastian (Bn) who finished 2nd in the U18 category. Also, there was some fantastic skiing from Morgan (Bn) to finish 6th in the U14 category. On the second day of races was the slalom, with some great preparation done with our coaches and experienced skiers to create a team environment as for many this was their first time in a race environment. Sebastian (Bn) performed once again to finish 3rd in U18 category and Oscar (Bd) finished 2nd in the U21 category. Further congratulations must go to Hadrian (Bd) who finished 3rd in the unregistered category for the U14s. The overall results were equally impressive with the Boys A team finishing 3rd overall and the B team finishing 7th overall. A great success for the Wellington College Ski Club.

Team(s) of the Week

The U16A and 1st team netballers who both became Regional Champions and have now qualified for National Finals which, for the 1st team, is the third year in a row.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Badminton

This week, Wellington College faced Swifts Badminton Club in a neck-and-neck battle that ended in a 10-10 draw on matches. The competition was marked by intense rallies and closely contested games, with scores as tight as 20-22 showcasing the players’ resilience. Despite the even match split, Wellington emerged victorious when total points were tallied, underscoring their strategic prowess and teamwork.

Football

Last week once again saw a lot of pupils out representing Wellington FC.  Saturday’s fixtures with Abingdon saw some really challenging games but even so there were some close tussles for the 6th XI, drawing 5-5 and the U14B 3-3. Furthermore, despite a 4-2 loss, it was great to see the Girls 1st XI in action against Teddies in the week too.

Hockey

Well done to the U15 Girls who progressed from their National Cup quarter-final with a 3-0 win over Gresham’s. Good luck to them on Finals day on Tuesday 6 February. Congratulations also to the U16 Girls following their 3-2 win, which included a thrilling end to the game against Cranleigh and progress to the National quarter-final. The junior boys’ team also recorded a strong win over St John’s Leatherhead last weekend.

Netball

It was a packed week of fixtures last week for netball, with block fixtures against St Edward’s and Marlborough. Some team highlights below.

Well done to our 1st team this week for their quarter-final win against Bromsgrove! We have now secured a place in the semi-finals! The girls had an outstanding performance to win the match 37-54! Emily (Ap) was our PoM on the day but the whole team was fantastic, well done girls!

The Rugby vs Netball match on Friday night was a spectacular event and turned out to be much closer than expected; the girls stole the win 31-29. Everyone was kept on the edge of their seats till the very end. Well done to both teams.

The U14As had a decisive win over Marlborough 41-22.  It was an opportunity for the coaches to try some different combinations ahead of final selection for Regional Finals on 3 February. In addition to a good team performance there were also some great individual performances from Isabelle (C) (GS/GA) who worked the shooting circle well to create plenty of scoring opportunities and Ella (W) (WD/GK) who marked doggedly to keep the WA off the circle edge when she was playing WD and got numerous tips and interceptions at GK. These performances deservedly earned them the opposition Player of the Match nominations. The players worked hard to put into practice some of the tactics they had been working on in training, which was very pleasing to see.

The U14Cs had another impressive scoreline resulting from focus on keeping possession with simple direct play. Work on timing and defending in Tuesday training and players working hard to offer all around ball really paid off. Sooner or later great interceptions led to a turnover and shooters again had high conversion rate – 11-0 2nd quarter was particularly good. Thanks to Cecily (C) for good work as captain having just joined the team and congratulations to Elisa (W) PoM dominating in defence.

Well done to the seven girls who gave their all in the U14C match against Marlborough (away). Thanks to Ella (Hn) and Mila (W) who came up from Ds. We were 4-7 down after 1st quarter, taking time to settle as lots of changes and travel. Captain Elisa (W) did great a job and when we executed match focus: keeping possession with simple direct play, we, at times, played efficient netball that had Marlborough in trouble (winning 2nd quarter 5-4). However opponents had a stronger team on the day – we had too many penalty passes against us for handling, footwork and obstruction which tipped the balance to Marlborough. Congratulations to Elisa (W) joint PoM for the second week and Sahana (A) PoM on her debut.

The U16Bs tried incredibly hard, but it unfortunately wasn’t a fair contest. A 6’2″ GS and a 6’1″ GK against fifth formers very much tipped the balance in Teddies favour. Credit to our girls – they are playing some great netball and are looking to implement some more of their progress in the next couple of weeks!

The 4ths secured their first win of the season against Teddies. With the help of consistency within centre court and a strong effort from the defence, the shooters were able to secure 16 goals, eventually winning 16-14. Special mention goes to Zara (W) for her impressive performance in goal and to Lucy (W) who was awarded player of the match for her defensive performance.

The U14E team had their first match at the weekend and had a truly outstanding performance to secure the win! Grace (O) played out of position in defence and was truly outstanding. The girls played so well, Mrs Phillips was very proud of the whole team!

Finally, a big well done to Amelie (W) on being selected into the Scotland U17s and Netball Europe, as captain too!

Squash

Last week saw a fantastic Squash fixture against Marlborough. Wellington fielded two junior and two girls’ teams for the first time at the same fixture. 22 games were played overall, with some playing twice. Well done to the eight players who won their fixtures too, in a really competitive afternoon.

Swimming

In the first fixture of the Lent Term, the Swimming team competed against Winchester. Despite narrowly missing out on winning the gala, the swim team offered Winchester fierce competition. The U16 Boys put in a particularly strong performance, with Vlad (M), William (M), Max (Pn), and Rufus (Bn) coming 1st in both the medley and freestyle relay. Well done to all involved.

Team of the Week

Team of the Week is the U16 Boys basketball team who won 58-32 on Saturday against Tonbridge, with Hakan (L) scoring 27 points, Hugo (M) scoring 22 points, and Ollie (M) putting in an outstanding defensive performance. The U16 Boys, with the same core players, also won 34-32 in their CVL fixture on Friday night against a highly rated Berkshire Bulldogs club side.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Basketball

Wellington Basketball hosted two double-headers last week, Winchester and Stowe on Thursday and Saturday respectively. A Wellington U14 mixed team lost to Winchester U14 Boys.  Although a defeat, the fixture was notable for giving debuts to a number of our U14 boys and girls. A Wellington U15 mixed team also lost, this time to Stowe U15 Boys.  Captain Balthazar (Bn), Bennett (Pn), and Marcus (Bl) all put in strong performances.

Our U16 Boys won both of their fixtures.  Against Winchester, our intense defence was the platform for our boys to lead throughout the fixture.  Top scorers against Winchester were:
• Hugo (M) – 18 points
• Hakan (L) – 17 points
• Ollie (M) – 8 points

The 40-34 win against a physical Stowe U16 Boys was built on skilful play, with top scorers:
• Hakan (L) – 15 points
• Hugo (M) – 11 points
• Suveer (M) – 8 points

Fencing

Triangular vs Eton & Bradfield at Eton
In the first fixture of the year our fencers travelled to Eton who hosted a triangular with Bradfield. In a change to the usual format the match result would be decided by the total number of individual victories to five hits across all three weapons with three fencers per weapon. This needed a total of eighty-one fights to be completed across six pistes and for each team member to contribute victories if an overall win was to be achieved.

The sabre match was finished first with Wellington winning with 14 victories ahead of Eton with 8 and Bradfield 5. Special mention must go to Victor (R) who won all his fights.

Epee proved much closer with Bradfield getting an unexpected winning 10 followed by Eton with 9 and Wellington on 8 with James (L) winning 4 of 6 fights.

Foil was the last to finish with our fencers pushing for a win over Eton but knowing that Eton would win overall if too many fights were dropped. Eton scraped a narrow victory 14 to 13, with Joshua (R) winning all his fights.

A tense few minutes followed as the results were totalled and Wellington emerged overall winners with 35 followed by Eton on 31 and Bradfield on 15. The change of format produced an exciting and challenging afternoon of fencing and a very worthwhile opener in the run-up to the Public Schools in March.

Football

Another bumper week for the Football Club with nine fixtures played and only a handful lost to the freezing weather. Despite a mix of results across all teams, the Club won more games than they lost, showing great performances and effort across the board.

Hockey

Last week saw the Girls U15A have a strong win against Farnborough Hill, the Girls U16A won a close match with Epsom 1-0, and the Girls 1st XI an away 1-1 draw with Bede’s in the Tier 1 league. The U16A Hockey boys also had a great 2-2 draw with Cranleigh on Saturday in a tight game.

Netball

It was another busy week for Netball with fixtures for the Seniors against Brighton on Thursday and a block fixture against Canford and Pangbourne on Saturday.

Thursday’s games were well contested throughout, with the 4ths securing a thrilling 16-all draw. Hustle from Lucy (W), Ruby (Hn) and Nat (Ap) secured vital possession in defence, with Zara (W) scoring with the last throw of the game. Saturday saw many matches played in good spirits, with impressive wins across the junior years. The 1s played a very well contested game securing a great win against Brighton 51-40. Special congratulations to the 2s and 3s who secured their first wins, and the U14Es who had a great win away against Pangbourne’s B team 22-5.

Full match reports for Saturday fixtures against Canford:
The U14As played very well against a strong Canford team.  A stand-out performance from Ella (W) in the defensive circle saw her make many interceptions and tips. Isabelle (W) and Willow (T) battled to get free in the shooting circle against a tall, physical defence. Wellington were within 4 goals of Canford going into the final quarter, but too many unforced errors enabled Canford to ease away to take the victory 31-19. Players of the match were Isabelle (W) and Ella (W).

A very strong win this week for the U14C team against Canford. A strong 1st quarter set the tone for the match and impressive overall scoring was more than 1 goal a minute (when half of the plays are started by opposition centre passes which have to be turned over) which is a direct result of delivering the above and particularly keeping possession and good shot conversion. Thanks to Mabel (Ap) (Captain) for good leadership in warm-up, leading by example on court and team talks. Jemima (Hn) and Clara-Rose (C) were voted joint players of the match for the second week running (this time by the opposition).

Pangbourne’s A team proved a stretch too far for us this weekend but huge credit to our Wellington girls, they kept trying and every quarter came out to challenge Pangbourne. The overall result was 22-13. Mila (W) moved from WD to GD and did really well getting PoM. Ella (Hn) got attacking PoM. Well done girls!

It was a gritty performance from all players in the 15As with a tight match against Canford. Resilient defence and thoughtful feeding from centre court saw them to a 25-20 win with a player of the match performance from Rosie (Ap).

A great collective effort from the U15C team who outperformed Canford in all quarters except the last. An excellent first game for the Cs by Izzy (C) and Serena (W).

The U16Cs, despite being completed intimidated by the incredibly tall opposition who were all sixth formers and included a 6ft 1in goal shooter, the girls started strong and Canford struggled to keep any possession. Superb shooting stats from Izzy (O) and Amelie (A) meant that we converted nearly every CP and a few turnovers too. The defence worked incredibly hard to stop the ball getting to the GS, and particular mention must go to Rosamund (O) and Martha (A) for their tight marking and quick footwork, cutting out that last pass in to goal.

Four bags of Haribos won in the final quarter for successfully converting 4 turnovers, with the whole team getting behind the ball. If the team continue like this, their coach will be broke!

An excellent win recorded again against Canford 5th VII.

After a bit of a slow start for the 1s, the girls managed to pull off a 34-24 win against Canford. It took a couple of minutes for the girls to get into the game but with some really great defence they were able to gain a narrow lead each quarter. There was some nice attacking work around the circle between the mid court and the shooters throughout the game but the girls had a strong last quarter thanks to some good interceptions from Jaz (W), Emily (A) and Jess (W) and the girls came away with the win. Jess (W) was our player of the match.

A really exciting game for the 2s, 27-14 win against Canford. Started off the first quarter with a 6 goal lead. Defence bought the ball down the court nicely and forcing the errors on the opposition. Multiple turnovers from the centre court throughout the game, with special mention to Candi (Ap) earning player of the match. An entertaining game from the shooters’ perspective considering they were playing out of position. Another special mention to Jess (A) for some excellent shooting.

3rd team: After a first quarter that saw both sides very evenly matched as they settled into their play, Wellington took the lead in the second and third quarters. Consistently strong in the defence of their positions, they kept up the pressure against a resurgent Canford for their first win of the season, 24-20. Flo (C) won player of the match.

Real Tennis

LRTA – Under 19s National Singles and Doubles:  In the doubles event Lydia (C) and her partner won an action packed final. Georgia (T) had a fantastic run in the singles and narrowly missed out on a spot in the final.

Running Club

The running team had great success at the Berkshire Schools Cross Country Championships at Newbury Showground last Saturday. The whole team showed great stoicism in very cold conditions. Congratulations to Daniel (R) for achieving 1st place in the U15 Boys, with Eva (W) placing 5th in the U15 Girls, Nell (Hg) placing 9th in the U17 Girls and Phoebe (C) placing 12th in the U19 Girls. The U19 Boys achieved 2nd place in the Team.

Squash

Last week’s Squash fixture against Charterhouse saw the team win four girls’ matches showing great strength across the team, with four new U14 pupils playing who all had good competitive matches. The boys’ team had some players missing with injuries, but this gave us opportunities and despite some tough games it was a competitive fixture and good experience for all involved.

Team of the Week

The U15A netballers who put in a gritty performance in a tight match. Resilient defence and thoughtful feeding from centre court saw them to a 25-20 win.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners, in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Basketball

On Saturday, Wellington hosted the traditional season opening tournament for U18 boys. Slow starts in our first two fixtures, to eventual winner Charterhouse and a strong Stowe, meant we were unable to progress from the group stage. In our third and final group match, the boys restored some pride with a solid 23-15 win against the Royal Hospital School.  Daniel (M) and Oscar (Bd) put in especially determined performances in all three games, with Hugo (M) from the Fifth Form making his debut for the U18 boys.

Football

A great week for WCFC: nine wins and one loss, with 46 goals scored and 18 conceded across all games. Well done to all those who represented the College and put in such convincing performances.

Hockey

Some tough games for the boys’ hockey teams against Radley, but a really well earnt and hard fought 3-3 draw for the boys’ 1st team.

Netball

Last Saturday the U14 A-D, U15 A-D, U16C and 1st-4th teams played against St John’s, Leatherhead.

The 1st VII had a great first run out of 2024 against St John’s, coming away with a comfortable win. The game itself allowed for the girls to achieve plenty of scoring opportunities which Amelie (W) and Char (A) did so with abundance. Saffy (Hg) deserves special mention for her work rate at WA, often double marked, easily getting free and delivering the ball with precision and skill to the shooters.

A strong effort in icy conditions from the 2nd team to start their season. Due to a having a larger squad, the girls were able to trial different combinations and enjoy playing with new faces. The girls unfortunately lost the game; however, they showed small improvements throughout. Well done to all.

Whilst Wellington 3rds found their feet on a chilly outdoor court, St John’s streaked ahead.  However, Wellington dug in to find their netball joy.  Throughout the second half they worked hard together to match St John’s goal for goal, ending the game with real momentum. Final score for the 3rds was a loss of 21-30.

Despite some very icy conditions the 4ths made an encouraging start to the season against a very strong St John’s team.  Stand out performances from Ruby (Hn) and player of the match, Mary (O), switching from defence to attack in the second and fourth quarters respectively pulled the game back from what initially looked like being a huge score to a more respectable 14-27.  Special mention to Marwa (Hg) playing her first game for Wellington.

The U16Cs took on St John’s 5th VII. After a very quick warm up, it took the girls a little while to find their feet, with the oppo being first to most 50/50 balls. The shooters had an excellent quarter, converting every CP, and also three of the four turnovers. Having got our confidence and not to be intimidated by some players two years older, we settled into the game with some wonderful passages of play. We were now first to every loose ball, and the girls moved ball to goal effortlessly. PoM was Tessa (Hn), but all eight girls contributed superbly, and the shooters barely missed a goal, showing great patience and discipline to get into goal scoring opportunities. A cracking start to the season!

The U15As faced a tough opponent this week; they were well-drilled and careful in possession which meant that Wellington had a slow start. Improvements, however, were made in each quarter as our midcourt began to break down their set pieces and our shooters grew more confident at the net. Despite the high scoreline, the defending end kept the game competitive. A stand-out performance from Nina (T) whose dogged defending won her player of the match.

The U15Bs were excellent! They won 30-11. The opposition chose Maya (A) as PoM and that was justly deserved. Mimi (O) and Emily (Ap) were also outstanding. They all played well though, especially given the fact we lost our subs to injury midway through the second quarter, so they had no breaks!

The U15Cs had a strong start, with Wellington leading at the end of the first and second quarter. 10-all at the end of the third quarter. Wellington girls played very well in the first half and worked well together throughout the match. However, St John’s found their flow late in the game. Fantastic captaincy from Iris (O) who was a great C/WA pair with Alice (Ap); some great goal scoring by Honor (A) and Nishka (T). Final score 12-16.

The U15Ds won 29-24 with Amelia (C) as player of the match!

The U14As had a great win against St John’s 43-23. There were some great passages of play throughout the match and Chloe (Hn) and Ophelia (Ap) fitted in seamlessly as they made their netball debuts for Wellington.

The U14Cs had a good start to the season on a chilly afternoon at home, with the squad playing well and showing keenness, promising skills and good work rate. Thanks to Jemima (Hn) (captain) for good leadership in warm up, leading by example on court and team talks, plus good input from the rest of the team and some useful data analysis by subs. Jemima (Hn) and Clara-Rose (C) were joint players of the match.

The U14Ds won 19 -5. Before playing we managed to try a few things out like how to pass into the circle clear to make space and around the circle edge. The girls were very good and quickly put this into their game. They also implemented what was asked of  them each quarter. Grace (Hn) was given PoM by St John’s.

A special mention this week goes to Freya (T) for being selected into the Player Development Pathway for U15 Surrey Storm. Freya has shown amazing commitment to her netball so far this season, all her hard work is paying off!

Huge congratulations to both Scarlett (W) and Saskia (Ap) for their selection into the Surrey Storm U21 and U19 squads this week.

Polo

Leo (Pn) has been chosen as Reserve for the England team for their International match on 20th January.

Running Club

At the Knowle Run, the Senior Girls’ team put in a good show finishing 9th team overall with individual results as follows:

27th Nell (Hg)
33rd Alice (A)
44th Phoebe (C)
51st Caitlin (Ap)
57th Amelie (O)

With only four runners in Senior Boys, we did not have the minimum of six to make up a team. Individual results are as follows:

128 Levi (T)
133  Barney (S)
134  Thomas (T)
135  Kamil (Bd)

Skiing

Well done to Clemmie (O) who won the senior girls’ Cresta race on 2nd January, beating the second placed girl by just over 3.5 seconds over two courses in the race.

Squash

Well done the Squash team at the Roehampton meet last Sunday. Results saw a group stage win against Dulwich, but two losses against Winchester and UCS, meaning they missed out on a semi spot by 2 points. Some excellent performances during the day, which saw an eventual 6th place finish.

Team of the Week

The Football U16B boys: having been 3-1 down at half time, the boys showed brilliant commitment as a group to come back and win 4-3.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9 pm
2. February 8th, 8-9 pm
3. March 14th, 8-9 pm
4. April 11th, 8-9 pm

Badminton

Badminton finished last term with success for the girls’ badminton team, with lots of fantastic matches from the 3rd, 4th and 5th form girls. Special mention to Katya (W) and Marisa (T) who narrowly lost a brilliant game 19-21. The girls’ team came 2nd in the regional finals.

Rackets

From the National School Rackets at Queen’s:  Huge congratulations must go to Seb (R) who won the Renny Cup. After a performance a year ago that left him unhappy, Seb has worked very hard on his skills and match play. He won 14 games in a row over the last week of term to win this prestigious cup. Lydia (C) and Emilia (C) led the senior girls’ final 2-1, before the top seeds, Marlborough College, found their best level, to win 3-2. The junior pair of Zaara (W) and Georgia (T) did very well to win a semi-final, and even had championship point against favourites, Cheltenham College, in the final. Sadly, they didn’t convert but the girls should be very proud of their performances, especially as they all have another year in the same competitions.

Skiing

Over the Christmas break the ski team made their way to Jasper, Canada for a competitive ten days of ski racing at the Canada Cup. This year there were two competitions; the Canada Cup and the Challenge Cup. Congratulations to Morgan (Bn), Charlotte (A), Jake (T), and Victor (M) for getting into the Canada Cup races, which required qualifying times that placed them in the top 60 pupils of all nine participating schools. Huge well done to Morgan for winning the Canada Cup giant slalom for his age group, against not only the talented other schools, but GB team skiers and reserves, truly a commendable achievement. Additional commendations must go to Caitlin (Hg), for winning both her respective races in the Challenge Cup and Will (Bd) for coming 2nd in slalom. Special mentions go to Victor for achieving an outstanding 5th place overall in the U16s, the largest age group in the Cup, to Jake for placing 6th in the GS Open against 10 GB skiers, and to Charlotte for coming 8th in the Open category in both her races. The Wellington A dual slalom team, consisting Caitlin, Charlotte, Jake, Morgan and Victor, made it to the semi-finals of the Canada Cup competition, just missing the finals.

Team of the Week

The Shooting team. Over the course of last term, the shooting team has had well over 30 individuals take part in a multitude of matches, competitions, and training. They have fired over 27,000 rounds in the span of 13 weeks at the school range, with another 4,000 shot at competitions on outdoor ranges.

We’ve had numerous successes: an undefeated shoulder-to-shoulder season at both home and away matches, coming 3rd and 2nd in the two national competitions (missing out on 1st place by a small margin in both cases), and numerous successes at an individual level as well – we’ve had many people reach new personal bests and setting themselves with exceptional averages, and it would be improper to not celebrate those who shot 100 out of 100 on 10 bull targets, a very difficult feat! We’ve had eight 100s this term alone: Alex (R), Natty (W), Tuppy (A), Julius (T), Ilyas (S) and Liam (R).

Prior to breaking up for the Christmas holidays, we had news of Alex (R), Ricky (M) and Sayan (M) being invited to attend Maple Taste at Bisley, where they will be trying out for a place on the team UKCRT.

We also learnt that Tuppy (A) was selected to represent the Athelings in Canada 2024, with Adrian (L) being a team reserve – still very much a part of the squad and team, training alongside.

With the holidays having passed, we now look ahead to the Easter holidays and beyond; the warmer weather coming will lead to us going to outdoor shooting and switching from Smallbore, to Fullbore. But, before that, let’s hope for a good Lent Term season with more matches being postal than shoulder-to-shoulder.

Best Senior Season Yet – with Richard Shorter

As we prepare for the new year, we’re excited about helping your children have their best season yet. We believe parents are key and vital partners in ensuring that children gain the most from what we offer as a school.

To support you, we have arranged for all our parents to have free access to some extremely useful webinars specifically designed for parents.

Please may we ask you to join us for four practical, insightful and impactful sessions which will support you in supporting your child?

Sign up here.

Session Dates

1. January 11th, 8-9pm
2. February 8th, 8-9pm
3. March 14th, Parent Session 8-9pm
4. April 11th, 8-9pm

Badminton

This week’s badminton fixtures featured two thrilling mixed doubles encounters, highlighting Wellington’s prowess on the court. On Thursday, Wellington secured a resounding victory against Bradfield with a scoreline of 13-3, thanks in no small part to the standout performances of Oli (T) and Shreya (W), who clinched vital wins. Saturday saw Wellington continue their winning streak, dominating Epsom with a final score of 20-5. Special mention goes to Sasha (Bd) and Suneri (W) for their exceptional contributions to the team’s success.

Football

Another great week for the footballers. Two big wins for our junior footballers: 6-1 win for the U15s and a 5-3 win for the U14s (with a hattrick from Callum (Bl)), having been 3-3 with minutes to play, a great late victory.

Gymnastics

Massive congratulations to Amelia (W) who is the Women’s FaceOff Champion 2023. At 16, she was the youngest in the competition, facing competitors 10 years her senior with lots more experience. In a sell-out arena with a capacity of 7,500 she held her nerve. The competition was made up of three rounds: tumbling xXx, the lottery on trampette and double trouble on the double mini trampoline. After taking the lead with an incredible triple back somersault, believed to be a female world first, she maintained her lead for the whole competition. Finishing with an awesome full twisting triple back on double trouble.

Hockey

The under 18 girls’ indoor hockey team finished an excellent 5th at Nationals last week, well done to all involved. The U15A team progressed to the ISHC National Quarter Finals, having played Ipswich School, where they went 2-0 down, 3-1 down, back to 3-3 and claimed the win on sudden death strokes.

Netball

It was a week of full training for all our netball teams last week with a Saturday training of festive fun with Christmas themed outfits and treats!

Real Tennis

A great weekend for Wellington College at the National Handicap Singles competition sponsored by The Dedanists’ Foundation. Last Saturday saw 12 players from the 60+ section battle it out for the title with representation from Hatfield, Prested Hall, Oratory, Bridport, Moreton Morrell, Cambridge, Queen’s and RTC.  Sam (R) was super subbed in the last minute and won through to the final with a great win over Ryan (R). The bottom half of the draw saw a Cambridge player win a place in the final over a competitor from Moreton Morrell in a very close match that could have gone either way. The final was well contested between Sam’s speed and retrieving skills and the Cambridge players classic cut shot game… Sam managed to hold the service end on the big points and won the final 6-4.

Super Sunday was equally as exciting with representation from Holyport, Bristol, RTC, Oratory, Seacourt, Prested, Queen’s and Prested Hall. Rueben (R) won a place in the final with a great win over a WRTC member to set up a show down with someone from the Oratory who had beaten a competitor from Bristol in a tough semi-final. Another hard fought final, which saw opportunities for both players to take the title, but it was Rueben’s retrieving skills and fast paced forces that made the difference and Rueben won the title 6-4.

In the LRTA Under 21 National Handicap, Lydia (C) proved to be on a hot run of form with a string of victories to win the Under 21s at Radley. Lydia was giving handicap in all of her matches and showed great experience and maturity in her match play. In the final, Lydia took on an opponent from RTC in a great display of tennis and sealed the win 8-6 to win the title.

Rugby

Last week saw the Interhouse Rugby competitions contested, with the Seniors being won by the Benson, the Inters by the Hill and Juniors by the Beresford.

Shooting

Saturday’s national competition for the shooting team was a roaring success. As a team, they came 2nd in the Junior and Senior pairs, 1st in the Fours, and 2nd in the Eight, having just been beaten by Gresham’s for 1st place in the Eight by 5 points; this equates to 5/32 of a point per person per shoot – a very tight margin!

There were other successes at an individual level too, with Natty (W) being the top U14 year old shot, Tuppy (A) being the top 16 year old, and having the following places in the top 30 out of 145 students: Julius (T) (26th), Fabian (M) (15th), Alex (Bd) (6th), Natty (W) (2nd) Tuppy (A) (1st).

A very successful national’s match.

Squash

At the Surrey Sports Park Tournament, the following results were recorded last weekend and despite the scorelines, it was a fantastic effort from everyone involved, in some really high quality squash.

vs Winchester lost 3-2
vs Surrey Sports Park Junior Team lost 3-2
vs Sevenoaks lost 5-0

Team of the Week

The badminton mixed team for winning both their mixed matches last week against Epsom and Bradfield.

Team of the Term

The U14C girls’ hockey team receive the award of Team of the Term, having completed 9 wins from 9, but even more than that, last Saturday against Marlborough they went 2-0 up, then 3-2 down with about 7 minutes to go; however, all came good as they won 4-3, getting the winner with 90 seconds to go. A remarkable season.

Hockey

Last weekend saw some excellent fixtures for the Hockey Club as a whole against Bradfield. With 8 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, but most importantly across the board there were some very competitive fixtures for all involved.

Well done to the girls’ 1st XI who last week secured their third Tier 1 league win against Cranleigh, with a 2-1 away win.

Netball

It was an action packed week of netball starting with the 1st team’s cup game against King’s Worcester on Wednesday. The first quarter was heavily contested with lots of turnovers on both sides keeping the score low and finishing 11 all. The girls had a storming second quarter taking the lead by 8 goals. In defence, Emily (A) and Macy (C) really started working together well, leading to lots of GK turnover on the outside of the circle. Charlotte (Ap) and Saskia (Ap) barely missed a shot, with some great long range feeds coming in from Saffy (Hg). The third quarter really finished the game as the girls finished out the quarter 51-29. Keira (C) stepped into the 1st team for the first time and delivered an amazing performance. She completely shut the WA out of the game and forced a lot of defensive turnover. Charlotte (Ap) came off in the third quarter which meant a change to a moving circle with Amelie (W) and Saskia (Ap). The movement in attack was the best played to date and, with shooting so accurate, the girls really put out an amazing performance. At the end of the third quarter, Lucy came on in GK and worked well to shut down the GS. The game ended with a big win, 69-39. An amazing team performance where everyone took to court. Thank you and well done to Lucy (W) and Keira (C) for joining the squad for this game. A special mention also goes to Annabel (C) for playing so well out of position at WD and for Keira’s (C) first match with the seniors. Well done to Saffy (Hg) for getting opposition player of the match.

The U18 2nd team, U16A, U15A and U14A all had a match against Maiden Erlegh on Thursday. The 2nd team had a really well contested match and after losing the first quarter the girls came back to win the match 21-28. The opposition player of the match went to Jess (A). The U16s won their game 34-16. The U14As won 36-3. We played versatility for half the game and it was an opportunity for players to try different positions – Lily (C) was a revelation at GA and Ivy (A) was let out of the defensive circle to play centre and showed great speed around the court. Willow (T) and Lily (A) were opposition players of the match.

On Saturday an U18 senior development side played Rushmoor Netball Club. It was great to see the girls match up against a club team. It was a great team performance.

We’d also like to congratulate Saskia (Ap) for her outstanding performance in last Saturday’s NPL match, she won player of the match for Surrey Storm in the first U19 NPL game of the season again Manchester Thunder. Saskia (Ap) has shown incredible commitment to both the school programme and performance pathways so we are very pleased she is seeing the rewards of all her hard work.

Rackets

Last week two teams played Marlborough and Charterhouse and did very well. The boys won at 1st and 2nd pair, against two oppositions, providing a good show of strength in depth. The girls’ 1st pair did very well to push an undefeated pair at Marlborough. It’s a great time for the team to be playing well, ahead of the National Championships at Queen’s in the last week of term.

Rugby

Every Wellington rugby team was out playing in the final weekend against Tonbridge and Cranleigh. The 1st team came up against a determined Tonbridge 1st XV who had had some close matches against excellent opposition this season. The 1st XV did not hit anywhere near their best, which we had seen the week before against Sedbergh and were defeated 17-14. The boys chose not to kick a penalty in the last play of the game to draw and chose to tap and go. Unfortunately knocking on after a few phases.  The 2nd XV had a titanic 7-5 win against a strong Tonbridge 2nd team; top performer was Finbar (M). In the 3rd XV, we were playing against a Tonbridge side that had beaten Harrow and Dulwich, two sides that we had lost to earlier in the season.  Unfortunately, we went down 7-0 in the first five minutes and this highlighted the strength of the opposition we were playing.  But in a belter of a match, the team rallied and eventually came out winners 50-38. Sila (T) and Chester (Bl) were outstanding, with the whole team contributing to some brilliant running rugby.  The 4th XV lost 41-15 in their final run out. Tonbridge had a little too much, but the Wellington side fought till the end. The 5th XV had a fixture against Cranleigh 5th XV. This game ebbed and flowed with an incredible result 22-22. The Colts A had a very competitive fixture coming out victors 26-7, whilst the Colts B met a strong Tonbridge B team going down 44-12. Our Junior Colts have had a tough run into the final block and although they have been extremely competitive in all fixtures the Junior Colts A team fell just short 8-7. The Junior Colts B and C teams faced strength in depth from Tonbridge losing both the games. The Yearlings first season at Wellington also came to an end with strong wins for the A and B teams whilst the C team went down in an epic 31-27 tussle. Well done to all Wellington College players this season, and thank you for all your efforts as we look forward to the VIIs season next term!

Well done also to Rory (Bd) on his selection to England Rugby U18 men’s squad.

Team of the Week

This week’s Team of the Week is the Rackets team following two excellent weeks. This includes their performance last week against Marlborough and Charterhouse, and also the efforts of two weeks ago which included the boys’ 1st pair of Sam (Bd) and Fergus (Bd) defeating the Winchester 1st pair for the first time, and 6 wins from 7 overall against Winchester.

Athletics

William (S) competed in the two-day South of England U20 Combined Events Indoor Championships last weekend (7 event heptathlon with 60m, 60m hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, pole vault and 1km). William had a great event, going into the last event in 4th place, but ran a strong 1km to claw enough points to finish on the podium in 3rd spot.

Biathlon

Liesl (C) took Bronze at the South West Regional Biathlon Qualifier this Sunday at Millfield.  She did a great swim to come 2nd in her age group and was 3rd in the 1600m.

Gymnastics

Well done to Amelia (W) who competed at the European Championships. She had a great experience in Turkey representing GB in her first year in the junior category, placing a commendable 13th with a beautiful pair routine and supporting the GB team to 7th overall.

Hockey

Huge congratulations to the girls’ U18 indoor team who have qualified for National Finals next week at Repton. The girls were outstanding at the Regionals, going throughout the day drawing only one game on their way to winning the final 5-2.

Big congratulations to Cecily (O) and Tom (Pn) for being selected to be part of the England Hockey U16 Age Group squads for 23/24.

Netball

On Wednesday 22 November an U15 team attended the SE Berks Tournament at St George’s Ascot. They played a number of local schools and had to adapt to the slippery and cold conditions throughout the afternoon. There were some impressive performances from the girls involved, including Maya (A) demonstrating versatility across the C and GA position, and Laila (W) gaining numerous interceptions in defence. The team finished 2nd in their group, and faced St Mary’s in the semi-final. With 7-minute one-way matches, the game went backwards and forwards, with St Mary’s taking a 1 goal win. Wellington beat Newlands in the 3rd/4th place play-off to take 3rd place; well done to all the players involved!

Rackets

The Rackets team travelled to Winchester on Thursday. Always the home of strong teams, this year their pair included a player ranked #1 schoolboy in the UK, it’s often a tough fixture. Captain of Rackets Sam (Bd), partnered by Fergus (Bd) put in a brilliant performance, their best so far, at 1st pair level. The Wellington boys took the initiative early, concentrated well, and hit some balls incredibly hard, to 3-0. The 2nd and 3rd pairs also won, as did the girls’ 1st pair (playing against a Winchester boys’ team). The junior pairs all played well, and the afternoon finished with six wins for Wellington and just one for Winchester.

Rugby

It was the big one against Sedbergh last week at Broadstreet Rugby Club. The U14 boys won an epic encounter 2 tries to 1. The U15s had another tough match that saw the team fight hard, but go down 15-10 in a very competitive game. The Colts A faced a high quality Sedbergh U16 A team, whilst the Wellington College 2nd XV played in a hugely physical match against Sedbergh 2nd XV, where the boys did Wellington proud losing 20-12. The 1st XV made history winning for the first time in just over a decade, 33-7. It was an immense team effort. Wellington defended courageously and attacked with pace and flair.

Last Thursday also saw the 3rd XV run out on Bigside 1 against St John’s Leatherhead 2nd XV. The game saw it all: good defence, flair in attack and a willingness to keep the ball alive! This tempo took the game away from a good St John’s team.

Well done to Tyler (Pn) and Inigo (Hl) on their selection for the England Rugby U18 men’s squad.

Shooting

The Shooting team had a rousing success against Bradfield on Thursday, following on from the success of the Epsom match on Saturday. 12 members of the Shooting team shot against Bradfield in two matches, the 10 Bull and 5 Bull. Both teams were successful with the 5 Bull team of six winning with 590/600, and the 10 Bull team of six winning with an incredible 584/600, with Tuppy (A) putting in her 2nd 100/100 this term. Hopefully, we can carry this strong momentum forward to the next National, the BSSRA Winter Champs where our depth of ability will give us a strong chance of competing well.

Skiing

Last week saw Emily (Ap) commence her European FIS season, with races above the Arctic Circle in Northern Sweden, in Kåbdalis and Kiruna. With temperatures sinking as low as -18C and with the pistes consisting of sheet ice, Emily secured 23rd and 24th place in her Slalom races, and 31st and 43rd place in her Giant Slalom races.

Tennis

A belated well done to the U15 girls’ Tennis team who came 4th in the South East two weeks ago. Qualification for the regional finals required Jess (Hn), Annabel (C), Georgia (Hn), Anna (O) and Linda (Hg) to win seven matches from seven, against teams in Berkshire, and some other county champions. The 3rd/4th playoff against Culford, from Suffolk, was very exciting high level tennis, with all girls contributing well. Special mention to Annabel (C) who saved two match points to win her singles match.

Team of the Week

Huge congratulations to the girls’ U18 indoor hockey team who have qualified for National Finals next week at Repton.

Badminton

Abingdon tournament: In a highly competitive badminton tournament hosted at Abingdon, five schools entered with a total of eight teams participating. Wellington College, amidst intense competition, secured the fifth position in the overall standings. Despite facing formidable opponents, our team displayed commendable sporting behaviour and resilience throughout the tournament, with Bill (T) and Oli (T)  securing the tight decider at the end of the evening.

Adults’ match: Last weekend marked a tough match against the adults’ club. There were good debut performances from James (Bd) and Andrew (Bn). Despite Peter’s (Bd) efforts, the team narrowly lost. Despite losing overall, the Wellington first and third pair had a good run, winning 6 out of their 8 games. There were also some impressive singles performances from Arthur (M) and Steve (Bd).

Interhouse Badminton:

Girls Senior

Boys Senior

Girls Junior

Boys Junior

Fencing

RGS High Wycombe offered all three weapons for the last fixture of the term giving our sabreurs a much-anticipated outing. Foil and epee started the match. Josh (R), Caterina (Hg) and Annie (Hn) were in excellent form establishing an early lead and after five fights were 25-19 ahead. RGS fought back in the next fight but Annie secured the lead 30-28 and the match was won by a clear ten hits 45-35. The epee team remained unchanged with James (L), Tom (Bl) and Helen (W) eager for another win. The match turned out to be as close and as exciting as the previous fixture against Winchester. The lead switched dramatically five times in the first five fights with Tom and Helen each scoring six hits to stay in touch with the opposition, but were behind 23-25. James then took the next fight 4-3 and Helen the next 8-6 to secure the lead 35-34. James held the lead in the next fight but in the final fight RGS drew level with seconds to go at 44-44. In a nail-biting finish Tom secured the victory 45-44. Joshua, making a rare switch from his favourite weapon foil, joined sabreurs Viktor (R) and James (Bl). In the warm-up it was apparent that RGS had a couple of talented fencers and a nervous start from Wellington saw them take the lead 1-5. Joshua stormed through with nine hits to take the lead 10-8 and it was secured by James and Joshua again at 25-21 after five fights. The lead switched twice again with Joshua scoring another mammoth nine points to go ahead 35-31. Sabre is so fast that the lead can switch very quickly and RGS fencers really moved up a gear for the last two fights to take the match 40-45. Despite the loss in sabre it was a very encouraging performance all round and the match was won by two weapons to one.

Football

On Thursday the U14 boys played a fixture against ACS International School Cobham. After having a slightly tough start to the season, the U14s are now on a two-game winning streak and they’re really showing major improvements in every game. They came out as 3-2 winners which in some ways flattered the opposition, as the boys played extremely well  in the second half, creating lots of chances to score.

Gymnastics

An amazing performance by Amelia (W) at the World Age Group Championships last week, in a tightly contested final, saw her finish in 4th place in the world and highest scoring GBR athlete. This sees her now qualify for her first senior final at FaceOff in December, where we wish her the best of luck.

Hockey

Last week saw a lot of hockey being played both indoors and outdoors. The highlights of the week likely being the U15B’s and 3rd XI’s victories over Canford. The 3rd XI went up 1-0 in the first half, had a few other scoring opportunities and if it wasn’t for the opposition’s outstanding goalkeeper, there would have been a few more goals. The girls put up a huge defence in the second half to come away with the 1-0 win. Well done also to the Hockey Club as a whole, who last week secured 11 wins out of 11 games on Saturday, a rare achievement in a Saturday block.

Netball

On Thursday the U18As and U16As had a friendly match against The Marist. We played short periods of 6 minutes to reflect the regional rounds timings which was great to allow for lots of different combinations and an opportunity to see the girls in some of their 2nd positions. The U18 1st VII had a good first half and were up by 6 goals but lost the match 18-23. Thank you to Saffy (Hg) for doing a great job of filling in at GA and to Malou (C) for stepping in to help with attack. Malou got our player of the match! The U16s built on a strong lead from the start, finishing the game 6-16.

The 2nd VII and 3rd VII teams played Canford at the weekend. Both fixtures were greatly contested and proved to be very competitive for both sides.  2nd VII vs Canford – we were down by 1 at half time, trailing 15-16. With an incredibly strong second half, the girls came back to win the match 35-28. A special mention to Dulce (Ap) for playing out of position at WD. Lucy (Hn) had a brilliant second quarter of the game getting hand to ball constantly in defence but our player of the match went to Saffy for an outstanding performance at C.

3rd VII v Canford – The team got off to a flying start leading 7-2 and finished the first quarter 8-4. Brilliant shooting from Gabby (Hg) with flair and basketball style skill, saw the ball being constantly sunk to push the girls ahead. Canford defence started to win more ball and were a tall pair, meaning the Wellington girls had to rethink how to feed the attack. Lisa (Hg), Izzy (O), Clemmie (Hn) and Ellie (Ap) all playing a part in some smooth through court to take the ball through to the shooting attack. The defence dream team of Ella (Hg), Nina (Ap), Pipa (Hg) and Ava (Ap) turned ball over for fun and fought for every loose ball and taking care of hard earned turnovers. Smiling throughout and brilliant sporting behaviour shown from both sides, the Wellington girls were great netball adverts for the school. The U14As had a tense 1 goal win again St Mary’s at the weekend. A special shoutout to Willow (T), who was nominated Girl of the Game by the opposition, and who scored the winning goal in the last 10 seconds!

Well done to Amelie (W) for her participation in the U17 Scotland camp last weekend!

Rugby

The U15As were knocked out of the cup by a very strong Radley side, away at Radley, in what was a very close game. The boys played hard, but could not quite get over the line, the game finishing 14-5. Last Saturday saw the 4th XV play Reading Oratory on Bigside 1. They were proficient and dogged in their game against The Oratory 2nd XV. The first half saw the boys play downhill and secure a 12-0 lead. The Oratory used Bigside 1’s topography to their advantage, clawing back an early second half try. At 12-5 the team held a steadfast defence. For 25 minutes they resisted the opposition’s best effort. A last-minute penalty camped 5 metres from the 4th XV’s try line saw the game shift to 12-10. For the final 5 minutes, the team held onto the ball to secure the win.  One of the best games of rugby this season. The U16B team played against Oratory A in a fiercely contested game losing 26-22. The U16C team also had a match against Oratory B drawing 0-0. There was a great match up for the 15Bs – an up the jumper kind of game in a real bog. Amazing to stay in the fight against a much bigger side who strangled us a little with how close quarters it was. A perfect contest and a good lesson in playing in the right areas and using the boot to get there. The U15C had another super result beating Oratory B 29-15. The U14B and C went away to Oratory and the B played their A team, losing out to a strong side and the C team played well but lost too.

Running Club

A valiant effort from Ollie (T), Rufus (T), Levi (T) and Thomas (T) in the Senior Boys category at the Harrow Ten Schools competition on hilly and muddy terrain saw them placed 54th, 55th, 65th and 68th respectively. In the Senior Girls a similarly hardy Lydia (C) and Phoebe (C) were placed 10th and 18th respectively, which was an especially good result in a tight field as Lydia finished less than two minutes behind the winner. Well done to all.

Shooting

We had our first shoulder to shoulder match against Epsom College last Saturday for quite a while – at least five or so years. That being said, Epsom is one of the great shooting schools and can always boast about having a well of talent to draw on. Epsom brought 16 shooters, the most we’ve fielded in the range from another school for as long as we can recall. This enabled a wide range of shooters in the team, including those who may have less match experience, a chance to shoot and take part in a fun and engaging match.

We had: a) Team of Eight b) Team of Four c) Three Pairs (of which two made the Team of Four) and d) a 5 Bull Pair. The Eight, Four, and Three Pairs all shot 10 bull targets, with the outward scoring (break the line, get the lower value).

Clearly this was a day in which Wellington students really wished to beat Epsom, and beat them well – out of the 14 shooting 10 Bull, over 80% scored 96 or above, and no scores below 94, with at least one shooter setting a new PB. This meant that our scores across were exceptional, and gave Epsom shooters a tough challenge.

Scores:
Team of Eight (800 max) – W = 773, E = 763
Team of Four (400 max) – W = 387, E = 364
Pairs (200 max) – W1 =  194, W2 = 193, W3 = 190, E3 = 190, E2 = 183, E1 = 181
Pair 5 Bull (200 max) – W = 194, E = 184

A special mention to Julius (T) for his impressive 99/100, top scoring for the day.

Squash

Last week the girls’ team beat St Mary’s Ascot  by 11 matches to 3. The boys’ U15 and U14 beat Winchester by 15 matches to 4, an excellent week for the Squash Club.

Swimming

Massive well done and good luck to Martha (O), who achieved national times for 50/100 and 200m breaststroke last weekend, meaning she will now be competing in Sheffield at the Winter Nationals in December.

Team of the Week

The Hockey Girls U15B, who ran out 4-1 winners to achieve their first win of the season, a credit to the determination shown by the group.

Badminton

In this week’s badminton fixtures, Wellington emerged victorious against Bradfield in a mixed match, displaying remarkable skill and teamwork. This means that the girls’ team keeps their status of being undefeated this term. However, the team faced a formidable challenge against Harrow on Saturday, resulting in an unfortunate defeat at home. Despite the overall loss, Wellington’s first pair showcased their skill and talent by winning all their matches. In this week’s celebration of victories and acknowledgments of areas for improvement, the team maintains an unwavering commitment to refining their skills and striving for success in upcoming competitions.

Fencing

Winchester offered foil and epee teams but were unable to offer sabre unfortunately. Epeeists James (L), Tom (Bl) and Helen (W) were behind after two fights in the nine fight race to forty-five hits but James secured the lead 14-11. Winchester quickly went in front again in what was developing into a very close match and after fight five Wellington had a one hit advantage 21-20. The lead switched again, and Helen levelled at 27-27 in the seventh fight. After a frantic 21 hits being scored in the allotted 3 minutes, Winchester were again ahead 37-38 with one fight remaining. Tom levelled the score at 42-42 as time ran out and in a sudden death minute Tom secured the victory 43-42 in one of the closest matches in recent memory. Foil was fought alongside epee and provided its own cliffhanger. Joshua (R), and Radley (R), were joined by Caterina (Hg) in her foil debut and cruised to a 30-21 lead after six fights, but in a seventeen hit fight Winchester levelled at 34-34. A great holding fight followed from Caterina who regained the lead 36-35 allowing Joshua to close 45-35.

Football

Some really tough fixtures for the football club last week, but some great efforts all round. The 1st XI narrowly lost, due to a late winner from Harrow 4-3, but on Saturday the U15s and U14s had excellent wins against Lord Wandsworth. Special mention to the U14As,who found themselves 3-0 up in 9 minutes, but things were not always one way, as at half time Lord Wandsworth had returned with 3 goals to Wellington’s 5 by half time. The second half saw a much more clinical display from the Wellington side, with a further 4 goals and a clean sheet, to finish 9-3 victors.

Hockey

Last week saw some excellent results for the hockey club with the girls only losing one fixture against Charterhouse. Particularly pleasing was a spirited performance from a very young 1st XI that saw them come from behind to win 4-2. The 2nd XI’s 6-0 win should also be mentioned, as the girls played some outstanding hockey in the first half to go into the break 5-0 up.

Netball

The U15As and U15Bs had a game against The Abbey last Thursday. It was great to see lots of the girls take to the court in different combinations. The girls showed real sporting behaviour and offered to fill in for the other team, as The Abbey didn’t bring enough players. A special mention to those in the U14s who played up a year group in the U15 team too!

Rugby

The rugby club played against Clifton College last weekend. The 2nd XV lost in a physical battle against a very strong Clifton side but the 3rd XV won 21-7. The 4th XV played last Thursday against St Jo’s Reading and won 14-7 and the 5th XV who were away at Radley secured a an excellent win too. The U16As lost 21-7 in a tough away fixture but the U16Bs won 22-5 and the U15As had a great game ending up 34-12 winners. Both the U15 B and C teams came out as worthy winners in their contests too. All three U14 teams lost, but the scorelines likely don’t do justice to how close and well contested the matches were.

Special mention to the 1st XV, who recorded a superb win over Clifton College. It was 0-0 at half time and very tense. A well worked try from the pack took Wellington over for a penalty try, which Clifton quickly came back from to score under the posts taking it to 7-7. A well-judged cross field kick from Ben (Bl) to Tyler (Pn) on the wing took Wellington 12-7 ahead. Clifton struck back with a penalty to make the score 12-10, but a well struck penalty from Inigo (Hl) took the lead to 15-10 and that was enough to seal victory in a great game.

Shooting

A busy first week back after half term! Last Thursday the shooting team shot against Marlborough College, giving Marlborough College an opportunity to have experience of an away match and to shoot 10 bulls under match conditions. This provided an opportunity for some of our less experienced match shooters to also shoot and Captain Tuppy (A) and Vice Adrian (L), the chance to support and coach them. Wellington won the match, and now look forward to shooting against Marlborough next term.

Last Saturday saw 160 students from 15 Schools at the English Long Range Championships. The Wellington A team (Tuppy (A), Natty (W), Ricky (M) and Liam (R)) came 3rd (missing out on 2nd to Gresham’s by 1 point, 1st to Charterhouse by 9). There were some good shooting scores, with some impressive high 90 scores (97 and 98), but still with some room to grow ready for the December National, the BSSRA Winter Long Range Championship (which is double the shoot of the English Schools!).

Individual standings saw, Ricky (M) 31st, missing top 30 on count back to Natty (W) in 30th, Fabian (M) 11th and Tuppy (A) 3rd, missing out by a centre pip for joint 1st.

Team of the Week

This week’s Team of the Week goes to the Rugby 1st XV for their 15-10 win against a very strong Clifton side.

Basketball

Two teams travelled to Spain last week, playing a total of four fixtures against different academy teams from the Valencia Basketball organisation. The highlight for the U18 Boys team was a 51-48 win. Casimir (Bn) stood out for his ball handling, and Alexei (Bl) from the Fourth Form made his debut at the U18 level. Prince (M) and Jessie (W) demonstrated smart link-up play for the combined U18 Girls/U15 Mixed team.  The team deserved better than their narrow 33-35 loss, with home advantage for the opposition a clear deciding factor in a physical contest. Overall, a fantastic tour with lots learnt in advance of the competitive fixtures in the Lent Term.

Fencing

Our fencers travelled to Bradfield for their first away fixture of the season and all three weapons were offered. Our sabreurs were relishing the challenge, as some recent matches have not offered this weapon. Early jitters were overcome and by fight four a strong lead had been established 20-5. Bradfield fought back but Victor (R), James (Bl) and Jacob (R) cruised to a 45-20 victory. Epee was fought alongside Sabre and James (L), Tom (Bl) and Helen (W) carefully constructed an early lead 24-11, allowing substitute Marwa (Hg) in for her first taste of fixture fencing. Wellington retained the lead closing out 44-38. The match concluded with Foil and Joshua (R), Annie (Hn) and Radley (R) were in good form, cruising to an easy win 45-7.

Football

The junior footballers embarked for Eindhoven early last Monday morning for the ‘annual’ junior football tour, where they took part in a 5-day training camp with PSV Eindhoven. After four sessions and two fixtures, all 36 players returned to England, despite disruption at Calais/Dover, with a newfound understanding of what it is like to play at a top European academy. Special mentions to Luca (S), our tourist of the week, and Tom (Bl) who won the player of the week!

Golf

Ellie (W) has made it into the top 1000 of WAGR after finishing runner-up in the Swifts Schools Strokeplay Championship at Aldeburgh last week. It’s been quite a season for her, considering that she wasn’t even in the WAGR rankings eight months ago, and it makes her the highest ranked U17 English girl in WAGR, by nearly 1000 places.

Last week saw the end of the Surrey golfing season, and at an award presentation William (S) received the following six awards: Surrey Rookie Tour, won at Bramley Golf Club, won at the Surrey end of season championship, Race to the Stars at Clandon Regis, took 2nd place at Sunningdale Heath and 3rd at Farnham and also won the U14 Sussex Salver and was U14 SEG League Winner.

Gymnastics

Amelia (W) did very well at her recent international aerobic gymnastic competition in Bulgaria winning a silver and bronze medal for her team and pair routine. Subsequently, she has been selected to represent GB at the 2023 Junior and Senior European Championships later next month, which is a really significant achievement and we wish her the best of luck.

Hockey

The Girls 1st XI got their England Hockey Tier 1 campaign underway away to St George’s on the Wednesday before half term. Despite horrible conditions the girls put in an excellent first-half performance but failed to capitalise on the possession and the chances they created, and went into the break only 1-0 up. Another solid performance in the second half meant that they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners and earned a much needed rest over half term.

Netball

After a full few weeks of netball with the county tournament and the independent schools cup, it was a week full of training for all ages with some great effort from all the girls to finish off a busy half term. A special mention to Saffy (Hg), Juliet (A) and Liberty (A) for coming to the additional activity hour on Wednesday and working on their individual skills.

Rugby

The Junior Colts attended the annual Langley Festival on the first weekend of half term. It was the third year of attending the tournament and the pressure was on the boys, as squads from the previous two years had returned with silverware (the Cup and Plate respectively). We took a strong squad, consisting of 21 fourth formers and two third formers and possessed quality across the board. We started well on the Saturday morning with a close fought 7-0 victory over the defending champions Hurstpierpoint. The rest of the day continued in similar fashion as the boys won all their group matches on day one beating Dame Allan’s, Woodhouse Grove, St Joseph’s Ipswich and John Fisher. Our unbeaten run on Saturday, meant that qualification for the Cup was secured before the final group game on Sunday morning against Brighton College; however, this didn’t influence the boys’ approach and they produced a similarly ruthless display to secure another victory and an unbeaten run in the group stages. Topping Group A meant we faced Bedford who had finished second in Group B. It was another tight game, but the boys’ discipline and accuracy in defence proved the difference between the two teams as they came out victorious. In the other semi-final, Hurstpierpoint, our first opponents of the tournament, secured a victory over Dulwich College to set up a rematch in the final. The final was an extremely close contest with both teams making excellent tactical decisions; however, we managed to break the deadlock on a turnover and score the game’s only, and what would turn out to be, winning try. All members of the squad should be commended for their fantastic performance and contribution to what was truly a squad effort. At no point during the whole tournament did the Junior Colts go behind on the scoreboard, which is testament to the effort of all players. A special mention must go to Freddie (Hl) who was voted player of the tournament by the referees and Langley coaching staff.

Additionally, the 1st XV were at the St Joseph’s Festival and despite a tough first day, ran out Bowl winners on day 2.

Squash

A wonderful effort from the girls’ team against Bradfield just before half term. Some very solid performances from the more experienced players and some really good efforts for some new players to matches. Well done to all of them. The girls have worked really hard this term with some of them attending four sessions a week.

Swimming

Well done to Sienna (W) who did extremely well last weekend and has qualified for Winter Nationals ranking at number 6 in Britain for 200m fly.

Team of the Week

This week’s Team of the Week goes to the Junior Colts rugby team who won the U15 National Festival, with all 23 players contributing brilliantly which meant the team never went behind on the scoreboard.

Badminton

In the badminton match between Wellington College and Epsom College, our first team emerged victorious with a commanding 9-0 win. This marks a significant milestone for Wellington College as it is the first win for the 1st team! The 2nd team displayed a solid performance against Epsom College. All players demonstrated remarkable teamwork and encouragement, with two out of three pairs securing an overall win. Special mention goes to Danny (M) for being a great team captain throughout the whole journey. It’s also wonderful seeing the impressive progress the girls’ badminton team made in a short time period.

Fencing

Last week we welcomed Charterhouse with their new co-ed team and a new coach for what should have been our first away fixture of the season. The school offered foil and epee A and B teams but not sabre unfortunately. The A matches were played first with captain Joshua (R) opening for foil and quickly taking a 5-0 lead. Radley (R) and Annie (Hn)  provided excellent support and they were never behind against a physically strong team winning 45-19. Epee was fought alongside foil. Charterhouse had brought an experienced cadet (U17) with a national ranking who we knew would pose a challenge. James (L) led off followed by Helen (W) who took the lead 10-9. Tom (Bl) extended the lead to 15-11 and Charterhouse were looking under pressure. Despite another fine fight by Helen, the opposition regained the lead 19-20. The result really depended on the next couple of fights, and they soon extended it to 23-25.  Despite a strong fight back by Helen, who scored a remarkable 20 hits in total, Charterhouse won 38-45. The B matches saw epeeists Freddie (R) , Nefeli (W) and Polina (Ap) getting a narrow but well-deserved win 41-40 with Polina scoring 21 hits in total! Radley joined the Charterhouse B foil team to make it a match as they only had two fencers. He gallantly helped them to a 30-45 win over our foilists Caterina (Hg), Irene (T), and Riya (W).

Hockey

It was another very busy week for the hockey club with both the girls’ U16 and U18 indoor sides competing in the Berkshire County Indoor events. The U16s finished as runners-up and the U18 side put in a superb performance to win the tournament. Both teams now qualify for the South Regionals later this term with the target of qualifying for Nationals. Well done to the 1st XI, U16A and U15A who recorded convincing victories against KES Southampton. The U15Cs played against a strong U15B side from Churcher’s, but they played with such great commitment and heart, and gained a well-earned 0-0 draw.

Netball

What a week it was for the 1st team last week! Tuesday saw the girls play in their most competitive match of the season against Millfield in the 3rd round of the Independent Schools Cup. It was an enormous team effort to take the win by only one goal with a final score of 35-34. The girls got off to a great start taking the first quarter by 2 goals. The match was extremely competitive throughout, with both sides winning 2 of the 4 quarters; it’s fair to say it kept both parents and staff on the very edge of their seats. An all star show for all units on court with team defence turning the ball over 15 times, Scarlett (W) achieving 7 of these and Annabel (C), 5. Macy’s (C) defence in the 4th quarter lead to the turnover that ended up being the 1 goal win. Shooting stats reached the high 70s credit to Charlotte’s (Ap) strong angles and Saskia’s (Ap) dominant attacking drives, also getting her the game winning shot. Amelie (W) delivered 22 of the balls into the circle that aided the strong attacking performance. Massive through court efforts by Macy (C), Jaz (W) and Emily (A) kept the ball flowing throughout the game. This goes some way in trying to explain the determination and grit the girls displayed on court whilst under immense pressure. Exciting things to come for this squad this season.

On Wednesday a development side played in the South East Berks tournament. The whole squad put out a great performance contributing to a very enjoyable afternoon. A special mention to Sarah (Ap) for her attacking work throughout the tournament and Dulce (Ap) for the amazing long range shots.

Rugby

It was a busy weekend for the rugby teams at Wellington. Three senior sides played against Hampton. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd XVs all won well away from home, whilst the 4th XV took on Cranleigh on their patch only for the game to end early in unusual circumstances at 12-12. The U16As won their match against Haileybury As, and our C team played against Haileybury Bs losing in a valiant effort. The U15 sides went well with the As winning a tightly contested match 17-5 and the B/C team came up just short against Hampton Bs, a cracking game that could have gone either way, they ended up closing it out 21-14. The U14 A team and C teams played against Lord Wandsworth, whilst the B team played against Hampton A and had very competitive games. The U14B team lost against Hampton A 26-19 but lots of players representing Wellington against strong opposition.

Running

Liesl (C) ran the Oxford Half Marathon last weekend and was 3rd in the U20 section. She ran a great time of 1 hr 36 mins, running for the Type 1 diabetes charity.

Shooting

The shooting team have had their first shoulder to shoulder match of the year against RGS Guilford, setting a good tone for the season with the team of eight, the two pairs, and the reserve all beating their opponents by a comfortable margin. Congratulations to Natty (W) for being top scorer with her 99/100.

We’ve had other recent successes, with the C team placing top in both rounds 1 and 2 for the BSSRA Autumn League in Division 3, and would be comfortable in Division 2 with their current performance. Teams A and B are battling hard against Gresham’s (our biggest rivals for Smallbore) A and B teams in Division 1.

Going back to the middle of September, where we had the 50 yard and 100 yard competition (Berkshire Long Range), we’re pleased to confirm that Gabby (A) won the B class division, with Penny (A) in 2nd. In C division, Natty (W) finished in 3rd. The combined four (the latter three and Alex (R)) won the team of four competition, beating Windsor Rifle Club’s team of four.

Team of the Week

The netball 1st VII last week for their brilliant away win at Millfield in the 3rd round of the Independent Schools Netball Cup.

Sporting Note ahead of Saturday 14 October – Show Racism the Red Card Day

Sport at Wellington College aims to be Enjoyable, Engaging, Developmental and give an avenue for Positive Outcomes for all pupils. By having these four overarching aims, Sport at Wellington College is aiming to provide opportunities via delivery of sessions and the sports that are run, to be an inclusive space for all pupils. It is clear from the world of sport at all levels, that Sport and racism have been and remain intertwined. In recent years, many campaigns and initiatives have been seen to raise awareness of the issue of racism both in Sport and wider society, such as players ahead of Premier League Football fixtures taking a knee.

As well as celebrating Black History Month, October is also the month where the charity ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ seeks to raise awareness of the issue of Racism in Sport. Wellington College is supporting this cause not only to raise awareness of this important work, but also to ignite conversations for positive change within our community and beyond. Wellington College as a whole, will be supporting the ‘Wear Red Day’ on Friday 20 October, but ahead of this, on Saturday 14 October, our Sports Programme will turn red for the day as we invite visitors to join us in supporting this important charity by wearing an item of red clothing and reading more information about the work of the charity ‘Show Racism the Red Card’.

Athletics

A huge well done to Arthur (Pn) who has been invited to join the Paralympic Futures Programme for 2023/24. This is the next step on the British Athletics Paralympic pathway, aiming to prepare athletes for the 2028 Paralympics and beyond, so incredibly exciting times ahead.

Badminton

Great play from the girls’ badminton team this Saturday in their matches against MCS, with an overall win with some very close matches. Special mention goes out to Mirabelle (Hg) in her singles match winning with a score of 21-7 and Taban (Hg). Well done to all the girls involved! The reverse fixture also included a boys’ match away at MCS. A closer match than initially thought, but Wellington was no match for the strongest team on the circuit.

Fencing

Continuing the run of home fixtures, we welcomed Abingdon this week for a long-awaited home match. Abingdon are traditionally strong in epee but offered foil and sabre for a three-weapon match. James (L), Tom (Bl) and Helen (W) had the chance to fence Abingdon’s reigning GB U17 Champion who showed just how he achieved it by fencing beautifully throughout the match. Abingdon were on top form and came out winners 45-12. Foil was fought alongside epee. Joshua (R) anchored the match with Annie (Hn) and Radley (R) supporting in the nine-fight race to forty-five hits. This could have been a very difficult match but our foilists were really on top form adapting quickly to their opponent’s style of fencing taking an early lead 20-12 after four fights. Abingdon fought back in the middle of the match to trail 30-22 but could only find four hits in the last three fights to give Wellington a well-deserved win 45-26. Sabre followed with Victor (R), James (Bl) and Jacob (R) relishing the chance to fence after recent visitors being unable to offer sabre. Sabre is the fastest weapon and fights are over so quickly that they are not timed. Abingdon’s fit and fast epeeists were a real challenge as they switched to sabre and Wellington trailed 13-15 after three fights. Victor took 9 hits in the next fight to recover the lead 25-22.  Jacob and James extended the lead to 35-25. In the penultimate fight Abingdon closed the lead again to 40-35 and it came down to Victor to close it 45-37 with some superbly timed parries and ripostes. The fixture finished with a friendly epee match with Abingdon just edging the win 27-26.

Football

All teams were in action last week as the U14s and U15s travelled to Cranford house, whilst the senior XIs and U16As took on Tonbridge, with the 1st XI finally breaking the 16 year drought against Tonbridge by coming out as 4-3 winners.

Golf

Well done to the golf team, who finished 2nd overall at the Swifts Schools Strokeplay, with Ellie (W) coming in 2nd individually and Will (S) leading all the way till his back nine in round 3. It was great to see the team spirit and support for each other.

Hockey

Saturday saw a tough set of fixtures with many sides reorganised as girls competed very successfully in County netball tournaments. The 1st XI performed incredibly well in a hard fought 2-2 draw and special mention must go the U14 C and D teams for their convincing wins.

Netball

On Saturday the U14A, U16A and 1sts competed in the County Schools Netball Tournament. They faced tough competition across the day from schools including The Marist, St George’s and Bradfield. The U14s faced tough competition and despite a couple of 1 goal losses qualified as runners-up on goal difference. The U16 team was unbeaten across the day, with the highlight an impressive 12-7 win over The Marist who they had lost to at the previous showing. The 1sts also won their event, with no opposition team coming within half of their score. All teams will feature at the Regional Finals in February 2024 – well done!

Rackets

A big week for the rackets team, playing the two schools who typically have the strongest teams. The boys hosted Eton and the girls travelled to Queen’s Club to play Cheltenham College. Credit goes to both sets of U15s: Hugo (Hl) and Francis (S) who won 3-1 against Eton and Georgia (Hn) and Zaara (W) who won 3-0 against Cheltenham. The boys’ first pair of Sam (Bd) and Fergus (Bd) narrowly lost 2-3 in a game with some fierce hitting and fast balls.

Rugby

Last Saturday saw the rugby club take on Millfield. The 1st XV lost in a nailbiter that went down to the last minute. Inigo (Hl) had put the team ahead but unfortunately Millfield scored at the death to win the game; impressive games by a number of the team, but Joe (S) was immense. The 2nd XV played a very strong Millfield team and lost, as did the 3rd and 4th XV. Yet again, all fit senior rugby players represented the school this Saturday. The U16A team won 55-24 on Bigside 1 in the sunshine, playing some super rugby. The U16B team lost 24-19 with every player in the age group that was fit getting game time against Millfield this weekend. The U15A team won a thriller 17-14 in a hugely competitive match. The U15B lost 36-12 and the C team went down 26-19.

Swimming

Last week saw the swimming team take on Reed’s College. While Wellington put in a strong performance, Reed’s took the overall victory. Hopefully, they will come back stronger when they take on Bradfield College in a few weeks’ time.

Team of the Week

The U14Cs had a thrilling game against Millfield on Saturday afternoon. Going down a try in the first 15 minutes, the boys defended stoutly against physical opponents, with some remarkable try-saving tackles from Patrick (S) and Leonardo (L), before breaking down the opposition defence and going over the whitewash. A conversion meant the team took a slim 2 point lead into the second half but the boys didn’t let up with some brilliant interplay between JJ (Bn), Max (Hl), Alex (L) and Myles (R). Eventually the team took a second try to extend their lead, but Millfield hit back almost immediately, and the game finished with frenetic defence to keep the lead to the end. A fantastic game, where the boys put together a great team performance. Well done one and all.

Sporting Note ahead of Saturday 14 October – Show Racism the Red Card Day

Sport at Wellington College aims to be Enjoyable, Engaging, Developmental and give an avenue for Positive Outcomes for all pupils. By having these four overarching aims, Sport at Wellington College is aiming to provide opportunities via delivery of sessions and the sports that are run, to be an inclusive space for all pupils. It is clear from the world of sport at all levels, that Sport and racism have been and remain intertwined. In recent years, many campaigns and initiatives have been seen to raise awareness of the issue of racism both in Sport and wider society, such as players ahead of Premier League Football fixtures taking a knee.

As well as celebrating Black History Month, October is also the month where the charity ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ seeks to raise awareness of the issue of Racism in Sport. Wellington College is supporting this cause not only to raise awareness of this important work, but also to ignite conversations for positive change within our community and beyond. Wellington College as a whole, will be supporting the ‘Wear Red Day’ on Friday 20 October, but ahead of this, on Saturday 14 October, our Sports Programme will turn red for the day as we invite visitors to join us in supporting this important charity by wearing an item of red clothing and reading more information about the work of the charity ‘Show Racism the Red Card’.

Badminton

The badminton team faced a challenging match against Winchester on Thursday, resulting in an unfortunate loss. However, they made a remarkable comeback on Saturday against the Health & Fitness Club, winning by a substantial margin. This victory reflects their resilience and determination to improve. The team aims to build on this success and learn from their losses for future matches.

Fencing

We welcomed Marlborough for the second fixture of the new season. We had been expecting A and B teams in both foil and epee, which would have allowed our less experienced fencers valuable fixture experience against fencers of similar ability as new caps. In the event, however, Marlborough sent two A teams that fenced both weapons and so the B matches were fought as friendlies.

Foil A started the match with Joshua (R), Annie (Hn) and Radley (R) facing a strong physical challenge from Marlborough. The early fights were level in the race to forty-five hits but Marlborough drew away despite Josh winning all three of his fights and Marlborough won 45 – 25.

Epee A followed with Tom (Bl), Helen (W) and James (L) taking a commanding early lead.  A spirited fight back saw the lead closed and with one fight to go Marlborough were just ahead 40-39. It couldn’t have been closer and it all rested on the last fight. James couldn’t hold on to the lead and Marlborough won 45-43.

Special praise for B team members Caterina (Hg), Nefeli (W) with new caps Polina (Ap), Freddie (R) and Riya (W) who rose to the challenge of fencing Marlborough’s A teams.

Football

A very senior heavy football offering on show this week as the 1st XI travelled to the Harrodian and then hosted Sevenoaks, with the 2nd XI and 3rd XI travelling to King Edward’s Whitley. This saw a total of 21 goals scored and 9 conceded over all four matches played. A special mention to Fabienne (Ap) who has been called up to the U18 ISFA girls’ national squad – the first Wellingtonian (boy or girl) to do so.

Gymnastics

Well done to Amelia (W) who in the Double Mini Trampoline has been selected to represent GB at the World Age Group Competition in Birmingham. She secured Silver at the British Championships a couple of weeks ago, narrowly missing Gold by 0.2. In TeamGym, Amelia’s (W) team, Bracknell Gymnastics Club won the Junior Women’s British Championships over the summer. Since then, Amelia has been focusing on upgrading her skills and this weekend she delivered the highest cumulative DV (difficulty) score ever taken out in a women’s competition internationally.

Hockey

This past week has seen the U16 girls start their campaign in the England Hockey Tier One competition recording two comfortable wins at home against Sir William Borlase (3-1) and KES Southhampton (6-1). The weekend saw a tough block of fixtures again Cranleigh: well done to the U16B, U15D and U14C on securing comfortable victories. This coming week will see the 14A girls play in the National Cup against Cranleigh on Thursday.

Netball

It was a busy week for netball fixtures with the U14s, U15s, U16s and 1sts in action. On Wednesday, the U14s, U16s and 1sts took part in the Queen Anne’s pre-counties tournament. The teams faced many of the oppositions they will play in the first round of National Schools across the afternoon. It was the U14s first outing as a team, and despite only having three weeks together they finished in 1st place. The 1sts equally went unbeaten across the event, whilst the U16s finished 2nd after a narrow three-goal loss to the Marist. On Saturday, the U14s and U15s travelled to St Swithun’s for some friendly games. Despite two losses all players had the opportunity to develop their skills and worked on tactical focuses in preparation for the season ahead. Well done to Maya (A) and Chloe (A) U15s players of the game, and Willow (C) and Ivy (A) U14 players of the game.

Rugby

Last weekend saw the rugby club play a block against Dulwich College. It was great to see the U16As put in a great performance, with U16B also having a tight game that ended in 17-17 draw. The senior teams had some decent performances: the 1st XV got there in the end, but made hard work of it, the 2nd XV had another strong performance and the 3rd XV had a tougher afternoon going down 19-8, whilst the 4th XV won 52-5. The 4th XV played with accuracy and power, creating holes and finding space on the outside well. Henry (B) was man of the match, with a strong performance from Thomas (T). The U15As had an interesting afternoon and will be frustrated but hopefully learn from the experience, whilst the U15B had a proper ding dong in a game that had excellent physicality, desire and pressure in defence, culminating in a great intercept from Jasper (S). Algy (Pn), Bobby (Bd) and Seth (Bn) all injected a lot of quality too. U15Cs showed great character and perseverance in keeping going for the full match against a strong Dulwich C team – standout performance in defence from Odhran (Bn), making countless tackles. U14A and B had good results and are beginning to play some excellent rugby and the C team went down to a good Dulwich C team.

Skiing

Last weekend the Lowland Championships took place at Landgraaf in the Netherlands, where 265 racers competed in slalom races in the largest indoor ski hall in Europe. Team GB emerged victorious and Wellington was represented by Emily (Ap) and Francis (S), with Emily winning a silver medal.

Swimming

The swimming team took part in the ESSA (English Schools Swimming Association) County rounds, which consisted of timed relays against numerous other schools. The intermediate girls’ team came 4th out of nine schools in the freestyle relay, while the boys’ team came 3rd in the same event. Well done to Sienna (W), Martha (O), Liesl (C), and Nell (Hg) who came 1st in both the senior girls’ freestyle relay and the mixed medley relay, beating The Marist, St George’s, Downe House, Heathfield, and St Mary’s.

Tennis

The Junior Girls tennis team have qualified for the regional finals for the second consecutive year. As Berkshire champions, they won a close match on Tuesday against South Hampstead School. Well done to Jess (Hn), Annabel (C), Georgia (Hn) and Anna (O).

Team of the Week

The Senior Girls swimming team put in a stunning performance this week, with each girl outswimming their competitor in every stroke. Their skill and tenacity saw them achieve first place in both events, despite some fierce competition from five other schools. A remarkable achievement for Sienna (W), Liesl (C), Martha (O), and Nell (Hg).

Badminton

Saturday’s fixture was a tough one, with both teams playing well. Our pairs put up a good fight, but they were eventually defeated by the Harrow pairs. Despite the defeat, our team played well and showed great spirit. We are confident that they will come back stronger in the next match.

Cricket

A huge well done to Zaara (W) who has been invited by the South East Stars cricket team to join their 2023/24 Emerging Player Programme (EPP). This is the next step up from Surrey County Age Group Emerging Player Group (EPG) programme and represents a fantastic opportunity.

Football

This week saw the Football Club host Sherborne girls’ school and Kingston Grammar School respectively, in total scoring 33 goals whilst conceding 15. A special mention goes to Sam (R) for scoring 7, yes 7 goals to help the 2nd XI beat KGS 13-2, whilst Fabienne (Hg) made her 1st XI debut for both the boys’ and the girls’ squads this week. Well done to Jack (L), Hugo (Bn) and Fabienne (Hg) on their ISFA cup trials yesterday. A special mention also to the U16 boys’ football team for their cracking performance on Turf 1 against KGS last weekend, seeing them record an 8-0 win.

Golf

Well done Ellie (W), who won four of five matches at the England Golf Women’s County Finals in King’s Lynn, which helped power Buckinghamshire to a comprehensive clean-sweep victory over the other five finalists – the first time the county has ever won the competition.

Hockey

The weekend’s hockey fixtures had a slightly earlier start than usual with things kicking off under lights on Friday evening, in what can only be described as rather miserable conditions. Despite this, the hockey on display was excellent and the pupils support, despite the weather, was fantastic also. St John’s proved to be challenging opponents across the board, with some very close results in almost every fixture played. This week sees the first of the England Hockey Tier 1 fixtures as our U16A side take on Borlase.

Netball

The Netball 1st team faced Forest School in Round 2 of the Independent Schools Netball Cup last week, re-entering this competition for the first time since 2013. The team put out a strong performance with all players taking to the court, resulting in an impressive 50-18 win. The weekend saw the 1sts and the U16As travel to Hurstpierpoint to play friendly 7-minute rotations in preparation for the County Schools competition in October. A special mention goes to the U16s who trailed for most of the afternoon before registering scores of 8-0 and 8-2 in two of the final periods. They ran out overall winners, with exceptional defence from Freya (A) and Freya (T) across the game.

Rackets

The Rackets team hosted Clifton College on Tuesday and had a brilliant afternoon. Wellington won all but two of the matches. Highlights included a narrow loss for Lydia (C) and Emilia (C), against their boys’ 2nd pair.

Riding

Florence (A) represented the GB Pony Squad, winning the Ballindenisk International Horse Trials CCIP2*  last weekend in stormy conditions in Ireland.

Rugby

Last weekend saw a big block fixture against Harrow. The Yearlings A and B had good wins whilst the C team lost. The Junior Colts A and B teams both had excellent wins whilst the C team came up against a very strong C team. Colts A lost in a very competitive game 10-7 but the B team secured victory. Senior rugby had 90 players representing the school last weekend. The 1st XV lost in an epic game that saw the boys take on one of the best teams in the country, losing 38-31. Bill (Bd) played another outstanding game for Wellington in the front row, and a special mention to Rob (Bl) who stepped in last minute and held his own against a high quality Harrow front row. The 2nd XV lost 24-12 to a good Harrow 2nd XV side. The 3rd XV lost 33-15 and the 4th XV beat Harrow 33-17 with fine performances from Gabe (T) and Aramaya (Pn).

Shooting

Nine members of the Shooting team took part in a county open meeting on Sunday 24, competing against students from Sedbergh and Epsom, as well as against members of GB and Wales teams. Despite tricky conditions, three of the team put in impressive scores over 185 out of 200 over the four distances shot, with Penny (A) being the top cadet on the range with an incredible 188, scoring a consistent 47 out of 50 at each distance. So, our Fullbore season comes to a proper end, and we move fully into the Smallbore season.

Squash

The Squash team took on Charterhouse in the week, where the girls had a great 4-1 win. The Senior boys lost 4-1,  but it was a good contest. A good win at No. 1 for Alex (Pn).  Narrow losses 3-2 for Jeremy (Bn) and George (S). The U15s saw a good win for Raf (L).

Swimming

On Thursday, the Swimming team competed in a triangular with Churcher’s College and Charterhouse. Both schools provided fierce competition, but Wellington rose to the challenge, securing an impressive second-place finish. Sienna (W) put in a stunning performance, achieving first place in all four of her U15 races – the 100 IM, 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 50m fly. Other successes included Liesl (C), who came first in the 50m backstroke and 50m breaststroke, and Nell (Hg) who secured first place in the U18 50m freestyle.

Team of the Week

This week’s Team of the Week is the girls’ 1st XI football team for overcoming a Sherborne girls’ side, 6-0, in their first round ISFA cup match.

Badminton

Thursday saw the Wellington Badminton team play Winchester. Good rallies all round and new pairings flourishing. Special mention to Kit (Bl) and Arthur (M) who played well in the match against Abingdon on Saturday.

Fencing

We welcomed Eton for the first fixture of the new season and our first with new captain Joshua (R). Eton offered strong teams in foil, epee and sabre with sabre as the opening match.  James C (Bl) and Jacob (R) were joined by Nefeli (W) and some exciting end-to-end action followed. Nefeli was undaunted by her much senior opposition who weren’t sure how to respond to her style. All three scored some excellent hits but found it hard to match Eton’s speed and the match finished 45-28 to Eton.

Epee followed with James L (L), Tom (Bl) and Helen (W). From the start it was obvious that Eton had brought their A team but they were matched hit for hit in the early fights but drew away to win 45-24. Foil finished the fixture with Josua joined by Radley (R) and Annie (Hn) who had big shoes to fill in the first team! Joshua took an early lead but this could not be sustained, although he staged an amazing fight back in the middle of the match. However, Eton were too experienced and took the match 45-27. So a tough fixture but with many positives to take away for the next match at home to Marlborough.

Football

A busy first full week of games for the Football Club, with fixtures against Sherborne, Epsom and Marlborough. Well done to all those involved.

Golf

Congratulations to Will (S) who is the 2023 British Speed-Golf Junior Champion. He played 18 holes, only using three clubs and shot a round of 68 in 32 minutes.

Hockey

Last week was a packed one for the Hockey clubs, with the U14 girls playing their first games, with fixtures on both Thursday and Saturday and well done to all making their debuts. The U18 1st team girls reached the semi-final of the St George’s Sixes tournament and then had a good win against Hurst, which was a great block weekend for all teams and pupils playing with some impressive results and games across the board.

Netball

A huge congratulations to Amelie (W) who has been selected into the Scotland U17 age group squad.

The Senior teams travelled to Canford on Saturday, with both teams registering comfortable wins and rotating many different combinations. Standout performances came from Jess (W) in defence and Dulce (Ap) in attack for the 2s. This week sees the 1st team compete in the first round of the ISNC, good luck for this campaign!

Rackets

Well done to the two Rackets teams that travelled at the start of last week, one to Rugby and one to Malvern. Particular congratulations to Clemmie (A) and Georgia (T) who won against older girls at Rugby, and the unbeaten senior team at Malvern of Seb (R), Rueben (S), Lila (Hn), Liv (Hn), Lydia (C) and Emilia (C).

Rugby

Reports from the Whitgift block fixture.

The 1st XV played some superb rugby in the sunshine on Bigside 1. The game was played with a huge amount of speed and skill from both teams. The final score was 41-24 to Wellington, with standout players Inigo (Hl) and Bill (Bd). The 2nd XV also had a good afternoon playing some superb rugby at times, meaning they ran away comfortable winners, despite some creative refereeing from Mr Knights. The 3rd XV won 44-3, Seb (L) with a hatrick. Great attacking rugby with lots of strong carries.

The 4th XV played Cranleigh at home and showed devastating accuracy and skill with the ball in hand and powerful running that took them to a 41-14 point victory. Oliver’s (Bn) distribution at fly half made him Player of the Match.

U16A: final score Whitgift 29 – Wellington 7 – after a tough first half the team showed good character and fought back against a strong Whitgift team. Star players: Dylan and Carter (Bd). The U16C had a very competitive match managing with only 14 players for the most part due to injuries and players going up, with the final score being a tight 17-15 loss. The U15A had a strong performance against a physical Whitgift side who looked dangerous in midfield with blistering pace on the wing from Ralph (Pn) and fantastic leadership from Tom (Hl). Yearlings A had a very closely fought match and came out on top 10-5 winners. Yearlings B: a slow start off the bus meant we were 12 nil down within 6 minutes. From here though the boys started playing and made better use of the ball. 17-12 to Whitgift with 10 minutes to play and the boys had a couple of opportunities to take the lead. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite capitalise on those opportunities. Final score 31-12. Player of the moment JJ (L). The Yearlings C lost to a good Whitgift side.

Team of the Week

The girls’ U18 Hockey 2nd XI, who had a hard fought first half but then in the second half dominated possession and territory and deserved a well earned 1-0 win against Hurst.

Cricket

Well done to Rory (Bl) who carried his cricketing form from the Summer Term into the club season and was recently awarded young player of the year and captain’s player of the year at his club, fantastic news.

Football

Saturday saw the inaugural boys’ 1st XI game against the OWFC. The OWs ran out 3-1 winners but it was a great way to start the season, nonetheless.

Rugby

The season kicked off against Northampton School for Boys on the hottest day of the year – the U14s played mixed teams against NSB losing in both fixtures; however, every U14 rugby player represented Wellington for the first time this weekend. U15A and B teams both had strong starts to the season with strong wins. Freddie C (Hl), Tom (Pn), Freddie W (Hl), Tom (S) and Will (L) all played well in the A team. The B game was a little too one sided to see much structure, but there was lots of physicality and endeavour. Kameron (Bn) was outstanding, playing in the back row and was a menace in all facets.

The U16As were up against the U15 cup champs from the previous year, and went down in a very competitive match; the B team were also in a very closely fought encounter and came out on top.

Senior rugby had a good start beating both the NSB 1st and 2nd XV. Top performers in the 1st XV were Ollie (Hl) and Lloyd (Hl) two of the elder statesmen in the side, with Eddie (Bl) playing well in the 2nd XV on a sweltering afternoon in Northampton.

Running Club

Well done to everyone who took part in the Welling10k or 5k last weekend, with top individuals and House 5km results here.

5k Top 3 Girls’ Houses

5k Top 3 Boys’ Houses

Fastest individual times

Triathlon

Well done to Arthur (T), Edward (Pn) and Caitlin (Ap) at the GB Triathlon trials this weekend, which saw Caitlin finish 3rd in her group and qualify for Team GB and Arthur smash his PB.

Team of the Week

The U16B Rugby team for their hard fought 17-10 win on Saturday against Northampton School for Boys.

A huge welcome back to everyone on the sporting front and below we celebrate a huge amount of sport from the summer break!

Athletics

Well done to Ella (W) who won the 1500m steeplechase at the English Championships, then represented England in the SIAB International at the same race and won again, a great achievement.

Congratulations to Arthur (Pn) who ran at the London Olympic Stadium, beating his 1500m PB by over 14s.

Cricket

The end of Summer Term also saw the first ever Girls BOWS, as well as the more long standing boys’ event. In the Girls BOWS, the team won two out of three games with the leading runs scorer for the tournament. For the boys’ event, the team only recorded one win, although did have a game go to the wire with Brighton, losing by only 2 runs.

Golf

Leo (Bl) won the U15 Surrey County Golf Champs 2023. He was placed 4th for the whole competition (including U16) but won the U15.  He shot 5 over on the first 18 and 1 under on the second 18 so a NET 4 over on 36 holes. He also won the Quinta 7 Degree tournament a couple of days later, shooting par on 18.

Ellie (W) has had a great summer on many different golf courses, finishing in the Top 10 of the England Golf U18 Girls Open Championship (and second in the U16 GB&I Division), 5th in the England Golf U14 Girls Open (2nd place British girl) and winner of the U15 Buckinghamshire Girls County Championship.

Gymnastics

Well done to Amelia C (W) who won the TeamGym FaceOff event in Denmark, beating the best Danish senior athletes too.

Congratulations to Amelia T (W) who maintained her British Championship title having successfully won Gold at the 2023 British Aerobic Gymnastic Championships with her partner.

Hockey

This summer there was a senior girls’ tour to South Africa, which was simply stunning. 36 pupils and five staff members went on tour. The group arrived and played a practice game under the Table Mountain backdrop against St Cyprians, followed by a rest day at Table Mountain and the Langa Township (on Nelson Mandela Day). They then took part in the Cape Town Hockey Tournament of 32 girls’ teams, a fantastic tournament, where the Lions (one of the Wellington teams) finished 5th in their section and the Leopards (the other Wellington team name) finish 7th. Lots of tough and competitive matches and plenty of goals and action with some really great team performances. The team had a Robben Island tourist day in between as well as a visit to Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, Penguin Island and Seal Island. The tour finished with two days in a game reserve, seeing a host of animals. The tour was a great success, thoroughly enjoyable for all. The girls were super well behaved, worked exceptionally hard in the tournament and there were lots of good memories created both on and off the pitch.

Congrats to Cecily (O), Charlotte (W) and Georgia (Hn) (U16), Lucy (Ap) (U18) and Tom (Pn) (U16B) on making it into England Age Group Squads assessment phase.

Netball

On the Saturday before term, the Netball 1sts travelled to play in the Gordon’s Pre-season Tournament, their first netball together since March. The team played against some tough opposition, achieving narrow wins over Gordon’s, Brighton and Latymer, progressing to the play offs. After a convincing win in their semi, they met Gordon’s again in the final. Despite going 3 goals down, some exceptional defence from Emily (A) and Jazmine (W) provided opportunities to equalise. Patient play in the final minutes saw Wellington victorious, winning the tournament for the first time. An exciting season ahead!

Well done to Amelie (W) who attended the Commonwealth Youth Games in the summer with Netball Scotland, a fantastic experience.

Polo

Leo (Pn) played in the final of the Lodsworth Cup this summer, well done!

Riding

A fantastic achievement for Tilly (C) where she and her team won a bronze medal at The European Championships in Le Mans.

Rugby

This summer 28 boys and six staff went on a ‘camp’ to South Africa. They were based in the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport for the first six days of the trip. This was a first class destination that allowed the boys to train, eat, sleep, and recover in the world’s coldest swimming pool. During the stay in Stellenbosch, we played the school attached to the academy, Paul Roos Gymnasium, who have a decorated history of Springbok rugby players, more than any other school in SA. We played some excellent rugby for a first game together and with only two days of training. It was a classic pre-season game, with lots of excellent rugby and a few missed opportunities going down 15-0 to a team who were twenty games into their season. We then moved to Cape Town and played Wynberg Boys’ High School which proved a stern test, but one we rose to and managed to squeeze a close fought victory 17-14. Due to taxi strikes we missed our trip to Robben Island, but did take in the sights at Cape Point, Hout Bay, Boulders Beach, Table Mountain, Penguin Island and Seal Island. A real highlight was watching the Stellenbosch FC against Orlando Pirates in the season opener. The camp was a great success and staff had many comments on how polite the boys were. The trip home was slightly longer than expected due to a no fly-zone over Niger, but all made it back safely.

Sailing

Two Wellington boats competed in the Nationals Sailing Schools Championships at Itchenor. Oscar (R) crewed by Jemima (W) and Jack (M) crewed by Poppy (C) sailed well across the two days, with some impressive results in challenging conditions. They were frequently leading the fleet around the course showing great tactical awareness and boat speed. A lack of consistency hurt both boats’ overall standings, finishing a very credible 10th and 13th respectively, with both pairings looking forward to pushing for the podium places next year.

Shooting

The 2022/23 season for the shooting team was fantastic and it is really hard to summarise. However, focusing on the highlights from the smallbore season first, we saw over 40 unique individuals come and shoot regularly within the range over Michaelmas and Lent, with 11 members of the team being selected to represent England at a national level, and 12 members having represented Berkshire County at various levels during the term.

Looking at our fullbore season, with the minimal training we were able to do with Cadet rifles we put in a good performance with 12 members of the team shooting our biggest team event of the year – ‘Schools’ Week’. Between all 12, the name of Wellington College appeared 126 times in various places: Mateo (L), a third former, contributed 16 of those during ‘Schools’ Week'”! Wellington came 7th in the Ashburton, having a total of five new caps in the VIII (Freddie (Bl), Rory (Hl), Penny (A), Adrian (L), Kitty (A), Sayan (M), Ricky (M), Alexander (R) with the team’s median age being 16 – promising for the next couple of years! Our Cadet pairs and Cadet four, with our third form filling the roles, came 2nd in the Cadet Pair Open (Fabian (M) and Natalie (W), 3rd in Cadet Pair Closed (Chung Hang (L) and Matea (L), finishing 2nd in the Cadet Fours when combining the pairs scores. Freddie (Bl), one of the outgoing captains, came 2nd in the Spencer Melish – the only self-coached shoot of the cadet week. Finally, seven of the twelve students placed in the Cadet 100 and received a badge of recognition. Following on from the ‘Schools’ Week’ we shot the Imperial as individuals, with some team shoots based off individual scores and one ‘proper’ team shoot. As a collective of the six who stayed on, Wellington appeared 100 times over various prize lists, was represented at the Cadet International (England), and UK Cadet level. As a team of six, Wellington won the Parting Shot (the ‘final’ team shoot of the Imperial meeting), beating the previous team who has held the trophy since 2013! This is an amazing achievement, as this team is made up of some truly great shooters, and it was a nail-biting finish to watch. Here’s to our 23/24 year being even better!

Finally, a huge well done to Penny (A) who won the 14th Punjab Regiment statuette, for the highest UK cadet (Under 19) in the Atheling Centenary Aggregate and the Lovell.

Skiing

For many, skiing is a winter activity; for Emily (Ap), it is a year round sport. For the summer Emily was granted a discretionary ‘full’ FIS licence by Snowsports GB in time to ski in the Southern Hemisphere, and she set off for New Zealand to take up a place for two months on the QAST FIS programme. This enabled her to compete in FIS races (adult ski races) and, in her first race in Cardrona, she scored below 100 points and qualified for the New Zealand National Championships. Here she achieved a Top 10 place, and secured an entry to the Australian-New Zealand Continental Cup, the major ski event in the Southern Hemisphere and which, this year, attracted World Cup and Olympic racers from around the world to Coronet Peak. In some very testing conditions, Emily again managed to score below 100 points and reached 21st in her final race. Having successfully completed eight FIS races, this has been an excellent summer season and is a great platform for the coming European winter.

Swimming

Sienna (W) at English Nationals swam in three events – 50 fly, 100 fly and 200 fly and in all three events she made it into the finals (top ten) and then swam again to achieve personal best times. The end results were 200 fly – 6th, 100 fly – 5th and 50 fly 10th.

Congrats Joshua (Pn) on winning Silver at the British Summer Championships! Joshua qualified for 50m and 100m breaststroke finals in the 17-year-old age group, securing 2nd in 50m. Top 5 in UK for age group.

Martha (O) competed in the British Champs in 200m breaststroke and came away with an improved ranking and a PB and then competed in the English Nationals and came away with a PB and the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke.

In July, Alex (Bd), Tom (Bd), Kamil (Bd) and Oli (Bd) completed a relay Channel swim for the Charity Aspire in 12 hours and 26 minutes. It was an incredible challenge and opportunity, seeing the team raise over £12k for charity.

Triathlon

Huge congratulations to Alistair (Pn) and Caitlin (Ap) who raced incredibly well for GB at the World Triathlon Age Group Championships. Alistair recorded a PB and came 37th while Caitlin came 40th! A huge well done also to Nell (Hg) who at the Youth Commonwealth Games this summer ended up with a 9th place in the individual triathlon and 8th in the mixed team relay and then at the Caribbean National Championships won Silver in the 16 to 19 triathlon and Gold in the mixed team relay.

Sporting Parent Group

The Sporting Parent Group meets to share things the College are trying to do and achieve on the sporting front, but also to hear feedback from the parent body too, in order to see what we can do better.

The group meets three times a year, with the 2023/24 dates being 7th October (2023), 20th January (2024 – likely online), and 27th April (2024) (0900-1100).

Should you wish to join the group, please respond via the FORM HERE by Friday 15th September.

Athletics

Will (S) had a successful two day Octathlon last weekend in the U17 Regional Combined Events Championships. He finished 4th overall out of a strong field, frustratingly being pipped out of a podium by less than 100 points. His score currently places him top 5 nationally so far for Octathlon. Will should now qualify for the National Schools Combined Events Championships in September.

Cricket

Lots of cricket being played in the run up to the end of term. Well done to Toby (S) for his 123 against Eton and 108 off 61 balls against St Peter’s Adelaide, to Freddie (Hl) for his 109 off 54 balls against Manchester Grammar and to Adil (Hl) for his 5-14 also against St Peter’s Adelaide.

Congratulations also to the boys’ 1st XI who have won the Cowdrey Cup for the second time in the history of the competition and for the first time since 2014; a brilliant achievement for all those who have played 1st XI boys’ cricket this summer.

Yearlings A Cricket Tour

The Yearlings A cricket tour left last Monday morning for Oakham. After a spot of light lunch Wellington fielded first in a 30 over game in glorious weather. Oakham amassed 148 all out from 28 overs with some solid hitting in the middle order. Wickets were shared by all the bowlers, the pick being Zaara (W) with 3 for 13 off her 5 overs. The chase did not start all that well with Alex (Hl) being run out without facing a ball. At 28 for 3 things did not look good. But then Freddie C (Hl) strode in and smashed 63 from 58. When Freddie W (Hl) joined him blasting 10 off his first 2 balls, we were fully in control of the game at 124 for 5. Then some proper Yearlings cricket took over to get us to 139 for 9 leaving Tom (Pn) and Tom (S) to scrape the 10 required to win. After one dropped catch and one very dubious run out (somehow given not out) we managed to see it through with two perfectly timed pulls for four from one of the Tom’s (Pn).

A pleasant evening out in Oakham and a good night’s sleep saw us on the bus at 7.30am on Tuesday heading to Manchester in the rain. And the rain got harder the closer we got to Manchester. Manchester Grammar School called the game off in good time which resulted in a bit of head scratching at the front of the bus. But we were going past Birmingham. One quick call from Miss Brookes (17 tickets) and another from Mr McDonald (coach parking at King Edward’s School, Edgbaston) and we took a quick detour to the final day of the Test match. Unfortunately, we lost that one – so we were now won one, lost one.

A good curry in Shrewsbury and a reasonable night’s sleep saw us at Shrewsbury School for an 11am start. Again, we fielded first (40 over game). Shrewsbury got off to a good start (50 for no loss) until Freddie W (Hl) nipped both openers out. Zaara (W), Nishka (T) and Tom (S) all picked up wickets and we restricted them to 219 for 8. Freddie C (Hl) got us off to flier and Alex (Hl) put right the injustice of Monday. But wickets kept on falling in bizarre ways. Rupert (Hl) hit an enormous 4 only to be run out next ball, Zaara (W) was run out in mass confusion and Tom (Hl) was bowled by a subterranean shooter leaving Sam (Hl) to offer up some dogged non-bazball resistance for a strong 20 off 42 balls. Jamie (M) was left stranded when Tom (Bd) finally could resist the spinner no longer after a vigil of 32 balls for 9 runs at 136 all out.

Thursday saw us have a light net, some lunch, watch a bit of the 1st XI vs MCC then off to The Oval to watch a T20. We arrived at a packed and buzzing Oval with Surrey scoring 252 off their 20 overs and Middlesex chasing it down with 4 balls to spare. As there were OWs playing for both Surrey and Middlesex we can call that one a win – so won 2 lost 2 by Friday.

Friday saw us on Turf against Dulwich. One of the Dulwich players played very well to reach an impressive 100, although there was some tight bowling from Sam (Hl) and Zaara (W), with Jamie (M) being the pick of the bowlers 4 for 13 off 6 overs. A good declaration from Dulwich meant this was a result game with 204 the target and plenty of time. We started our innings on 10 (two sets of 5 penalty runs for Dulwich running on the wicket) but an excellent slip catch saw Jamie (M) depart in the first over and Tom (Hl) depart in the second. The middle order of Freddie C (Hl), Bobby (Bd), Tom (Pn) and Alex (Hl) all chipped in with runs at a good click of over 7 an over to keep us in the hunt. But the wickets kept falling and we ran out of batters. All out for 144 from 24 overs.

So the tour ended with 2 wins and 3 losses – but an excellent week with lots of cricket and great weather.

Running

We are pleased to declare the winner of the boys’ race to be Oli (T) and of the girls’ race to be Flo (Hn). Congratulations to them both. Last year we saw the first girl successfully complete the challenge of crossing Great Gate before the final bell. This year we can confirm that Oli successfully completed the challenge (becoming the first to do so since 2014).

Sailing

The annual Wellington College vs OWs vs Parents event was held on Saturday. Close racing was had throughout with a comprehensive victory against the parents. Unfortunately, results didn’t go the way of the College and they were pipped by the OWs to the overall victory. A strong performance by the team, in particular Jack (M) who received the OW tankard for MVP.

Tennis

Another big week for the tennis players. The Third Form were on tour, trained at Bath University, played singles and doubles matches and even watched the pros at The Birmingham Classic. The girls were exceptional representatives of the College on and off court; and there is more info in a separate report below. On Saturday, the mixed teams played in the annual Wellington Invitational tournaments. After 3 x 9-0 wins in regular matches, the 1st team came 2nd to a strong Sevenoaks team. Seb (R) and Jess (Hn) must be commended for not losing a single set in the mixed doubles season, remarkable at senior level for Fifth and Fourth formers.

U14 Girls Tennis Tour

Day 1

Match vs Cheltenham U15s.

The girls were slow to get going and a long minibus trek and the first hour playing in the rain didn’t help. The experience and strength of the Cheltenham team was also quite daunting, but the Wellington pairs warmed up into their matches and soon got into their stride. Although we ran out of time to complete the match (a delicious lunch was awaiting us!), each pair recorded at least one win against their opponents, so were in good spirits on the way to the hotel.

Having settled into the hotel, we walked into Bath to do a bit of sightseeing and shopping, then Wagamamas was the restaurant of choice for the first evening meal. A long detour back to the hotel, combined with a history tour from Mrs Grillo, topped off a fantastic first day.

Day 2

A hearty breakfast meant the girls were fuelled and ready for an intense day of training at Bath University. We were greeted by head pro Tom who took the girls through their paces with lots of footwork drills. In fact they hardly touched a racket for the first hour! He was excellent in explaining the need for footwork in preparation for every shot, and the girls really worked hard at the various foot patterns. They loved the torpedo javelin throwing tasks too. The girls really enjoyed the intensity of the training session, many not so much the heat! It was also great to see two tour players hitting on the adjacent court too!

After lunch we were treated to a tour of the university’s Sports Village and the world class facilities. Tom and Ellie explained the elite sports programme and what students can expect in terms of pursuing their studies alongside their chosen sport. The afternoon session from coach Ellie included a lot of work on slice, and racket control, before breaking down the serve. A young county squad then arrived to put the girls through their paces (!) and there were some big hitters. Ellie set up a Fed Cup type tournament with Wellington mixing in superbly with the county squad, and there was a lot of fun had.

A few hours of rest and recuperation was needed back at the hotel after the 4.5 hours of intensive coaching in the heat, before Pizza Express for dinner and Swoon’s famous ice creams to top off an excellent day.

Day 3

Thursday saw a late start to ensure everyone was rested before a trip to St Mary’s Calne for a tournament. This had 8 of our girls compete in a singles tournament against the hosts, Kingswood and Marlborough, whilst 4 played a doubles match against St Mary’s. Singles in the heat against much older players (U15-U18s) was going to be a tough ask after the previous intense days; however, the Wellington girls threw everything at it and came away with some truly superb results. Georgia (Hn), Olivia (C), Imogen (T), Rosie (O), Serena (O) and Hope (A) managed to get some fantastic wins, with the others only narrowly losing their rubbers, often in dreaded tie breaks. In the doubles Laila (W) and Siena (C) impressed beating the U15 1st pair.

A fabulous afternoon of tennis, and a quiet minibus ride back to College as the girls were by now exhausted!

Day 4

No rackets or kit bags required as we made our way to Edgbaston for the Rothesay Ladies Tournament. With Centre Court seats and on quarter-finals day we knew we would see some great tennis, and we weren’t disappointed. First match up was big hitter Marino vs Zhu, and with Marino having taken the first set it looked like it was a done deal. However Zhu’s returning was faultless and she eventually wore her opponent down. The second match on was the much anticipated and world number 17 Ostapenko vs qualifier Frech. This really was a thriller and the match swung either way many times throughout. In fact, a set and 1-4 down, anyone would have thought it was game over for Ostapenko. An injury timeout allowed her to regroup and she fought right back into the match. After 2.5 hours Ostapenko showed her class and experience (not to mention her fearsome backhand!) and emerged victorious. The icing on the cake for some of our girls was autographs and selfies with Jelena Ostapenko.

Mr Tulley and Mrs Grillo would like to thank all of the girls for their excellent behaviour and for engaging so magnificently with all aspects of the tour, whether it be matches or coaching sessions.

Triathlon

A wonderful effort from the triathlon team who travelled to Wiltshire to race at the Bowood House Triathlon! Very well done to all the team who were brilliant company and raced with great professionalism and energy! Thank you to Caitlin (Ap), our captain for supporting our newest team member, and particular well done to Alistair (Pn), who came 3rd in U20s. Best of luck to Alistair and Caitlin as they join several OWs at the World Age Group Triathlon Championships in Hamburg in July.

School’s Greenpower Racing electric vehicle teams

The Wellington team spent a long day at the Lotus test track in Norwich last weekend. We finished 2nd and 3rd out of 35 teams on our debut in ‘The Beef’ and top 15 in the kit car class with ‘the Eagle’. Given we have never raced the cars before or driven further than between the speed bumps on the kilometre, that is a phenomenal result. Just to complete over 3 hours of driving with no mechanical breakdown on a debut is a real achievement. To gain a podium finish is outstanding. The beef covered nearly 80 miles in its 3 hours’ racing and hit a top speed of 35mph, but slick driver changes and driving skill are equally important. Of note also is that Jack (M) driving in the A Level race managed to roll ‘the beef’ while doing in excess of 30mph. Both car and driver survived, but we recorded a DNF for this one!  The car is pretty scratched up but a testament to the team’s engineering prowess. Not only did it protect the driver as designed, but was still drivable in the afternoon race.

Team(s) of the Week

The athletics team were excellent last week at Cranleigh, outperforming their previous results of the year with a win for the senior boys overall (with a team of only 4!) and second for the inter girls who had several third formers competing. A great day with lots of pupils stepping up to the plate for events that weren’t their favourites.

Athletics

The Athletics team were excellent last week at Cranleigh, outperforming their previous results of the year with a win for the senior boys overall (with a team of only 4!) and second for the inter girls who had several third formers competing, as well as several other golds, including:

Nina (T): Hurdles and Long Jump
Matilda (C): Javelin
Mack (Hl): Long Jump
Tyler (Pn): 100m and High Jump
Tyler (Pn), Mack (Hl), Rufus (T) and Ollie (T): Senior Boys Relay
Melissa (A): 100m
Ollie (T): 800m and 400m
Flo (Hn): 200m, Long Jump

A great day with lots of pupils stepping up to the plate for events that weren’t their favourites too.

Cricket

A busy week of cup action last week, which unfortunately saw the Yearlings and JC 1s knocked out of respective 40 over and T20 County Cups, but with both sides putting in an excellent effort to reach the stages of the tournaments that they have. In the block fixture last Saturday with Tonbridge there were some great games, with high scoring wins for both the JC 1s and 2s, with some excellent batting performances from Hughie (Hl) 61, Ralf (R) 55 and Henry (S) 65 and then 3 wickets for Hughie (Hl) too. The boys’ 1st XI found it tough going on Saturday with the bat and never really got going, despite solid contributions of 41 from George (Pn), 38 from Julius (Bd) and 24 from Eddie (Bd), with their final total being 174 all out. However, with the ball, the team rallied to take victory, bowling Tonbridge out for 125 with Rory (Bl) taking 4 wickets and Esiah (R) 3. For the 2nd XI, the most amazing and bonkers day of cricket ever. Tonbridge won the toss and chose to bat and at 80-6 it looked like Wellington might be chasing a total in the region of 120-130. This was not to be with an excellent 8th wicket partnership from Tonbridge. In the end, Wellington bowled out Tonbridge for 208 with 44 overs gone. Harry (Bd) and Alex (R) were the pick of the bowlers claiming four and two wickets respectively. After a superb lunch, Wellington went out to bat feeling this was a total within their reach. Half an hour later with Wellington having crashed to 20-6, it looked like it was game over with the win percentage hovering at 0.01%. Ollie (Bl) decided it was time for the Wellington version of Baz Ball and smoked 57 off very few balls with some lusty blows. Ably supported by Fergus (Bd), the score accelerated past 100 and at least it felt like we had gained some respectability. Any thoughts of winning the game began to disappear with two quick wickets including Ollie (Bl) falling. Fergus (Bd) though had other ideas; a key partnership with the returning Captain, Linus (Bd), took the team to 165 before he fell to an excellent catch. With one wicket remaining, Harry (Bd) came to the crease with 44 runs still needed for victory. Harry and Fergus both batted superbly for the next 40 minutes steering Wellington to the most unbelievable victory. Fergus finished with a superb 72 not out and was rightly greeted as a hero by his team mates. Worth noting that in what was a 50 over game, Wellington ended up scoring the winning run in the 32nd over!

Running

Last Sunday saw a group of 16 pupils and staff embark on a half marathon run, covering the distance from Stratfield Saye to Wellington College to celebrate Waterloo Day. A wonderful morning’s running in the sunshine and a huge well done to all who completed the run, always a highlight of the year.

Tennis

The mixed doubles season continued with fixtures against Cranleigh last weekend, which saw some absolutely fantastic performances across the board, with 12 of 14 matches won. It has been wonderful so far to see the boys and girls work so well together as pairs and teams on and off the court.

Teams of the Week

The Athletics team were excellent last week at Cranleigh, outperforming their previous results of the year with a win for the senior boys overall (with a team of only 4!) and second for the inter girls who had several third formers competing. A great day with lots of pupils stepping up to the plate for events that weren’t their favourites.

The Cricket 2nd XI chased 208, having been 20-6, with Fergus (Bd) making 72 not out, Ollie (Bl) 57 and Harry (Bd) 4 wickets and being the calmest number 11 in a run chase.

Athletics

Well done to the girls at the ESAA Track and Field Cup – Regional B Final. Melissa (A) won the 100m, Flo (Hn) came 2nd in the 80m Hurdles and won the Long Jump, Leila (W) came 3rd in the High Jump, Freya (T) 2nd in the Discuss and the Relay team of Emily (Ap), Poppy (Ap), Leila (W) and Cecile (O) came 1st in the Inter-Girls race.

At the BSAA County Championships, well done to Will (S) who won his heat and then won the final in the schools’ county U17 100m Hurdles and has thus been selected to represent Berkshire County in the English Schools Nationals.

Cricket

A busy cricketing week which saw the Yearlings 1 progress in the County Cup and the girls play multiple fixtures with Charterhouse, as did the boys on Saturday too. Across the fixtures there was a near clean sweep of victories which is an excellent all-round effort, but even more importantly the games were all played in great spirit. Well done in the boys’ 1st XI game to James (S) taking 3-22 and Toby (S) scoring 70* and in the Yearlings 1 Freddie (Hl) made 47 off 21 and Rupert (Pn) took 3-6.

Running

From the Potter Pavilion Dash, well done to Liesl (C) who took the crown as fastest girl, with a slick 3:12.85, and Ollie (T) as fastest boy on 2:38.43, reprising his achievement of the very same time in 2021. In the houses, the Murray won the Junior Boys, the Stanley the Inters and the Picton the Seniors, while in the Girls, Juniors was won by the Talbot, Inters the Combermere and Hardinge the Seniors. Overall, this saw the Hopetoun as the top girls’ house and Stanley and Murray tied as top boys’ house.

Swimming

Well done to Sienna (W) who has been selected to attend English Nationals this summer in the 50m Fly, 100m Fly and 200m Fly. We now wish her the best of luck.

Tennis

Belated congratulations to the Beresford and the Talbot who won the Junior House Tennis finals on Speech Day. Both finals were a very high level, and played in the right spirit in front of large crowds. Well done to all who took part. On Saturday the College teams played Epsom in the first mixed doubles matches of the term. Matches were close and the honours were split quite evenly throughout the junior teams (5 wins, 3 losses). The senior teams showed their class, to win 36 sets for the loss of just 2, with a convincing 9-0 victory at 1st team.

Triathlon

Congratulations to the Triathlon team who dominated in a 750m lake swim, 20km bike and 5km run! Caitlin (Ap) won the women’s U20, followed into silver by Sienna (W), and then bronze by Zara (W). Charlie (T) won the men’s U20 and Eddie (Pn) was a brilliant 3rd.

Team of the Week

The Sailing team competed at the Thames Valley Championships over the weekend, recording a 90% win rate during the round robin to qualify for the finals, where after some close racing they finished 4th overall. Well done to Oscar (R), Jemima (W), Jack (M), Poppy (C), Joe (R) and Olivia (A).

Cricket

The lead up to Speech Day saw things quieter on the cricket front than normal, but still with lots on offer. The Boys Junior Interhouse took place, with the top 3 going to, 1) Beresford, 2) Murray and 3) Hill. Then on Speech Day eve the 1st XI Girls took on a Berkshire girls’ team, in what was a great start to the Speech Day cricket festival, albeit with the girls losing by 39 runs. For the 1st XI Boys, they lost in their National T20 Cup game on the Thursday, but then bounced back with two wins over the OWs on Speech Day eve and Speech Day itself, which was a nail biting 2 run game. Lots to look forward to this half term, especially now the sun seems to have fully joined us.

Fencing

Karina (Hg) was at the European U23 Champs in Budapest last week. In the individual foil, she came 24/50, losing 15-10 in the last 32 to the eventual bronze medallist. In the team foil, Romania finished 5th, missing the final by 1 hit to Ukraine and losing in the bronze medal playoff to Italy 44-39. Well done on a really great effort all round.

Netball

Amelie (W) has been selected to represent Netball Scotland this summer at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago – huge good luck and have a great time.

Swimming

Huge well done to Martha (O) who has qualified for the British Championships to compete in the 200m breaststroke at the end of July, which includes the fastest 24 swimmers in the country. Additionally, she has also qualified for the English Nationals to compete in the 100m breaststroke. Good luck and enjoy the training ahead of these amazing opportunities.

Tennis

On Thursday before half term the U15 Girls team won the county round, and will progress to the national knock-out rounds of the LTA Aegon Championships. Well done girls!

Team of the Week

Well done to the boys’ 1st XI who, in a busy week, won two of three fixtures. This did include a loss in the National T20 Cup, but they then recorded a DLS win in the T20 game against the OWCC and then on Speech Day recorded an excellent 2 run win, with Rory (Bl) taking 5-29.

Cricket

An impressive outing for Wellington College this week as the 1st XI girls’ team progress to the third round of the 100ball cup after beating Shiplake and Haileybury earlier in the week. They then played the annual triangular against Bradfield and the MCC, seeing a nail-biting thriller against the MCC, with Zaara (W) hitting her maiden half century as well as winning the game on the last ball of the match. After her outstanding performance, she was awarded the Spirit of Cricket Award presented by the MCC. The boys’ block fixture against Bradfield again had a few stand out performances; highlights were from Rory (Bl) taking 6 wickets, Reuben (S) 5 wickets for 13 runs and Freddie (Hl) scoring another 50 to add to what is a successful season for him. The U15As were successful too in defeating St Bernard’s in the first round of the Berkshire T20 County Cup.

Sailing

The Barnard Cup (Wellington’s sailing cup) was a closely contested affair with impressive speed and boat handling on display throughout the fleet. Seb (Bl) coped well single handed in breezy conditions, while Poppy (C) and Gabe (Bn) looked fast throughout the day. Special mention goes to the Talbot pairing of Ludo and Nich who guest starred on the day, but handicapped themselves by carrying half the lake around the course. Jack (M), crewed by Tom (Bl)  and Oscar (R), crewed by Jemima (W) fought a neck and neck battle throughout the afternoon, with Oscar and Jemima pipping Jack and Tom to the overall win.

Shooting

Well done to the shooting team, for being beaten narrowly by Bradfield College’s full strength team. Both teams fielded six shooters and coached internally, with Ricky (M) and Sayan (M) of the Fourth Form coaching in a match for the first time. Despite some learning, and more importantly some confidence, still required to get them to the level of expert student coaches, both coached exceptionally well. Because of their coaching, and the team members shooting exceptionally well, entrusting Ricky and Sayan to make the right calls, Bradfield won by only 3 points. Very impressive work shown by the junior members of the team, following on from the Berkshire Open the previous weekend!

Tennis

The Tennis teams had a very busy week. On Saturday the boys competed well in the prestigious RHWM tournaments, and over 100 girls represented the College in teams that took on both Cranleigh and Charterhouse in a double block fixture. Some standout performances included Sophie (A) and Liberty (A) winning a deciding tie break for the 2nd team at Charterhouse, securing a 5-4 win, and the girls’ U14A team at Cranleigh who came back from 2-4 down to win 5-4.

Team of the Week

The U14A girls’ tennis team as they came from 2-4 down after the second round to win 5-4 against Cranleigh. Their confidence built over the afternoon as they adjusted to the sandy court. Special mention to new A team members Elizabeth (T) and AC (Hn) who went from 1-6 to 2-6 to 6-2!

Cricket

Last week was yet another rain affected one, but that didn’t blunt the spirits shown by those on Saturday, with fantastic wins for the JC1s and JC3s against Whitgift, and the Girls 2^nd XI against Cranleigh and Boys 4^th XI against Shiplake, both in tight games won by 3 wickets.

Golf

The Wellington golfers have had a busy and fantastic end to the season. At the Schools Tour Championships at JCB Country Club they won the overall team event, and as a result finished 4th in the country across the whole year – a fantastic achievement and improvement! A huge well done to all those involved, with special mentions to Ellie (W) who came 2nd in the U18 girls individual OoM across the season. An amazing accomplishment for a third former to achieve! Congratulations also to Will (S) who won the internal Wellington College Club Championships with a one shot victory over Joe (Hl). The squad also managed a gutsy 3-2 victory over the Wentworth scholars on Thursday in some wet conditions – well done.

Real Tennis

Mallinson Girls Level Singles:  Congratulations to Lydia (C)  on winning the Mallinson Trophy against Olivia (Hn).  Lydia came through a very tough and competitive semi-final against Marina (A) ( 8-7, 40 all) and Olivia managed to take the lead against Lila (Hn) in the other semi-final before Lila retired with a leg injury.  The final was played in great spirit and the standard of play from both players was exceptional. All the games were close but it was Lydia who dominated the service end to win the vital points to secure the win.

Maltby Boys Level Singles: Congratulations to Toby (S) who won the Maltby Boys Level Singles against Seb (R). A great match with both boys showcasing the depth and strength in their match play, but it was Toby who found the winning combination and patience to wear down Seb to take the title 8-3 and to get his name up on the honours boards.

Sailing

The sailing team competed in the Western Championships at Chew Valley, with helms Oscar (R) and Jack (M) joined by Gabe (Bn) making his debut for the school. Crews Jemima (W), Tom (Bl) and Poppy (C) performed strongly helping the team finish an impressive 4th overall.

Shooting

We had a very successful day, with six students taking part and representing Wellington as individuals and as teams in the Berkshire Open. Three of the shooters have only been shooting fullbore target rifle a grand total of four weeks, but they’ve put in tremendous effort and committed themselves to learning a lot whilst at each session, which paid off yesterday with them getting to show and develop their skills. It’s not easy to go from being taught how to get set up, to being independent with minimal/no assistance during a competition, which Natty (W) Chung Hang (L) and Matteo (L) did making the school and shooting team proud.

Ricky (M), Sayan (M) and Liam (R) made up the A team, with Natty, Chung Hang, and Matteo making up the B team. At short range the A team won, beating Bradfield A team by nearly 20 points, with Ricky and Sayan putting in very impressive ‘possibles’ (50 out of 50) at 300 yards, and each a 49 out of 50 at 600 yards, getting a short range score of 99 out of 100, beating out most of the rest of competition!

As ever, long range is the deciding factor in most competitions. Natty had an excellent shoot at long range, scoring 2nd for Wellington cadets overall at long range; Ricky snuck in 4 extra V bulls overall in the long range shoot, winning himself 1st place for top Tyro class at short, long and the combined. Natty was one point off being the top Tyro for 1000 yards with her 46.3, being beaten by another cadet who was in the Upper Sixth at Bradfield who scored 47.3, in what were very tricky conditions and the average scores being low to mid 40s! At long range, the A team won convincingly again, and the B team snuck into 2nd place.

Mr Allum being an O class (higher class than Tyro) was pipped to 1st place in the O and Tyro overall combined win by Ricky, by 6 V bulls!

Keep an eye out for these youngsters rising up through the ranks – we’re going to have a strong team in the years to come.

Tennis

Last week was another busy one for the tennis club, with midweek fixtures with Winchester, that were well contested, albeit in awful weather at times, with the split being 6 losses to 3 wins across the board. Saturday then saw fixtures with both Tonbridge and St Edward’s, with a clean sweep of wins for teams against St Edward’s but some tougher ties with Tonbridge, making the wins of the JC1s and JC2s even more impressive.

Team(s) of the Week

On Saturday, the Yearlings 1 made their debut on Turf. A good bowling display led by Sam (Hl) and Bobby (Bd) (3-20) restricted Whitgift to 120 all out. Jamie (M) and Tom (Hl) started well with the bat in reply before Freddie (Hl) took the game away from Whitgift with a swashbuckling 61 from 32 balls including eight 4s and three 6s. Well done to the team with a special mention to Bobby and Freddie for their stand-out performances.

Athletics

Well done to William (S) who competed at the BSAA U17 Combined Events Championships at Palmer Park stadium in Reading last week.

It was a one day pentathlon (the five events were 100m hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put and 1500m). William returned victorious as BSAA U17 Combined Events Champion!

William was able to achieve:

• PB in 100m hurdles 14.5 seconds
• PB in High Jump 1.67m
• PB in Long Jump 5.82m
• Shot Put 10.81m (outdoor PB)
• 1500m in 5.08 mins

Cricket

With a washed-out weekend due to the rain, the highlight for cricket was last week’s midweek girls’ fixtures with Teddies Oxford. The U14 girls had a tight win in the last over and the 1st XI girls won by 55 runs, with Emilia (C) scoring 75 and Issy (C) 37, whilst Zaara (W) and Nishka (T) both took 2 wickets.

Football

Last week saw the delayed 4th and 5th form interhouse football event take place; end winners being the Beresford, with Picton 2nd and Hill 3rd. Well done to all who took part.

Shooting

It’s been a busy few weeks since the start of term, with shooting happening even before term began!

Our annual Easter Camp went well, with 13 students attending the training camp. The camp offered coaching from national and international level coaches, with a number being Old Wellingtonians. There was lots of excellent shooting during the course of the week, with Penny (A), Ricky (M) and Alex C (R) securing the first ‘possibles’ of the season. For non-shooters, a ‘possible’ is where you get the maximum score of 35, 50 or 75, depending on the shoot format. This means that all their scoring shots were in the centre of the target; with distances ranging from 300 to 1000 yards, where at 300 yards the centre of the target to score the highest value is ~ 4.5 inches in diameter.

Since then, we have had several training sessions, with the quality of those attending getting better every session; going from being coached to being able to begin to self-coach, a skill that is invaluable for future competitions and helping them secure places for county, national and international teams. Special mention to Kitty (A) for her perfect possible at 300 yards, with a 35.7, where the 7 denotes the shots scored in the centre’s centre ring (called the V Bull), which measures 3 inches in diameter.

Some students recently attended the GB U25 friends and family day, where Sayan (M) was top ‘experienced’ shot of the day (and by extension top shot of the day), getting his first ever ‘possible’ at 600 yards whilst being coached by one of the GB U25 squad.

We have our first major competition coming up shortly, the Berkshire Open, followed by a friendly match against Bradfield College.

Tennis

A special mention to the U14D girls’ team. For some of the girls this was their first ever match and it was impressive to see their ability to take on feedback and act upon it through each of the rounds. Unfortunately, the team had a shortened warm up and so weren’t really used to the slow pace of the ball and lack of bounce on the away courts. The team finished the end of round 1, 1-2 down. The girls rallied in round 2 and managed to pull back and level the scores at 3-3 going into the final rubbers. Stronger serving to cope with the windy conditions and confidence at the net saw the team play out excellent final matches to take the win 5-4.

Team(s) of the Week

The Girls’ Cricket 1st XI, who won by 55 runs against Teddies with Emilia (C) scoring 75 and Issy (C) 37, whilst Zaara (W) and Nishka (T) both took 2 wickets.

Athletics

Some excellent performances at the weekend in the Copenhagen and Pelican Shield matches against Brighton, Cranleigh, Epsom and St John’s. A superb outing by the Junior Girls team with wins for Flo (Hn) (200m, Hurdles and Long Jump), Nina (T) (Hurdles and Long Jump), Rose (O) (300m and 800m), Freya (T) (Discus) and the sprint relay squad, resulting in a 30-point win over 2nd place Brighton. Elsewhere excellent performances in the throws with wins for J.J. (R), Oscar (M), Tilly (W), Sammy (T) and Mack (Hl). Overall, Wellington finished a credible 4th place.

Badminton

Last week saw Interhouse Badminton take place with the following finals results. Well done to all who took part.

Senior Girls: 1st Hardinge, 2nd Anglesey and 3rd Combermere

Junior Girls: 1st Apsley, 2nd Wellesley and 3rd Talbot

Senior Boys: 1st Raglan, 2nd Talbot and 3rd Murray

Junior Boys: 1st Murray, 2nd Blucher and 3rd Talbot

Cricket

Cricket enjoyed a better week than previous, thanks to some improving weather, albeit the midweek girls’ games had to be abandoned due to the mid-afternoon down pour on Thursday. Saturday saw an excellent block with Marlborough, with 7 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie, with further details below. Most notable were 3 tight wins out of 4 games for the Yearlings. Well done to all those involved.

The boys 1st XI against Marlborough had an unusual finish! Having won the toss and elected to bowl, they restricted Marlborough to 182 with Eisah (R) taking 3 wickets, Eddie (Bd) 4 and Rory (Bl) 1 for only 12 runs. The game went to the last over resulting in a tie, with both teams making 182, with George (Pn), Adil (Hl) and Eddie (Bd) all making scores in the 30s.

Fencing

Joshua (R) and Annie (Hn) fenced in the British Youth Championship in Sheffield last weekend. Joshua (R) finished in the top 8 for U20 Foil; Annie (Hn) was 22/53 in the U14 Girls Foil.

Golf

Ellie (W) had a fantastic week in Enville last week, with a top 10 finish in a very strong international field (22 countries) and many of the best 16-year-olds from across Europe. Ellie (W) was one of only three English girls in the top 10, as well as being the youngest of them all.

Hockey

It was another day to be proud of at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre, with the U14 boys attempting to follow in the footsteps of the U14 girls and finish off a brilliant season of hockey. After a tough opening group stage game against King’s School Chester, the team found themselves on the back foot and narrowly lost their second game to Reeds 2-1, despite an opening goal from Rupert (Pn). However, this didn’t dampen the team spirits, and their positivity paid off with a win against Taunton School in their third game of the day, with two first-half goals from Hugo (Hl) and Freddie (Hl).

The team’s performance improved throughout the day, culminating in the final playoff game against The Perse School, where two more goals from Hugo (Hl) and a final goal for James (Pn) secured 5th place in the country. There was so much to be proud of: the squad came together in such a short space of time and performed brilliantly.

Rackets

Well done to OW Cesca Sweet who has added the Ladies Rackets Doubles World title to her Palmares – huge congratulations.

Swimming

Well done to Martha (O) who, in the South East regional swimming finals won two silvers and one gold medal, doing fantastically well and swimming two PBs too. Her 200m breaststroke time was very quick indeed and we keep fingers crossed that she has a good chance of being selected for the nationals in July/August.

Tennis

The weekend saw overall well-matched blocks versus Marlborough and Downe House. Special mention to the U15A girls who played really competitive tennis in a great spirit and won against a strong Downe House team. The final game was a nail-biting match and luckily for Wellington, Georgia (Hn) and Gabby (T) won 6-4 making the team the overall winners at 5-4. Anabelle (C) and Clemmie (A) (the first pair), and Rosamund (O) and Iris (Hn) (the 3rd pair) who had not played together before (or at least not in a very long time), were all really good at supporting each other while being kind to the opposition. A great example of what a tennis day should be.

Team(s) of the Week

The Junior Girls Athletics team who won their match convincingly (by ~30 points) on Saturday against Brighton, Epsom, St John’s and Cranleigh. Some superb performances and a team keen to rally and support one another, filling in for each other wherever needed.

Cricket

The Cricket Club had tough fixtures against Harrow, but special mention to the 2nd XI who put in a great performance with Ollie (L) taking 4 wickets and scoring 50, with the game ending in a draw but only because the team ran out of time. Away at Harrow the boys’ 1st XI found themselves 60-4 but thanks to 47 from Hugo (Bn) and a half century from Zach (S) and others with late contributions, 234 was reached off 55 overs. Harrow chased the score down having lost 7 wickets but the team showed a spirited effort in the second half of the fielding innings. The Cricket Club is now keeping everything crossed for some warmer and drier weather for more cricket all round!

Eddie (Bd) was awarded the John Piddington Award for best all rounder at the Seaxe Club last week. He earned this for getting 410 runs at an average of 37.3 and taking 34 wickets for Middlesex last season.

Golf

Last weekend on a magnificent course at the JCB Country and Golf Club, the Golf team took part in the HMC Strokeplay Tour Championships, with the team running out as eventual winners of the Team Championship; a great effort with particular mention to Ellie (W), Sam (Bd), Thomasine (Hg) and William (S), but well done to all involved!

Gymnastics

Well done Amelia (W) who had a fantastic time at the Czech aerobic gymnastics competing as part of the Southern region team representing GBR, coming away with two silver medals for her pair and eight team.  A great experience for her and a great start to her new 15 to 17 age category.

Swimming

On Thursday 20 April, Wellington travelled to Eton for their first fixture of the Summer Term. Despite limited numbers, the swimmers put in an incredible effort, with many having to swim multiple events. Special congratulations to Rose (O) and Sasha (M) who both came 1st in the U16 50m freestyle with an amazing time of 30:44 seconds each. The team as a whole put in a strong performance, narrowly missing out on a victory. This is real testament to their dedication to the team and their extraordinary stamina.

Tennis

Well done to over 200 pupils who represented the College in a tennis team on Saturday. It was brilliant to see so many pupils out and enjoying themselves. Well done to the boys’ 1st VI who fought well to earn a tight 5 sets to 4 victory at Teddies. Also, to the girls’ 1st Pair of Vera (W) and Charlie (T), who were unbeaten away at Marlborough.

Team(s) of the Week

The Tennis boys’ 1st VI for their hard-earned win and the Golf team who won the Team Championship at the HMC Strokeplay Championships.

Golf

Well done to Ellie (W) who won the BB&O Junior Girls Championship at Temple GC by 3 shots last weekend.

Hockey

Jess (Hn) and her U16 Surbiton hockey team have qualified for the National Supra League Finals. We wish her and the team the best of luck.

Rackets

At Queen’s just before the end of term, there were lots of Wellington pupils on court in the girls’ singles and boys’ doubles and notably, Lydia (C) won the U16 singles, with Emilia (C) coming runner-up and the Colts boys’ pair reached the semi-final.

Rugby

Rosslyn Park was a great week for the rugby club. Across the week, we managed to enter five teams in five different tournaments! Our senior Vase side had a tough group on Monday before the Yearlings and Colts took up the mantle on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Vase VII was well led by Dewi (L), Michael (Pn) and Jonny (S) in their last outing for the College. Jonny’s drop kicks and Michael’s length of the field efforts (one straight from a lineout) were sensational!

The Yearlings were our most successful side of the week and were one try away from being national champions! All but one of their games was decided by a single score with Tom’s (Pn) golden point try sure to live long in the memory. In truth, all 13 of the squad deserve individual mentions and they can look back fondly on both an unbeaten XV a side season and a national final in the VIIs season.

The Colts navigated their group successfully but lost to a strong Sedbergh side in their cup quarter-final. They ended up finishing in the Plate semi-finals which is no mean feat in a tournament with more than 200 teams! Special mentions go to Dylan (Bd) and Elijah (Bn) who were playing a year young but also to Tom (Bd) for his leadership throughout the two days.

The Girls VII did excellently given that it was their first ever games of rugby for most of them! There were some great moments for all but the tackling from Mary (C) and Tara (C) and the running from Naomi (Hg) and Tilly (W) were excellent. The coaches’ highlight was certainly the attitude shown by all the players in some of the most adverse rugby conditions seen for a long time!

The Cup VII lost a narrow group game which meant they ended in the Plate on Friday eventually coming 3rd in their group. They showed a lot of heart and gave their all for the badge for the last time for eight of the squad who were in Upper Sixth.

Running Club

Congratulations to this year’s Kingsleys winners Liesl (C) and Guy (L) who both defended their titles from 2022!

Shooting

Before term ended we had Kitty (A), Penny (A), Adrian (L) and Julius (T) attend the Maple Taste training event to try and get a place in the UKCRT (UK Cadet Rifle Team). Competition was fierce, with only 12 places and two reserve slots available from a selection of 28 cadets. All four of our attendees had a great experience, and congratulations to Kitty and Adrian for making the UKCRT team, where they will go to Jersey this August.

From Easter Monday through to the next Sunday we ran our Easter Camp training session, where we get to do a lot of shooting with access to some excellent pro coaches to give both new shooters and seasoned shooters something to learn and push towards. Over the course of the week we had 13 students attend, with a strong attendance from the 3rd and 4th form, with excellent shooting throughout the week – we’ve had our first possibles of the season with Penny (A), Ricky (M) and Alex C (R) achieving 50 out of 50 in one or two shoots by the end of the week, showing and highlighting their growth over this week. Not all progress can be measured by getting a ‘possible’ as they’re known, with all the newer shooters attending performing exceptionally well and showing great perseverance given how intensive the week is. We have a good cohort and this will put us in good stead for future competitions and Open meetings this season.

Skiing

The Welly Ski Racing team successfully flew the flag at the British Ski Championships over the Easter vacation: Lucy (O), Emily (Ap) and Seb T (Bn) all competed, with Emily securing 2nd place, and Lucy and Seb both securing personal bests in the Super G.

Emily also represented Team GB in the La Scara International Races in Val d’Isère, ‘opened’ the British FIS (adult) Championships, and competed in the French National Championships in Val Thorens.

Team of the Week

The Yearlings VII side for their Rosslyn Park runners-up finish, only one try away from being national champions!

The reality is there has probably never been such a frustrating Lent Term with regards to weather and outdoor surfaces. A term that started with heavy rain was followed by long lasting and extremely cold temperatures and then, when we thought that was over, we had early March snow. We know the disruption this has caused and whilst much of it is beyond our control, as we must always put safety at the priority of our decision making, we will be reviewing some aspects of our planning. For example, we will be considering things like the scheduling of fixtures in the early January weeks in the future, but it may be that climate and weather patterns continue to affect this term.

Aside from the frustrations of the weather it has been another packed term of sport, with more pupils, both boys and girls, playing football than ever before, which has also seen more grounds at Wellington made available for football then at any point in the College’s history. In addition, at the time of writing, the College is recruiting a Head of Football Development, who will further support the provision of football, for all pupils, from September.

The major team successes of the term include: the U19 Netball girls finishing 5th and the U14 Hockey girls 7th at respective National Finals; the Swimming team who did brilliantly at the Bath Cup, with the girls’ team claiming 9th spot in the highly competitive 200m medley relay; and the Senior Hockey girls reaching the quarter finals of the National Cup. In addition to these achievements, the U14A Hockey boys are off to National Finals next term, having become South Central Champions, and the U15A boys (at the time of writing) are one game away from the Independent Schools Hockey Championships Finals day in the Easter Holidays. The Fencing team had a fantastic week at the Public Schools Championships, winning the Hymers College Cup and the Crystal Palace Plate. The Skiing team returned from the British School Girls and Boy Races having had some great results, with the girls’ team claiming best overall school and the boys winning the Dual Slalom event. Our Badminton team took part in the first ever all female fixture for the club this term. The Basketball club continues to go from strength to strength, with brilliant results across the board and a huge number of pupils playing the game – a testament to all involved. Finally, we say well done to the Under 19 girls’ team who gained first place at the Berkshire Schools Cross Country Championships .

In addition to all the team achievements celebrated above, we commend all pupils on their team work and commitment shown across the board, as we now approach 800 fixtures having been played this year.

On an individual front this term, many have stood out again, with pupils gaining national and international honours in sports such as: Shooting, Skiing, Athletics, Riding, Swimming, Netball, Golf, Fencing, Hockey, Netball and Rugby and we congratulate all pupils who are excelling in their sport. Additionally, we also encourage all pupils to stay active, especially as the exam season approaches.

Finally, by the time this goes out, we hope for early success and wish the best of luck to our pupils at the Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s and Girls’ Singles and Boys’ Doubles Schools Rackets Championships, not to forget the Kingsleys!

Best wishes,

Dan Pratt, Director of Sport

Badminton

Last week the College played the Wellington Adult Badminton Club. There were good games all round, very close and the College team managed to win most of the very tight games. Special mention to Jie (R) who won all his games, Kaiyu (Bd) and Peter (Bd) who played the best they have ever played. The College team won 33-17.

Basketball

On Thursday Wellington hosted Eton U16 basketball team.
The match started well and some early basketball from Casimir (Bn) meant that Wellington took an early lead. However, with players missing through illness, the Eton team had the rebounding advantage and this soon began to tell. Hakan (L) was making some good inside shots and Hugo (M) was using his speed to make some good layups. At half time the match was tied 22-22.

The second half continued much as the first as both teams took the lead only for the other team to come back into the game. With 30 seconds to go Eton took the lead by one point. The ball went to Hugo (M) who dribbled up the court and passed to Hakan. He saw that Casimir was not being marked and passed him the ball in the corner. Casimir’s quick reaction caught the Eton defence off guard and he dribbled to the basket for a layup. With only seven seconds left Eton didn’t manage to get a shot off and Wellington won the match 41-40.

Top scorer and Player of the Match was Casimir with 24pts.

On Thursday the U14 team also played Eton.
A strong Raglan component makes up the team with J.J., Neal, Ethan, Euan, Henri and Thomas all making valuable contributions to the team. It was J.J. who helped Wellington make a good start with penetrating runs through the middle of the Eton defence. However, it was Alexei (Bl) who was both the bedrock of the Wellington defence as well as adding valuable baskets after some great passes from both Henri (R) and Neal (R).

At half time Wellington led 18–8. Despite some good passing and movement from the Eton team it was their shooting that was letting them down. The Wellington team were not as fluid but were capitalising on Eton’s misses and continued to score baskets. Jessie (W) also made some important passes and helped Wellington run out winners 29–20.

Top scorer was J.J. (R) with 16 points.

On Saturday the U18 basketball team hosted the Bracknell Cobras.
Playing a club side was never going to be an easy task but Wellington started strongly in defence. Owen (M) and Ceaser (Hl) both made some good baskets. However, the taller and quicker Cobras team applied a full court press and caused Wellington to turn over the ball. Mark (Bd) was having to complete with sometimes two or three Cobras players for rebounds and despite good work from Adam  (Bn) Wellington were finding it tough work. At half time they trailed 40-9.

In the second half they continued to keep going and never gave up but the final scored was 65-20.

The girls’ basketball team travelled to Downe House on Tuesday.
Despite only having seven players the team acquitted themselves well. Captain Anna (W) led from the front and opened the scoring for Wellington. Zoe (Hn) also added to the points. At half time Wellington were losing 12-10. In the second half the team was tiring and Aisosa (Hg) was in foul trouble but despite this the team continued to play well and pressed. Ismey (Hn) scored 6 points and kept the game close. A great team effort meant they were always in the game but they eventually lost 18-16.

On Saturday the girls’ team hosted the Bracknell Cobras.
Despite not having Captain Anna (W) due to illness they started well with Ismey (Hn) making some good rebounds. Poppy (Ap) and Aisosa (Hg) scored some good baskets but the more experienced Cobras team were beginning to stretch their lead. Zoe (Hn) made some fantastic interceptions and shows what potential the team has. Lots of things to work on but a great team performance against a strong Cobras team. Wellington eventually lost 49-14.

Fencing

Annie (Hn) came 5th in the London region youth foil U14 on 12 March and qualifies for the final of the British Youth Championships at the English Institute of Sport in May.

Last week saw the Public Schools Fencing Championships. The team won the Hymers College Cup, which is awarded to the coeducational school with 30 or fewer weapon entries, with at least one entry in a boys’ weapon event and one entry in a girls’ weapon event, and gaining the highest number of points in the competition, as well as the Crystal Palace Plate, awarded to the girls’ school which is 3rd in the Ann Williamson Cup (highest number of points in all girls’ weapon events). Individually, Karina (Hg) came 2nd in the Senior Girls’ Sabre, joint 3rd in Senior Girls’ Epee, won the Senior Girls’ Foil and overall won Champion at Arms again, for the second year running. Annie (Hn) came 9th in the Mount-Haes epee and 5th in her category and Nefeli (W) 9th too. Christopher (L) came 11th in Senior Boys’ Sabre and 8th in Senior Boys’ Foil, with Josh (R) coming 10th. James (L) came 26th in the Senior Boys’ Epee. All pupils did brilliantly and there was lots of spontaneous coaching and support between the individuals on the team, going to cheer each other on and all were well-mannered; all the Wellington values were very much on display.

Football

Well done to the Hardinge who the Girls Interhouse Football.

Special mention to the U16Cs who enjoyed a fantastic 9-1 win over St Joseph’s last week, and played in positive and well meaning spirit throughout, despite leading 6-1 at half time. A nice way for those who have trained consistently all term to top off the season.

The U15As, following weeks of incredible effort in training, saw the boys respond with courage and commitment to going 1-0 down in the first few minutes against The Oratory. Up against a physical and talented team, every player worked themselves to exhaustion to take control of the game and three exceptional goals from Sasha (M), Sam (Bd) and Joe (R) saw the team take a 3-1 lead.  The boys held their structure and discipline exceptionally well and continually put their bodies on the line to retain the lead.  Joe (R) was named player of the match for a determined and impactful performance, but each player gave their all and played amazingly. The opposition were unbeaten before this fixture so the team really showed what hard work and team commitment can achieve.

Hockey

Huge congratulations to Shakila (A) and Cecily (O) for their selection for the Easter 4 Nations tournament with England U16 Girls, best of luck to both.

Netball

A busy final week of fixtures for our netballers, with matches against St Joseph’s and Hurstpierpoint. Thursday saw some well-contested fixtures against both colleges, with the 3rds and U16Cs taking on St Joseph’s 1sts and 2nds. Both games were played with excellent spirit, with Wellington winning both well-balanced matches. The U14As, U15As and 1sts also took on Hurstpierpoint on Thursday; a particular well done to the U15s who won a fast and skilful game 46-32. Saturday saw us host the U14 and U15 age groups, with our U16s and Seniors travelling to Hurstpierpoint. Always tough opponents, there were some competitive matches with narrow wins and losses. Well done to the U14Bs who fought back from a large first quarter deficit to lose by only three goals. The U14Cs won 29-24, and the U16Ds achieved an impressive 29-16 victory, with Mary (O) awarded player of the match! A special mention goes to the U15Es, who despite not winning a game all season went goal-for-goal with Hurstpierpoint, only losing by three in the end. None of the players gave up, and it was wonderful to see TonAor (Hn) from Wellington College Bangkok take to the court too. Well done to all the girls who have shown such commitment and spirit in netball this term.

Skiing

Last week, Emily T (Ap) travelled to Font-Romeu, in the French Pyrenees, to compete with the top 124 racers in France in the second stage of the French National Ski Alpine U16 Championships. Although the snow was a little thin on the ground and the temperatures rather high, she secured top 30 places in all three disciplines (Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super G), and achieved a personal best for her Slalom ranking.

Squash

Last week saw the Interhouse Squash competition, with the boys’ competition won by the Raglan and the girls’ won by the Wellesley. Well done to both and to all the 50+ pupils who took part!

Teams of the Week

The U14A Hockey boys who are off to National Finals next term having become South Central Champions in an undefeated day’s hockey.

The Fencing team for their brilliant efforts at the Public Schools Fencing Championships.

Equestrian

Well done to Laurena (Hg) who participated in a dressage competition last week and qualified for the German National Equestrian team, comprising the 20 best teenage horse riders in Germany. Laurena will now be competing in the German National Championship in June.

Football

Another great week for WCFC. A reduced fixture list, due to waterlogged pitches at Mill Hill, saw the football club host seven games on Saturday. The 2nd XI and U14Cs particularly impressed this week under the leadership of Mr Jennings, Dr O’Loughlin and Mr Rea respectively; both teams put in a superb performance winning by comfortable margins. A special mention to those Upper Sixth students who played their final home games for the College; thankyou for your commitment over the last two years and good luck in the final few fixtures of your WCFC careers.

Netball

The Netball 1sts travelled to Oundle School on Saturday to take part in the U19 National Schools Finals, having secured victories at the County and Regional rounds. It promised to be a tough day of competition with eight 14-minute games before the play-offs. The girls faced some of their toughest opposition in the first few rounds, including the U16 champions Cheadle Hulme and Hartpury College. By round four the team sat on two losses and two wins, meaning they had to win at least three of their remaining games to secure a place in the next round. Thanks to some incredible defensive tips by Scarlett (W), Macy (C) and Chenique (W) the team consistently provided their shooters with turnover ball. Finishing 3rd place in their group ensured a place in the Cup semi-finals, facing Stephen Perse College. Saskia (Ap) dominated in goal attack, shooting seamlessly from range and controlling the tempo across the court. A first half lead of four goals was enough of a buffer, and with a 13-10 win the team were into the Cup Final. Here they faced Wrekin College who they had already narrowly beaten in the rounds. Despite feeling the fatigue of almost three hours of netball the girls played some of their best netball of the day, smartly using the width and depth to open feeds into their shooters. A 16-12 victory secured the girls’ 5th place in the whole country, and winners of the National Schools Cup. Well done to Saskia (Ap) who was our player of the tournament, shooting with phenomenal accuracy in high-pressured situations despite playing every minute of the day.

In the netball block fixture, the non-senior netballers faced Cranleigh, with all but one Wellington team in action. Highlights of Saturday included the 2nds’ and 3rds’ respective 38-22 and 34-21 victories; both teams have faced many narrow losses so to get such strong wins was rewarding to see. Well done to the U14Fs who secured a 10-7 win, and the U16Ds who had a resounding 30-9 victory. It is great to see so many competitive games, and we now look forward to our final block fixture against Hurstpierpoint.

Squash

What a fantastic afternoon of squash. It is wonderful that we are now able to put out teams in all areas of the College. Yesterday we had three matches at home against Eton: Boys Seniors, Boys U16 and Boys U14. Always a hard fixture but everyone gave 100% and there was a marked improvement from the Michaelmas Term. We had a first yesterday with two junior girls’ teams travelling to Bradfield. With mainly U16 and a few U15 and U14, a fixture was arranged with as many matches being played as possible. 14 matches were played with it ending up seven wins each. Well done to the team of Charlotte M, Charlotte T, Jessica R, Georgia H, Saffron E, Gabby H, Elizabeth W, Emma B and Jemma R.

Swimming

On Friday 10th March, the swimming team travelled to the London Aquatics Centre, where they had the unique opportunity to swim in the Olympic Pool for the prestigious Bath Cup event. The boys’ team put in a sterling performance, achieving some personal bests in both the freestyle and medley categories. Their resilience and team spirit were evident throughout. However, the girls’ team was the true highlight of the event. They placed an impressive 9th out of 71 independent girls’ schools in the highly competitive 200m medley relay. This achievement was a testament to their hard work and dedication both in and leading up to the event. Special mention to Martha (O), Liesl (C), Rose (O) and Sienna (W) for their outstanding performance. Overall, it was an unforgettable day for the swimming team, and they can be proud of their achievements in this world-class facility.

Teams of the Week

The Swimming team for their performance at the Bath Cup and the Netball U19s for 5th place in the country in the National Finals.

Netball

Interhouse Netball took place last week with the Seniors competing on Thursday and the Juniors on Saturday. Each house was represented by an A and B team, who played each other in a round robin format. The Senior A team competition was a fiercely competitive affair, with the Combermere and Wellesley drawn on both points and goal difference at the end of the afternoon. The final ranking came down to the score in their match, where the Combermere had taken a 3-2 win. The Combermere were equally victorious in the B team competition, albeit with a larger margin of points! Success continued for the Combermere in the Junior competition, finishing top amongst the A teams. It was only the Anglesey that were able to prevent a clean sweep, going unbeaten all afternoon. Well done to all involved – it was great to see so many girls playing and supporting their houses!

Good luck to the 1sts who travel to Oundle School this weekend to take part in the National Schools Finals.

Polo

On Sunday 5th March our team travelled to Rugby Polo Club for the yearly Arena Nationals. Our Intermediate team’s first chukka was against Stowe, holding steady with a 1-1 draw. Marlborough proved a challenging side during our second chukka, ending 5-0. Reassessing tactics and watching games before we were next on, we met Radley for our third chukka, pushing to play on the defensive but losing 3-0. A challenging day, but nevertheless a fun and quick-paced day for all. Our Wellington team came 3rd overall within our division. Emily (Hn) joined a Harrow/Wellington combined Intermediate team. This team won their first chukka against Cheltenham 5-0, leading to a draw with Cheltenham Ladies 3-3 in their second and just missing out in their final chukka to Marlborough with a final score of 3-2. Emily and her team came 2nd in their division. A huge achievement given she had no training experience with the boys beforehand; a credit to her flexibility and clear communication with her teammates throughout.

Rugby

Wednesday 1st March – Yearlings – London Oratory 7s

On Wednesday the Yearlings travelled to Barnes for the London Oratory 7s. We were drawn in a group against St Benedict’s, Grey Court and Queen Elizabeth School, Barnet. The team managed to win all three group games fairly comfortably and in the process secured a place in the cup semi-final against Hurstpierpoint College. The game was a real nailbiter with the lead changing multiple times. Hurst had the lead until the final play of the game when the Yearlings forced a turnover and scored to win by two points. The final was against a physical, fast team from Mill Hill. In a very similar fashion to the semi-final, the lead changed multiple times, with both teams showing understandable signs of fatigue. In a very similar manner to the semi-final, Mill Hill were winning until the final play. The Yearlings had a scoring opportunity to win it with the final play but were unable to convert. It was a tough way to finish a great day but the whole squad should be congratulated for an excellent performance.

Sunday 5th March – Colts and 1st VII – Worth 7s

Congratulations to both teams, staff and parents, who competed on an exeat Sunday at the Worth 7s. The Colts made it to the final, losing an excellent and tight game with Tonbridge; whilst the 1st VII went on to also play Tonbridge in the final, where they were victorious.

Running Club

On Saturday 4th March, we hosted the Wellington Relays. Our junior boys’ and inter girls’ teams secured silver medals in their categories, and senior girls achieved bronze. Shakila (A) and Jamie (M) both secured third-fastest lap times in their respective categories, at 7 minutes 39 seconds and 7 minutes 5 seconds respectively. With some of the strongest visiting teams in recent years breaking a number of course and lap records, all Wellingtonians who took part deserve congratulations for holding their heads high amidst some very tough competition.

Shooting

We’ve been busy in the range since our last report, with multiple match cards and Schools National England team cards beginning to be shot.
We’ve had a few first 100s of the season from some individuals in 10 Bull, with congratulations to the following: Penny (A), Alex (R) and Ricky (M). An extra special congratulations to Kitty (A) for a ‘no questions, no doubts’ 100 for her England A team Card 1!
Everyone’s averages are improving, some rapidly and others more steadily; we’re looking in good stead for the Fullbore season and CTR season ahead!

Team of the Week

The U14A Hockey girls for their 7th place finish in the country, following the National Hockey Finals. Well done to all the girls involved throughout the competition run, a wonderful finals day (and a half) experience and no doubt more to come!

Badminton

U18A Wellington Triangular

Out of the 32 games played at home, Winchester took the leading position and won 21 games, while Wellington took 8 fantastic wins, followed by Charterhouse who won 3 games. Special mention goes to Kaiyu (Bd) and Arthur (M) who played excellent rallies in the singles.

Fencing

Wellington vs RGS High Wycombe

Wellington travelled to RGS High Wycombe last week for a three-weapon fixture. Some absences meant that some younger fencers were called on at the last minute and also some were asked to fence a different weapon instead of their preferred one which is always a challenge, so a tough match was expected. The match opened with foil and Joshua (R) was joined by younger foilists Annie (Hn) and Radley (R). After a shaky start they soon settled and fenced very well against a strong RGS team winning comfortably 7-2. Epee and sabre were then fenced together and proved a tougher challenge. Tom (Bl) and James (L) were joined by Caterina (Hg) in the epee team. Some spirited fencing followed but the home team were strong and closed out 2-7 although a few hits either way would have made it a much closer result. Victor (R), Woody (R) and James (Bl) faced a senior experienced team in sabre and some exciting end to end fights ensued. By midway the match was very close but Wellington lost two fights 5-4 which could have turned the match, but RGS were able to close out 2-7.

This was the last formal fixture of the season, but training continues for the Public Schools just before the end of term where there is a large club entry over the three days of the Championships.

Football

It was a fantastic weekend for the football club. Fixtures against MCS, The Oratory and Haileybury saw Wellington score 51 goals and concede only 11. Well done to all those involved this week. Special mentions to Josh (M), Jack (M), Hugo (Bn), Jack (L) and Tom (S) for their superb leadership and performances this week.

Hockey

It was another busy week for the hockey club with multiple teams in action but notably it was a triple winning week for the U15 boys as they recorded a 3-1 win against Windsor, 3-2 win against Charterhouse on penalties and a 3-1 win against St Edward’s. The boys’ 1st XI also put together a brilliant performance against KCS Wimbledon to advance in the T3 Cup to the last 16.

Netball

Another set of close results this week in our block fixture against Bradfield, with a range of games decided by 5 goals or less. It was great to see so many U16s and Seniors decompressing with some netball after a busy start to mocks, and well done to our 3rds who recorded a tight 22-18 victory. There were also tight losses, where teams demonstrated determination across the game, falling only narrowly short – great efforts from the U16C who lost by 1 goal!

Special Mention

The U16D girls played so well last week against Bradfield, winning 29-10 (including a quarter of everybody playing swapped positions!). With a full team of 10 players despite the fact it’s mocks, well done girls! Parents who were spectating commented on how well they were playing as a team. Special mention to Bella (O) as captain who got some great shots in and girls of the game chosen by Bradfield were Liv (Hn) and Mary (O).

Friday saw our annual Netball Friday Night Lights event and we welcomed St Helen’s and St Katherine’s for U15 and 1st team fixtures. SHSK’s U14s were runners-up at 2022 National Finals, so promised to be tough competition. The U15s battled a tight first half with exceptional court play and shooting from Keira (C), aptly supported by Tehya (W) and Juliet (A). After the half-time break HellKats pulled away, opening up a wider margin through some accurate shooting and circle play. Despite great rebounds and interceptions from Ottie (T) and Freya (A), the gap was too big to claw back in the second half. The 1sts were up next, and found themselves on the backfoot after the first quarter, down by 5 goals. Some exceptional defensive pressure from Macy (C) and Scarlett (W) allowed Wellington to draw the score back, going into half time HellKats 20, Wellington 19. It was a fiercely fought contest with HellKats shooters displaying impressive athleticism and accuracy, matched by our own passages of play. The crowd helped build momentum across the game, spurring Wellington on to claw back any breaks of lead. With only minutes remaining and scores drawn, Saskia (Ap) took a spectacular intercept to pull us ahead. The game continued goal for goal, with both teams maintaining composure to score off of their centre passes. Despite our team’s best efforts, they were beaten by the clock, with the final score 39-a-piece. An incredible but fitting result for the quality of netball on display. Thank you to all the supporters and staff who came down to the RDC, and to St Helen’s and St Kat’s for travelling and providing such competitive opposition.

The 1st VII attended the Bradfield Invitational tournament this weekend, hot off the heels of a tightly drawn match on Friday in the showcase game v St Helen’s and St Kat’s. The squad had one of their toughest group games first with regular opposition, Canford. Going goal for goal, Wellington pulled ahead at the end of the first quarter and ultimately won by 2. A comfortable win against Downe House then saw a busy game against Bradfield, winning by 1 at half time to push on in the second half to win by 3 at the end. A couple more convincing wins saw the team finish top of their group to then take on St Mary’s Ascot in the semi-final. Scarlett (W) and Macey (C) working tirelessly in defence and winning the ball to help their team capitalise and push the goal tally further, throughout the day but at some integral, match winning moments. With Charlotte (Ap) taking a tumble and rolling her ankle, the team had to work on overcoming this and focus on the task in hand at getting through the finals and they did so brilliantly in the semis, winning 14-5. Putting the day’s play into perspective; the team worked on their strengths to win 14-5 and head to the final to take on Brighton. Brighton are a formidable force, with a strong capable defence and a shooter that doesn’t miss, so any turnover was treasured by Wellington. Half time saw the girls down by 1 and heading into the second half they knew they had to ignore the tired legs, the pressure of a final moment and being down, and dig in. With accurate shooting from both Saskia (Ap) and Malou (C), it meant the previous turn overs from defence were capitalised and the girls headed to the medal table to collect gold after winning by 1 at the final whistle. After last year’s defeat to Brighton in the final, it was nice to reclaim the title! Next stop…National Finals!

Amelie (W) represented Scotland U17 at the European U17 Championships, where Scotland finished in 2nd place overall, a brilliant achievement. Well done Amelie!

Rugby

Congratulations to George (Bl), Ben (Hl), Rory (Hl) and Ralph (Hl) on being part of the London Irish U18 team that won this year’s Academy League, beating Northampton Saints 27-19 in the final at Stone-X Stadium. A special mention must also go to Harrison (Hl) who was part of the team earlier in the season but was unable to play in the final due to injury.

The Sevens season got started in earnest over the weekend with the boys’ 1st VII going to Gordon’s on Friday night, the Colts VII going to RGS Guildford and the Yearlings heading to Eton on Sunday. All three teams improved throughout their tournaments with the boys’ 1st VII losing to a strong Brighton side and the Yearlings VII losing to Radley both in finals. The Colts VII narrowly lost a semi-final to Dulwich at Guildford. Well done to all 36 players across the teams and a special mention to those taking part in their first Sevens fixtures for Wellington College.

Team of the Week

The Yearlings A football team for their 4-0 win against Haileybury.

Athletics

Well done to Ollie (T) who ran in the South East Championships before half term.  He made it through to the semis in the U20 400m and just missed out on the final, but a great effort.

Badminton

History was made when Wellington College saw its very first all-female badminton match on Thursday 2 February. The girls saw a strong opponent in Bradfield College, having never previously played in an all-female badminton match before. The Juniors and Seniors on the girls’ badminton team each had one substitute. The Seniors included the team captain Laurena (Hg), Taban (Hg), Ghalya (Hg) and Hannah (Hg), as well as their sub Sandy (Ap). Along with their sub Zoe (W), the Juniors included Sunheri (W), Shreya (W), Amy (W) and Linda (Ap). Overall, it was an amazing first match, seeing the Juniors securing an incredible 5-4 win against Bradfield College and the Seniors displaying remarkable strength, durability and sporting behaviour, while also winning multiple of their individual matches. Each member of the team is extremely honoured and thrilled to have had the opportunity to represent Wellington College, and they are all looking forward to further games and possibilities in the future. This match truly made Wellington College history.

Basketball

On Thursday before half term the U16s and U18s hosted Harrow.

The U16 team started well with Chester (Bl) and Hugo (M) scoring some early baskets; however, defensive frailties were also allowing the Harrow team to score some inside baskets and at the end of the 1st quarter Wellington trailed by 1 point, 10-11. In the 2nd quarter Hakan (L) started to control the Wellington offence and with Theo (T) , Chester (Bl) and Ilya (M) starting to control the defence too, Wellington took the lead and ended the quarter 26-20 ahead. Hugo (M) and Casimir (Bn) were beginning to score some easy layups and a tiring Harrow team were starting to lose the ball on too many occasions. By the end of the 3rd quarter Wellington had extended the lead to 13 points and were able to rotate players. Nicholas (T) and Artem (Hl) added to the total and by the end of the game Wellington had extended the lead still further. A fine team performance was the most pleasing part with all players getting on to the score sheet.
Final score: Wellington won 56-40.

The U18 team started slowly against Harrow and despite some good shooting from Sam (Bd), Wellington struggled to keep out Harrow who were dominating the backboards. Wellington were 10-15 down at the end of the 1st quarter with Sam (Bd) scoring 8 of Wellingtons 10 points. Mark (Bd) managed to claw Wellington back into the game with some good offensive rebounds but the taller Harrow team were outnumbering him at the back and Wellington continued to struggle defensively. In the 3rd quarter the full court press was put into action and Owen (L) showed his athleticism by managing to intercept a number of passes from the Harrow team. At the end of the 3rd quarter Wellington were behind 36-43. Theo (T) made his debut for the 1st team and put in a fine performance. However, despite working tirelessly until the final whistle, Wellington couldn’t find a way to limit the Harrow offence and the final score was 52-67 to Harrow.

Fencing

Wellington vs Winchester

Winchester offered A and B teams in foil. This gave us an opportunity to give our younger fencers match experience and gain experience in other weapons.

Foil A and B started the match. Annie (Hn) stepped up to join Chris (L) and Joshua (R) in the A team. An early lead was established, and we were never behind. Annie held her own against much older fencers and together they had a clear win 45-31 in the race to 45 hits in 9 fights.

Foil B was much closer in the early fights with Wellington just ahead 20-19 after four fights but Jacob (R), James (L) and Radley (R) raised their games and closed out 45-30 in the later fights for a comfortable win.

Epee A and B followed and from the start both our teams found themselves against larger more experienced epeeists. The A team of Helen (Hn), Tom (Bl) and James (Bl) really took the fight to the opposition, but the visitors were always ahead. The score 24-45 doesn’t reflect how hard fought the match was.

Epee B saw Woody (R), and Radley switching from their preferred weapons of sabre and epee to support Caterina (Hg) in only her second fixture. Despite their lack of experience in the weapon they matched the visitors hit for hit in the early stages and only trailed by three hits after five fights (21-24). Winchester’s experience started to tell however, and they drew away with Wellington finishing 29-45; a respectable score from our young epeeists.

Honours even with two victories each. Our final fixture of the season is away to RGS High Wycombe on 23rd February which will be a good warm up for the Public Schools Fencing Championships in March.

Golf

Huge congratulations to Ellie (W) who emphatically won the U18 girls’ section of Junior World Championship on the Faldo Course at Amendoeira Resort in Portugal. A tournament that attracted over 200 players from 36 countries was played over three days on the Algarve layout, in some incredibly windy and at times wet and cold conditions. Ellie’s 54-hole aggregate of +11 (80,72,75) not only propelled her to an 11-shot victory in the Girls’ 13-14 Division, but was the lowest gross score across all the Girls’ U18 Divisions too. The win will secure her first World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points too.

Hockey

Huge congratulations to the Girls’ 1st XI, who, following a scrappy win in their last England Hockey Tier 1 game, guaranteed their qualification for the National quarter-final, with a home draw too.

Rugby

Well done to the U16 Rugby 7s boys, who won the Plate at the Gordon’s 7s Invitational.

Running Club

Liesl (C), Georgiana (O) and Emilia (Hg) ran in the Inter Counties Cross Country at Ardingly on Saturday 4 February, and finished with good enough results to be placed as reserves for English Schools. On Tuesday 7 February three teams from Wellington competed in the Radley Relays; a first competitive outing for many of our runners, who achieved good times around a very muddy course. The Senior Girls team deserve particular respect for placing 3rd in spite of being one runner short. Captain Georgiana (O) earned a very well-deserved double bronze medal for her sterling performance, and the Inter Girls also came 4th. Congratulations to all.

Shooting

It’s with great pleasure that we can congratulate the following on being selected to represent England Schools as part of the BSSRA National Match 2023.

England A team:
Kitty (A)
Penny (A)

England B team:
Freddie (Bl)
Ilyas (S)
Liam (R)

England C team:
Rory (T)

England D team:
Sayan (M)
Alex (R)
Veronika (Hg)
Natalia (W)

The weekend before half term the Shooting team travelled to RGS Guilford for the follow up match at their range too.

It was an exciting and close match between RGS Guilford and Wellington! Some excellent shooting from both teams, with several individuals from both schools shooting above their average (and some well above!).

For the 10 bull match, Wellington took an early lead in the first detail of shooting with 8 points. By the end of the third detail, with only two shooters left for both eight shooter teams, this lead had been closed to 1 point. The shooters were quite unaware of this, with Heads of Shooting at the back on tenter hooks watching eagerly the final shots going down range. Wellington held fast, securing 769 out of 800 (1 point fewer than the previous RGS match this year) and RGS finishing with a respectable 763 out of 800. There were three scores of 99, two for Wellington (Penny (A) with 5 centres, Freddie (Bl) with 4 centres); and one for RGS (3 centres).

10 Bull reserve [Chung Hang, (L)] match saw Wellington win with 96 to RGS with 92.

5 Bull saw Wellington win with 397, with two 100s, to RGS’s score of 385. This is good for us, showing a good strength coming through from the Third Form. Penny (A), Fabian (M), Chung Hang (L) and Natalia (W) all shot exceptionally well.

5 bull pair was won by Wellington, made up by Chung Hang (L) and Fabian (M).

Skiing

Well done to Lucy (O), Sebastian (Bn) and Emily (Ap) who competed at the English Children’s Ski Championships in Bormio over half term. Lucy and Sebastian both scored personal bests in very competitive fields and Emily took the Bronze trophy for Best Overall U16 Female.

Squash

Fixtures vs Bradfield before the break saw a win for the 1st team and U16s. For the U14s it was an even spread of wins and losses. The matches have been really good this term with all age groups stepping up their performances.

Waterpolo

Ismey (Hn) was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the Southeast region team at the Swim England inter-regional waterpolo finals two weekends ago. Well done to Ismey.

Team(s) of the Week

Girls’ Badminton team – the Junior and Senior girls’ teams are the first all-female badminton teams to represent Wellington, with the Seniors having some great close games and the Juniors securing a strong 5-4 win.

Boys’ U16 Basketball team – the team recorded a great all-round win against Harrow before half term and remain unbeaten against other schools.

Basketball

On Thursday both the U16 and U18 teams travelled to Winchester for what would turn out to be dramatic endings to both games.

The U16 team started slowly and the normal reliable shooting of Casimir (Bn), Hugo (M) and Hakan (L) was failing to make the impact the team needed to forge a comfortable lead. In fact, the Winchester team were beginning to gain confidence and with a 6’ 7” centre were beginning to dominate the rebounds. A close game swung backwards and forwards with both teams taking the lead on numerous occasions. At the end of the third quarter the game was tied 33-33. In the fourth quarter Winchester took an early lead and stretched it to 5 points. Casimir (Bn) made two free throws and a quick layup to bring it back to a 1-point game. Again, Winchester stretched the lead and Wellington brought it back to a 1-point game. With three minutes remaining on the clock the Wellington team employed a full court press and they managed three quick turnovers, each being converted by either David (M) or Casimir (Bn). Casimir then hit 3 x 3 point shots to effectively put the game out of reach. Wellington won 55-46 but the final result did not reflect the closeness of much of the game. Casimir top scored with 31 points.

Having watched the U16 game the U18 team were clearly ready to emulate what they had done. However, some missed layups and free throws meant they were 14-9 down at the end of the first quarter. They started strongly in the second quarter and the half court press was beginning to work. Owen (M) was both stealing the ball from the opposition and converting the layups. They were 29-28 down at the end of the second quarter. In the third quarter again, missed free throws were beginning to hurt the Wellington team with only one being converted from four attempts. They were 45-42 down going into the last quarter. Mark (Bd) in defence was fighting for every rebound and despite having to go off with a temporary injury recovered to play the last few minutes. A Player of the Match performance from Owen (M) saw him score three baskets in succession and keep Wellington in the game. With 19 seconds to go the game was tied 59-59 and the Wellington coach called a timeout. Wellington had possession and ran the clock down to three seconds. Mark (Bd) suddenly found himself under the basket and completely unmarked. Although he missed the first shot he put in his own rebound to secure the win 61-59.

Fencing

Wellington vs Marlborough

A ‘B’ team epee and foil were agreed upon plus an ‘A’ epee. Marlborough requested that we use an older format of nine individual fights to five hits per match with victories counting instead of the usual race to 45 hits. This increases the pressure on each individual fencer to win their fights and not rely on one fencer to dominate. The B matches were fought at the same time with Woody (R), Caterina (Hg) and Hanmer (M) making their first appearances in epee while James (Bl), Annie (Hn) and Radley (R) made up the foil team. Woody showed great potential in his first outing, winning two fights, and was ably supported by Caterina and Hamner. The match was much closer than the 3-6 defeat looks and could have easily been a 5-4 win! James (Bl), Annie (Hn) and Radley (R) gave their best against what really turned out to be Marlborough’s A team but unfortunately lost 0-9. Epee A followed with Woody fencing again with Tom (Bl) and Helen (Hn).  Under the format used another 8 hits would have given us a 5-4 win and the 1-8 defeat was again closer than the result suggests! All fencers showed their potential, gave their best and gained much experience.

Josh (R) won gold in the U18 boys’ foil in last weekend’s South East Region Championship, and qualified for the British Youth Championship. Josh fenced very well and made a couple of comebacks to achieve this result, well done.

Football

The first ‘normal’ week for the football club. Games against Radley, Reading Blue Coat and The Oratory saw the footballers put out some strong, competitive performances across the board. A special mention to Harry (Bd) for his hattrick in the 3rd XI and Charlie (M) for his Hattrick for the U15C team. Last week also saw the girls’ football team travel to Gordon’s and secure a 5-1 win with goals from Flo (Hn), Teni (Ap) and Anya (Hg).

Netball

Wellington played Brighton College in a block fixture this Saturday, with teams featuring across all year groups. Brighton are traditionally one of our toughest oppositions, and the fixtures did not disappoint. The U14As won a tight contest 27-23, whilst the U15As narrowly lost out 34-36. Particularly impressive victories came from the U14Ds (34-10 win) and the U16Ds (28-18 win).

Special Mention: The U15D netball team. The girls were outstanding! It was a quite even match up with the Brighton team, with drawn scores after the first and second quarters, but the girls played consistently, listened to and applied feedback, and showed great teamwork, communication and support to eventually pull away and win 16-9.

Polo

Wellington met Eton at Zacara Arena on Thursday afternoon. The A team, comprised of Leo (P), India (W) and Mollie (O), were up first and played three challenging chukkas. Despite the loss of 9-2 to Eton, our team never failed in focus, energy and communication. The B team, comprised of A C (Hn), Emily (Hn) and Georgia (O), played again with full focus and energy, marking their players, pushing boldly forwards and getting some tricky shots out of Eton’s goal line. This close match ended 5-4 to Eton. Despite the challenge and defeat our teams were gracious and felt energised and focused towards our Summer Term meet at Guards.

Running Club

Well done to Emilia (Hg), Georgiana (O) and Liesl (C), who placed 72nd, 69th and 41st in their respective events at the South of England Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships last weekend. All three have been placed as reserves for the English Schools in Nottingham in March. Good luck should you get the chance to compete.

Skiing

British Schoolgirls Ski Races

Racers: Ana (T); Alexandra (An); Lucy (O); Emily (Ap); Georgia (O); Caitlin (Hg) (Captain)

On 27 January six of Wellington’s finest ski racers, led by captain Caitlin (Hg), travelled to Flaine in France to participate in the annual British Schoolgirls Ski Races. After two days training the races began on 29 January with the Giant Slalom and Parallel Slalom, followed by Slalom on 30 January. In the Parallel Slalom the Wellington team improved as the rounds went on, cruising into the final only to be pipped by Surbiton High School. Across the races, Emily (Ap) won both the Giant Slalom and Slalom events and thus was the overall winner of the two days’ racing. The Wellington College A team of Emily (Ap), Lucy (O) and Georgia (O) won the team Giant Slalom, team Slalom and overall best school as Wellington continued their sweep of the awards. Off the race track the students were outstanding ambassadors for the College, polite and respectful to instructors and organisers. An extremely successful trip all round.

British Schoolboys Ski Races

Racers: Theo (Bl); Mickey (L); Hugh (M); Victor (M); Sebastian (Bn); Nick Dunn (T); Jake Pierce (T); Alex (M); Mack (H); Oscar (Bd) (Captain)

10 Boys parted on Friday 27 January to Wegen for the DHO schoolboys’ competition. Prior to the races the boys had three days of training for technique, slalom and giant slalom. On 30th January the boys competed in the Dual Slalom in a knockout competition. The B team made it to the round of 16 yet the A team had a bye in the 1st round, and cruised to the final beating RGS, New Hall, and Hurst. The A team boys met Harrow in the final. The final, which was out of three, saw the team lose the first leg, yet they were able to bring it back in the next two legs to win the Dual Slalom. The A team was Alex (M), Nick (T), Sebastian (Bn) and Oscar (Bd). In the GS we had a magnificent victory for Sebastian (Bn) in the U16 category. Sebastian (Bn) and Oscar (Bd) had the exact same time of 1:27:72 and Oscar (Bd) finished 4th in the U18 just missing out on the podium. The GS team event was extremely tight with Wellington coming 3rd by under half a second. The Slalom had difficult conditions with a very icy slope which made it very difficult for the boys. Sebastian (Bn) finished 6th in the U16 category, which had many non-finishers. Sebastian (Bn) finished 10th overall and Nick (T) finished 10th in the U18s. Overall, a fantastic trip with some outstanding racers both on and off the slope. Well done, boys!

Swimming

Wellington welcomed Winchester College last week for a competitive gala. Despite some excellent performances, particularly from Sienna (W) who came 1st in the U16 Butterfly, Winchester outnumbered Wellington, which helped them to secure a victory.

Well done to Martha (O) who won gold and two bronzes in the Surrey Counties Swimming Championships, in 50m/100m/200m breaststroke respectively, which is a fantastic achievement and she set new PBs in all of them, including a club record in the 100m. Good luck to Martha (O) in Lisbon next week, as she competes in the Arena International meet ahead of Regionals back in England in April.

Team(s) of the Week

Due to there being so much going on, we again celebrate two teams of the week.

The boys’ and girls’ Ski teams following a brilliant time at the British Races, where the girls’ team won overall best school and the boys’ team won the Dual Slalom and came 3rd in the Giant Slalom – not to mention some amazing individual results too!

Secondly, a big well done to the U14A Hockey boys, who, undefeated, became Berkshire Champions last week.

Athletics

A top effort from William (S) at the London Indoor Games this weekend with a PB in the 60m hurdles and strong performances in the Long Jump and 400m. He has now qualified for the National Indoor Combined Championship in Sheffield. A brilliant achievement, William, well done.

Basketball

U18 Boys vs TASIS
On Friday Wellington hosted the American International School (TASIS). Wellington started quickly against a slightly younger and less experienced TASIS team. Good outside shooting from Sam (Bd) and inside rebounds from Mark (Bd) meant Wellington were 13-7 ahead at the end of the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter took a similar format with Wellington stretching the lead. Owen (L) converted a free throw and rebounded his free throw to add another 2 points. In the 3rd quarter the full court press had TASIS turning over the ball and Wellington scored a number of easy layups. Wellington were 51-29 ahead at the end of the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter, with Wellington rotating the 5 players on court, the TASIS team was beginning to tire. Some excellent play from Alex (R) and Joshua (Pn) meant Wellington further extended the lead and won 74-32.

Top scorers:
Alex (R) – 15 points; Josh (Pn) – 10 points; Owen (L) – 10 points

Fencing

Wellington vs Eton A
Eton in their own Salle always prove a challenge. They fielded their A team in all three weapons: foil, epee and sabre. Foil and sabre started the match followed by epee. Our young sabreurs Victor (R) and James (Bl) were joined by Woody (R )making his sabre debut. From the start Eton dominated but Woody showed great potential taking eight hits in a 12-45 defeat. Our foilists were in great form. Karina (Hg), Chris (L) and Joshua (R) coped excellently with a talented Eton team and were never behind, winning comfortably 45-26. Epee followed and from the start it proved difficult for our relatively inexperienced epeeists James (L), Helen (Hn) and Tom (Bl) and. Eton were soon ahead and maintained their lead to the end taking a 21-45 victory but Wellington showed a lot of potential for the future.

Well done to Joshua (R) who was at the Surrey Youth last weekend. He took silver in the U16 foil missing gold by one hit 14-15!

Netball

The U19 squad of 12 strong women took to the chilly courts in Farnborough to contest for the right to qualify for National Schools. In a round robin pool of seven, the girls had a tough group with schools such as Brighton College, Beaconsfield High and St Swithun’s. Meeting Barton Peveril in the semis, the team knew that winning this meant entry to National Finals in March. After a long day, the coaches didn’t think that another gear could be found but the team did. Pushing for every ball and taking care of every pass, leading out a win to take them to the final and National Finals by winning 17-8. The final was then a pride steal, qualifying as South Champions would be the cherry on the top, but against Hurstpierpoint, another team not to have dropped a game. Leading 7-4 at half time, the girls kept going, turning ball over and allowing the shooters plenty of opportunity and finishing the day as south region champions, winning 14-11. Well done to the U14s and U16s who also showed resilience and determination across the day, finishing with three and four wins respectively.

Away from the tournament the rest of the teams played Marlborough in a tough block fixture, with some close results across the age groups. Well done to all players involved!

Well done also to Amelie (W), selected for Scotland U17s for Netball Europe and to Tehya (W) selected for Surrey Storm U15 training squad.

Rackets

The Rackets highlights from last week included a brilliant away day at Tonbridge and in particular, the Colts pair of Seb (R) and Baz (Pn) who won an epic 3-2 match against the opposition who last year were crowned national champions. The comeback from 1-2 down had plenty of drama, a full gallery, and the boys performed brilliantly.

Skiing

Last week, Emily (Ap) represented Team GB’s Children’s Ski Team at the World Championships for Children’s Ski Racing at the Alpecimbra in Italy. Over 350 athletes from 39 countries competed in a team parallel, in slalom and in giant slalom races. Emily ski’d in the parallel (GB came 7th from 22 teams), in the slalom (she came 16th from 89 racers), and in the giant slalom (where she ski’d out in her second run unfortunately). Overall, Team GB came 7th.

Swimming

Over the last couple of weekends Sienna (W) has been swimming at County galas. She had a number of great swims with lots of PBs. Most notably she won a bronze medal in 100 fly and a silver in 200 fly. Additionally, her times have qualified her for the Regional gala in May where she hopes to qualify for Nationals.

Team(s) of the Week

The Colts Rackets pair for their epic, 3-2 match, against the Tonbridge last week.

The U19 Netball team, for qualifying for the National Finals in March.

Badminton

Last Saturday Wellington played Winchester. This fixture proved to be a competitive match up, and the final score was a 6-9 loss. It was great to see some new players representing the College in their first badminton game, with many impressive individual performances. We look forward to future wins when we play Winchester again at home.

Basketball

On Thursday the U14 and U15 teams hosted Winchester College.

U14 vs Winchester Won 38–35.
The Wellington team started well with Henri (R) and Alexei (Bl) scoring some early baskets. As point guard  JJ (R) was controlling the game as well as delivering some important rebounds in defence. Wellington led the first quarter 10–6. In the second quarter Winchester came back into the match as Wellington struggled to keep possession through some sloppy passing. At half time Winchester led by 2 points. In the third quarter some excellent defensive work by Prince (M) and penetrating dribbles by JJ (R) saw Wellington back in the lead. Will (M) and Oscar (M) were also providing defensive cover for JJ (R) and his offensive masterclass. In the fourth quarter, while Wellington were always in the lead, the game was always close. Despite missing some late free throws Wellington won the game by 3 points.

U15 vs Winchester Won 54-32.
Hugo (M) scored 26pts in a game that saw Wellington dominate from start to finish. Suveer (M) playing in his first match was a defensive rock and Hakan (L) having a quieter game than normal still managed to add 8 pts. Luke (Bn), Eddie (Bn) and Wilfie (Bl) all made valuable contributions. The highlight of the game was an amazing attacking move from Ishan (M) who had the Winchester defence backtracking. An excellent team performance had the opposition coach commenting on what a good team they were.

On Thursday the U14 and U16 teams hosted Bracknell Cobras.

U14 vs Bracknell Cobras
On Saturday Wellington hosted a local club side, Bracknell Cobras. It was always going to be a tough match but spurred on by a mid-week win over Winchester the Wellington side started well. Some early baskets from JJ (R) and Alexei (Bl) meant Wellington took an early lead. The more experienced Bracknell Cobras came back in the second quarter but some good defending from Will (M) and Oscar (M) kept Wellington in the game. In the third quarter JJ (R) and Alexei (Bl) continued to add more baskets. Some good performances from Neill (R), Thomas (R), Maks (Bd) and Ethan (R) meant Wellington were only down 2 points going into the fourth quarter. However, with 2 minutes to go both Ethan (R) and JJ (R) fouled out of the game and despite an excellent performance Wellington lost 35–40.
Top scorers: JJ – 17 points; Alexei 12 points

U16 vs Bracknell Cobras
The Bracknell Cobras started well and it took a while for the Wellington defence to start to gel together. Eventually though the trio of Ralph (Bl), Tommy (M) and Theo (T) were beginning to impose themselves and the Cobras were starting to resort to outside shooting. With the Wellington trio picking up easy rebounds they were beginning to feed Casimir (Bn), Hugo (M), Nicholas (T) and David (M) who were starting to score some fast baskets on the counter attack. Casimir and Hugo in particular were beginning to claw the Wellington team back into the game. In the second half the Wellington tactics changed to a full court press which forced the Cobras into giving away the ball on numerous occasions. Wellington were 2 points down going into the last quarter. Some good free throw shooting from Artem (Hl) and quick layups from Hugo (M) meant Wellington were level. In the final minutes an offensive rebound and conversion from Tommy (M) and two layups from Casimir (Bn) had Wellington 2 points ahead. With 30 seconds to go the Cobras’ coach called a timeout. Man to man marking from Wellington meant the Cobras didn’t manage to get a shot off and Wellington won 45-43.
Top scorers: Casimir – 20 points; Hugo  –  11 points; David  – 8 points

Cricket

Well done to Rory (Bl) who has recently been selected for some EPP (Emerging Player Pathway) sessions with Oxfordshire cricket which is formally linked to the Sussex Academy, a great opportunity.

Fencing

Wellington vs Bradfield

Our first match of the term saw us fielding a full-strength team at home to Bradfield before a run of away fixtures. The visitors have provided some tough competition in the past and this time offered teams in all three weapons.

Epee and sabre started together, and the epeeists quickly developed a commanding lead and were in front 25-4 after five fights! Team matches consist of nine fights in a time-limited race to a maximum of 45 hits and in epee a large lead is very difficult to overcome. Bradfield rallied a little in the middle of the match but couldn’t catch James (L), Tom (Bl) and Helen (Hn) who won convincingly 45-19.

Our sabreurs developed an early lead as well and James (Bl), Jacob (R) and Victor (R) were 15-9 up after three fights. However, the lead can quickly be cut in sabre and Bradfield almost drew level after five fights with the score 25-23 in Wellington’s favour. Some exciting end to end fights followed and Bradfield were ahead 37-40 going into the last fight. It was all down to Victor (R) and he produced his best, winning the last fight 8-2 to secure victory 45-42.

It was down to the foilists (Karina (Hg), Chris (L) and Josh (R)  to secure a three nil fixture win and they really rose to the challenge. They were never challenged and totally dominated the opposition who could not cope with their speed and technique. They delivered a stunning 45-4 victory!

A great start to the term and we look forward to our next match away at Eton.

Well done to Karina (Hg) too, who was in Paris last Friday for a full senior world cup. Her world senior ranking going in was 319 so a tough challenge. Karina (Hg) made it through the cut which is a big achievement in itself. So into the 128 and she was ranked 137. She faced the number 8 seed and beat her 15-12 to make the 64 . A win here would have taken her into the second day where they add 32 of the world’s best, who have byes to make a new last 64. She lost 15-11 unfortunately, but a great performance overall and great experience and she is justly proud of her performance! Her final ranking was 96/210. Her senior world ranking going in was 319 and it is now 251. Her junior world ranking is 8!!!

Hockey

The girls’ 1st Xl continued their impressive run in the Tier 1 England hockey league with a scrappy but hard fought win over Bede’s in freezing conditions on Thursday afternoon. After going two nil up Bede’s came back to level up the game but thanks to some improved finishing the girls ran out comfortable 4-2 winners. The team now face three tough away fixtures before half term in their bid to top the league and get a favourable quarter-final draw.

Netball

Despite the frosty weather many of our netball fixtures against Canford were able to go ahead, with our U14s and U15s making the long journey to Dorset. They were rewarded with some excellent results, including a 32-11 win for the U15Bs and a 16-8 win for the U14Es. There were some close-fought games both home and away, with the U15As and U16Cs victorious by 2 goals. Well done to all the students nominated as players of the week in their respective positions. The 1sts, U16As and U14As will be in action this weekend at the Regional Schools Qualifiers – best of luck!

Running Club

Teams of cross country runners at Under 15, Under 17 and Under 19 levels competed in the Berkshire Schools Cross Country Championships on Saturday, and the Under 19 girls’ team of Georgiana (O), Lisa (Hg), Imogen (Hg) and Emilia (Hg) won 1st place. Numerous runners will now progress to regional level. Well done to all runners who took part.

Team(s) of the Week

This week we celebrate two Teams of the Week:

• The U19 girls’ running team, who at the Berkshire Schools Cross Country Championships finished 1st place overall!
• The netball U15B team following a very fine performance away at Canford, seeing them record a 32-11 win (report below).

After a lengthy away journey to Canford, one would forgive the netball girls for feeling rather run-down and tired, but Dr Crom realised that his team was going to produce something special when he arrived at the court to see his players warming-up in a particularly professional manner. From the very first centre-pass, Wellington controlled the flow of the game: Captain Annie (W) epitomised the attitude of the team, with a sublime mastery of both court-position and tempo of play, effortlessly speeding or slowing the game as she saw fit. The shooting trio of Cordelia (Ap), Iris (Hn), and Anda (C) resumed their accuracy from the opening game of the season, and Anda’s late runs into the shooting circle consistently put the opposition defence on the back foot. Our own defence of Martha (A) and Amelie (A) consistently won turn-over ball, beating the opposition to rebounds and second-balls throughout all four quarters. The mid-court triangles formed between Georgia (Hn), Lila (C), and Thea (Hn) had their opposite numbers chasing shadows for most of the time the ball was in play. Wellington ultimately ran out winners, 32-11. The opposing coach’s assessment? “They were just very, very good.”

Athletics

Well done to William (S) at a regional athletics event last week, where he ran a 400m PB of 53.15s.

Basketball

On Saturday Wellington hosted the annual U18 Boys Interschool Tournament.
Wellington started well with a 14-10 win over Bradfield. Some excellent defensive work from captain Mark (Bd) and some good baskets from Cyrano (Bn) and Owen (M) made the difference. With shorter than normal games the action was more intense and in the second match against Stowe Wellington found themselves behind at half time. Despite a valiant late rally, the clock was against them and they eventually lost 10-15. In the third match against BWS, Salisbury they then again fell behind and despite a second-half rally they were unable to pull back the difference. Special mention to Owen (L) and Ishan (M) for making their basketball debuts.

Football

A successful first week for the football club, it was great to see over 200 students trialling for the Lent Term squads. A huge thanks to all staff and students for braving the weather to ensure we were up and running for the first full block of term! After postponing the majority of fixtures against Teddies due to the wet conditions, the 1st and 2nd XIs put in great performances, winning 4-0 and narrowly losing 1-0 respectively.

Hockey

A tough first week back for the boys, as the competition came thick and fast for the 1st XI and Junior Colts A: in the England Hockey Cup and Independent Schools Hockey Cup, losses see both teams now go into Plate competitions. Well done to the JCA and Yearlings A with away wins against Abingdon on Saturday.

Netball

Saturday saw the first block fixture of the Lent Term with 18 teams in action against St Catherine’s, Bramley. This fixture proved to be a competitive match up, with nine of the games decided by five goals or less. It was great to see so many 3rd formers representing the College in their first netball game, with many impressive individual performances. Particular teams of note were the 4ths who won a tight game 16-15 with Orla (Hn) producing an impressive shooting performance and Amelia (Hg) securing a number of interceptions. Other exciting results included a 43-40 win for the U16A and an 8-5 victory for the U14F, many of whom were playing in their first ever netball game! An additional well done this week to Amelie (W) who has been invited to train with Scotland U17s.

Squash

At the Roehampton squash tournament, after a long day last Sunday, the team finished a very respectable 4th place overall. This included wins over UCS and Dulwich, but on the day others were too strong.

Swimming

Martha (O) last weekend successfully swam a 200m regional breaststroke time for the first time, alongside her 50m and 100m.  She took 15 seconds off her personal best to achieve this, which is an awesome effort.

Team of the Week

For their impressive start to the Central Independent Schools League, with a 4-0 over Teddies, Team of the Week is the boys’ football 1st XI.

Fencing

Karina (Hg) competed at the Junior (U20) World Cup in Udine, Italy last weekend, which will support her world ranking. She finished 14/164 just missing the last 8.

Rackets

The last week of the Michaelmas Term saw Wellington pupils perform brilliantly all round, at Queen’s Club, for the National Rackets School Boys Singles and Girls Doubles competitions. A particular well done to Guy (L) who beat the top seed in the Renny Cup and then lost in the semi-final, as did the senior girls’ pair of Lila (Hn) and Olivia (Hn). The U16 girls’ pair of Lydia (C) and Emilia (C) played in a brilliant final but finished eventual runners-up.

Rugby

Well done to Lloyd (Hl) for being named in the Wales Rugby League team of 2022, a very cool achievement.

Huge congratulations to Finn (S) who played up a year group last weekend for Harlequins U17s against Gloucester.

Shooting

Well done to Penny (A), Kitty (A) and Gaby (A), for competing for Berkshire Women. Very impressive shooting from the three of them, making up 3/5ths of the county team is incredible, especially given that as of Round 4 scorings, they hold the top 3 positions.

Skiing

Canada Cup Report

After two years of cancellations, the Canada Cup finally took place during the final week of the Michaelmas Term and into the Christmas holidays with many Wellingtonians excited, after a long 24-hour journey to Jasper, the racers were right into training with our coaches. The first five days were very helpful for everyone. Also, the team were able to fit in some activities of swimming, curling and watching the local ice hockey team. The competition started with a victory, with Space (M) and his team winning the dual slalom. The following two days were difficult with very cold temperatures of up to minus 42 degrees celsius leading to the second run being cancelled. There were podiums from the O’Connor siblings with captain Oscar (Bd) coming 3rd in the U18 men’s category and Lucy (O) who came 3rd in the women’s category. The Turner siblings also podiumed, with Seb (Bn) coming 2nd in the U16 boys’ category and Emily (Ap) winning the women’s category and achieving the fastest time in the competition. The following day the slalom was cancelled, and the ski resort closed due to the extreme arctic weather. Overall, Wellington came 2nd in the tough competition, with many experienced skiers who have raced against the best in the Alps. Overall, an amazing performance, a fantastic way for the ski team to return back to action. The team is back in action with the schoolboys and schoolgirls later this month in France and Switzerland.

Emily (Ap) has been selected to represent Team GB Children’s team for a third year, and will compete in the Alpe Cimbra races later this month. Earlier this week, she came first in the Super G race at the Evolution Speed races in Austria.

Waterpolo

Victor (Bd) and his team won the U15 National Water Polo Championships this December in Sheffield – they beat Manchester 6-4 in the final.

Triathlon

Well done to Aidan (R) on qualifying for the GB Triathlon age group team at the 2023 World Super-Sprint Distance Triathlon Championships.

Team(s) of the Term

This week, we celebrate the Ski Team following their 2nd place in the Canada Cup.

Colours

Running Club
Georgiana (C)
Liesl (C)

Triathlon
Aidan (R)
Alistair (Pn)
Caitlin (Ap) (half)

Climbing
Ella (Hg)
Hope (Hg)
Keira (Ap)

Shooting
Penny (A) (half)
Kitty (A) (half)
Gabby (A) (Half)
Freddie (Bl)
Rory (T)
Julius (T) (half)
Liam (R) (half)

Interhouse

Basketball

U14 vs Marlborough
On Thursday the U14 team played their first game of the 2022/23 season. They started well with some good layups from JJ (R) penetrating the Marlborough defence. Neal (R) also added to the total. At half time the score was 9-9. In the second half Marlborough took an early lead and despite a valiant defence from Wellington the match finished 11-23 to Marlborough.

U16 vs Marlborough
The U16 team made a slow start and with Marlborough playing a zone defence, Wellington’s tactics of relying on outside shooting meant that Wellington were 13-14 down at the end of the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter Wellington employed a full court press and good turnovers from David (M) and Casimir (Bn) meant they scored some quick baskets without Marlborough getting out of their own half. Wellington were up 30–18 at half time. Hugo (Bn) and Hakan (L) added to the lead and with Tommy (M) and Theo (T) in defence the Wellington team were putting the game out of reach. The 3rd quarter ended 46-22. It was much the same in the 4th quarter and with Wellington resting some players they still ended the game 59-31 winners. Special mention to Ralph  (Bl) who acquitted himself well in his first game for the College.

Top scorers were Hugo (Bn) 17pts; Casimir (Bn) 14pts; David (M) 10pts; Hakan (L) 10pts

Fencing

Karina (Hg) fenced in the Serbia Senior World Cup on Friday. She stepped up from Junior (U20) for this to full senior and faces some of the world’s best who are already planning their campaigns to qualify for the next Olympics. She won one fight but was eliminated before the knockout. However, looking at the positives, she lost two fights narrowly 5-4 and a win in one of these would have got her into the next round. Great experience at a major senior event.

Hockey

The freezing conditions saw most of the weekend hockey fixtures cancelled but we were able to get three and a half games played before pitches became unsafe. The 1st XI and the U16A side battled the cold to record 2-1 wins whilst the U15Bs were in a 10-goal thriller and U15As ended tied at half time.

Shooting

It has been a busy few weeks for the shooting team, with it all coming together for the 10th December at the BSSRA Winter Championship Long Range competition.

Since the last report, regretfully our two remaining shoulder-to-shoulder matches were postponed until next term due to various factors. Whilst disappointing, this was a blessing in disguise for many due to the sheer volume of competition postal cards that needed to be shot and then posted off to various parts of the UK. As ever the standard of shooting by those in the postal cards was high, with some close scores and final results.

• Wellington won the BSSRA Team of Eight postal with a score of 775/800, with every member of the team scoring a 96 or higher. This beat the Perse in 2nd place by 2 points!
• The 1st round of the BSSRA Tyro competition has ended, with Chung Hang (L) and Oscar (M) tying in 2nd place with 494/500. Natalia (W) following closely in 6th, with a score of 492/500. Top score from the Perse is 496/500, so all to play for!
• BSSRA Division results are trickling in, with the following so far: Section 1 Div in 2nd place / Section 1 Div 2 is undecided, could be 2nd to 4th depending on final round! / Section 1 Div 6 undecided, but leading in 1st place into final round / Section 2 Div 1 had tough competition, coming in 5th / Section 2 Div 3 finishing in 2nd, beating Bradfield for 2nd place with Tonbridge dominating the field.
• Several 100s in shot cards, whether practice or match: Gabby (A), Kitty (A), Freddie (Bl), Yolanda (Hg), and one unconfirmed (match card) Penny (A).

All of this built up to our final and most important event of the Smallbore season, the BSSRA Winter Championship Long Range event. There were in the end 150 students across 18 schools competing. This was down on hoped, with the weather and distance some schools having to travel being the issue. Due to the number of students we took, being one of the closer schools, we had to get there early to ensure we could get through everyone. All of our coaches were also in play, giving the students the best chance to focus on doing what they do best, and put the shots into the target precisely and accurately. An early start saw the team get kit transported to Swan Lake and then driven to Bisley for an 08:30 kick off. From there, it was non-stop with people rotating on and off the firing point for their shoots like a well-oiled machine; there is, as always, room for improvement in the future which the team will work on. Those more experienced with this event put in some impressively good scores, and those who have never shot or experienced the long range shooting (or have very little experience) put in equally good scores. It’s one thing to put a shot into the centre of the target on a diagram, it’s a different beast trying to send each shot exactly the same way down the range and get it into the same centre – something which even the very experienced shooters will still struggle with to this day. Shooting is not only a very physically demanding sport (as you have to concentrate on relaxing all your muscles!) it is a very mentally draining sport.

From the 26 shooters, we had three teams of eight, six teams of four, and 13 pairs. On top of this, everyone was competing as an individual. This means not only are you competing against other schools, but also your friends and teammates – thankfully a bit of healthy competition which pushes everyone a little bit harder to their best.

From the pairs, we came 3rd in the Juniors and Seniors – Penny (A) and Ilyas (S) for the juniors, Freddie (Bl) and Rory (T) for the seniors.

For the age category, Chung Hang (L) won the top 13 year old shooter. All other categories were hotly contested, with wins being missed out by one or two points in each instance.

For the individuals, the following placed in the top 35: Liam (R) 33rd; Ricky (M) 31st,; Julius (T) 27th; Kitty (A) 25th; Rory (T) 23rd; Alex J (R) 22nd; Gabby (A) 10th; Penny (A) 7th; and Freddie (Bl) 6th.

For the team of four, the A team came 1st with a score of 1538/1600. Top shooting from Gabby (A), Kitty (A), Penny (A), and Freddie (Bl).

For the team of eight, we came 1st, with an incredible 3050/3200, an average of 95.3 per team member over 4 separate shoots each. This means we retain the trophy and retain being the reining champs for the BSSRA Winter Championship Long Range.

But that is not all – at the beginning of the term, several people were put forward for various opportunities to represent GB at the U17, U18 and U19 level.  Congratulations to Rory (T) for his GBU19 team selection. Congratulations to Penny (A), Kitty (A), Adrian (L) and Julius (T) for their squad selection for UKCRT – we wish you the best of luck with Maple taste and are hopeful for good selection from there.

Squash

Brilliant effort this Sunday and well done to the squash team that finished 3rd in the Surrey Sports Park Schools tournament. Wins over Winchester and Charterhouse saw Wellington reach the semi-finals.  We lost to Marlborough, but it was still a great effort.

Team(s) of the Term

This week, we celebrate two Teams of the Term:

• The U15C Hockey girls for their unbeaten season, continuing as they did last year as an U14C group and;
• The Yearlings A Rugby boys, who also recorded an unbeaten run across the season.

Climbing

Congratulations to Ella (Hg) and Hope (Hg) on achieving the Climbing Wall Assistant Instructor award from the Mountain Training Association this week.

Equestrian

Annabella (W) last weekend won the CDI3* Grand Prix Special at Kronenberg CDI in the Netherlands with an outstanding 75.085%. A great achievement at the first international Grand Prix outing.

Fencing

This weekend Karina (Hg) went to Uzbekistan for the Tashkent Junior (U20) World Cup individual and team event. There were world ranking points on offer and another chance to confirm her place at the European Championships. She made it to the last eight but missed a bronze by one hit losing 14-15 to the eventual silver medallist and ended up 5th.

In the team event Romania beat Moldova and Turkey to take the gold.

Hockey

It has been another very busy week for the hockey club with both the girls’ U16 and boys’ U18 reaching the semi-finals of the South Central hockey competitions and narrowly missing out on a place at National Finals. The girls’ 1st XI played their final Tier 1 game of the season against Cranleigh that saw them draw 3-3 in a thrilling encounter that ensures they finish this term in 2nd place in the league with two games in hand on the leaders. The weekend saw a full block against Bradfield with the U15B team winning 6-0 and the U15C team maintaining their unbeaten run!

Netball

On Saturday the 1sts and 2nds travelled to Canford to play the reverse fixture, having met them in a friendly at the start of the Michaelmas Term. Despite having limited squad numbers due to illness and injury, both teams put out cohesive performances to achieve strong victories. The 1sts won 42-28 and the 2nds 40-17. Well done to Annabelle (W) who represented the 2nds for the first time this term.

Polo

On Thursday afternoon both the A and B teams met Harrow at Emsworth. The A team started with two goals against them due to handicap, but with a strong sequence of play from all we initialised a draw within the first chukka; a nail-biting performance with Harrow hot on their heels ending in an 8-6 win to Welly. The B team game took time to pace up, but once the Harrow side had taken a few advantages our team play gained momentum and the goals started to roll in, resulting in a 7-5 win for the B team. A brilliant afternoon with two wins for Welly Polo.

Rugby

Well done to Dewi (L) who has been selected to represent the Hong Kong Rugby Union U19s to play in the Asia Rugby Championships.

Last weekend saw the last full block of the season against the ever formidable opposition of Tonbridge. There were some fantastic games all round, with five of the twelve games being decided by one score either way, a great way to end the season for the club as a whole.

Swimming

On Thursday the swimming team travelled to Churcher’s College. Despite being reduced in numbers, Wellington offered Churcher’s a competitive match. Outstanding performances were put in by Rose (O) and Sienna (W) who came 1st in their respective events. Rose (O) came 1st in the U15 Girls’ Backstroke and helped the team secure a win in the U15 Girls’ Medley, along with Serena (W) and Sienna (W). Not content with coming 1st in just the U15 Girls’ Butterfly, Sienna (W) dived back into the water to secure another victory for the U18 Girls’ Butterfly. Finally, a mixed cannon relay saw eight of the swimmers battle against Churcher’s and, despite a close battle, Wellington came 1st with just seconds to spare.

Joshua (Pn) last week swam at the British Winter Nationals and came joint 50th in the Men’s Open 100m Breaststroke, with a time of  1:05:71.

Team(s) of the Week

This week, we again celebrate two Teams of the Week:

Yearlings B Rugby – in recognition of their 5-3 win against Tonbridge. In an outstanding team performance, the Yearlings B overcame a formidable Tonbridge team. Holding true to the mantra of ‘calm in attack, aggressive in defence’ the team overcame multiple onslaughts, notably during the first 15 minutes of the game with Tonbridge firmly camped inside their 22. With no subs to draw upon, the team played the full 50 minutes, giving their all right up to the final whistle. The Yearlings B have had a tumultuous season so it is to their credit that they finished the season with such a nail-biting team performance.

2nd XV Rugby – who ran out 12-10 victors against Tonbridge away from home, showing great team spirit in the face of a number of injuries in what has been a tough and long season.

Fencing

Wellington vs Bradfield

Continuing the run of home fixtures, we welcomed Bradfield last week. They offered foil and epee teams. Bradfield have several inexperienced fencers, so this was an opportunity to let our fencers get some more match experience captained by senior fencers while resting some of our squad.

Josh (R) captained the foil team with Annie (Hn) and Nina (Ap) and they quickly established an early lead, but the match swung towards Bradfield and after the fourth of nine fights the scores were level at 19-19. The scores were level again after the fifth fight but Nina pushed ahead winning 10 hits in a row allowing Annie and Josh to close it out 45-29.

In the epee Karina (Hg) crossed over from foil to captain, supported by Helen (Hn) and James (L). They were never behind, even when a Bradfield substitute put in a strong performance, and the match was won easily 45-13.

Two match wins and some excellent fencing rounded off a positive afternoon.

Gymnastics

At the World DMT Age Group competition Amelia (W) nailed her passes in qualification, scoring a PB of 50.9 and qualified for the final in 3rd place, just 0.1 off the gymnast who qualified in 1st place and was ultimately the gold medallist. 10 minutes prior to the final in warm up, Amelia rolled her ankle and was unable to compete but is still looking forward to the 2023 World Age Group which takes place in the UK in November next year.

Hockey

On Sunday afternoon the U18 Girls indoor squad travelled down to Portsmouth to compete in the South Central finals with their first game starting at 8.15 in the morning. The girls played exceptionally well but were knocked out in the semi-finals against the eventual winners.

After a hard fought day of hockey, the U14 Girls ran out Regional winners, meaning for the second year in a row they will now take part in the National Finals at the London Olympic Hockey Centre in February/March next year. A stunning achievement with more to come too, we hope!

Rugby

Last Wednesday saw the Yearlings A, J. Colts A, Colts A, 2nd XV and 1st XV against Sedbergh in the annual set of fixtures at Broadstreet Rugby Club. As ever, an afternoon and evening of brilliant schoolboy rugby, with special congratulations to the Colts A and Yearlings A for their excellent wins.

• Photo by Nick Browning | www.nickbimages.com – Sedbergh School U16 v Wellington College U16 at Broadstreet RFC on Wednesday 23 November 2022.

• Photo by Nick Browning | www.nickbimages.com – Sedbergh School 1st XV v Wellington College 1st XV at Broadstreet RFC on Wednesday 23 November 2022.

• Photo by Nick Browning | www.nickbimages.com – Sedbergh School 1st XV v Wellington College 1st XV at Broadstreet RFC on Wednesday 23 November 2022.

Squash

Last week saw a fantastic game for the girls against Bradfield.  With a mix of Lower Sixth / 5th Form and Juniors they played ten matches only losing two. Great support and atmosphere at the courts as normal. Well done to everyone.

Swimming

On Thursday afternoon, the swimming team travelled to Bradfield to compete. Excellent performances were put in by Cara (W), Liesl (C), Sasha (M), Martha (O) and Oliver (Bd), all of whom came 1st in their events. Despite several close rounds, Bradfield came 1st scoring 98 points to Wellington’s 94. An exciting event for all involved. Next week we travel to Petersfield for a triangular against Charterhouse and Churcher’s College.

Teams of the Week

This week, we celebrate two Teams of the Week:

The U14 Hockey Girls for being Regional winners and reaching the National Finals, and also the Polo team who, at the National Senior Championships last week, took 1st place within the novice division.

Fencing

Karina (Hg) has recently been at a number of events, as below:

FIE U20 world Cup London: Karina had a tough qualifying round and won her first knockout fight in the last 128 but lost in the 64 and finished 55/160 and will get world ranking points. She also competed in the team event coming 8/17, beating Sweden easily but lost to Canada who came 3rd.
London Cup U23 European Circuit: Moving up to U23 Karina finished 63/100.
Cupa Romaniei – Romania Senior Championships: Back on form here finishing 6/40 . Also fenced in the winning team 1/11.
Excellent results moving up from U20 against Romania’s best senior fencers.

Golf

Francesco (Bl) finished 4th in the AJGA at Chicopee Tournament (Massachusetts, US) in July and in doing so qualified to apply for the 2022 Rolex Scholastic Honors. To be named an eligible member he must have met the criteria of Minimum Weighted GPA 3.5 / 4.0 scale or 90 / 100 scale by sending High School transcripts. Early last week Francesco received the online recognition for the 2022 Rolex Scholastic Junior All-America Honor Roll. Well done Francesco.

Hockey

It was a very busy week for the hockey club last week with the Girls U16A and 1st XI winning the Indoor County Tournaments. The 1st XI convincingly beat St John’s  4-1 In the England Hockey Tier 1 competition and the U16A ran out comfortable winners against Bradfield in the England Hockey Plate competition. Saturday saw the teams play against a traditionally strong Canford. The performances were exceptional across the board and with the club losing only one game across the eleven fixtures played.

Netball

On Saturday the 1st VII, U16A and U14A Netball teams travelled to Theale Green School to take part in the County Schools Tournament. The format of the day consisted of a 9-game round robin, with each team playing almost two hours of netball.

The U14s had only been together as a squad for two and a half months, but impressed across the day. They lost only one game, and due to other results were crowned County Champions.

The U16s lost a close match against Bradfield, resulting in a must-win final game against The Marist. Thanks to some excellent defending from Liesl (C) and Annabel (C), the team established a strong lead early on, running out 14-8 winners. This was enough to secure the team 2nd place and a position at the Regional Finals in January.

The 1sts were unbeaten half way through when they faced an impressive Marist team. Despite being down three goals with three minutes to go, Scarlett (W) and Macy (C) secured vital interceptions to achieve a last minute victory. After this the team were unbeaten across the whole day, with all 12 squad members contributing to their successes.

Well done to all the players involved, and we look forward to seeing them compete in the Regional round in January!

Real Tennis

Wellington students travelled to Prested Real Tennis Club in Essex at the weekend to participate in the Ladies’ Real Tennis Association (LRTA) Handicap  Singles & Doubles Tournament 2022.

Saffron (C) and Emilia (C) both reached the semi-final, unfortunately to play against each other; Emilia emerged as the finalist on a 5-5, 40-40 match point, and went on to win the singles title in the final 6-4. In the doubles, Saffron was paired with a fellow LRTA Academy player from Cambridge after a last minute sickness with her Wellington partner. Saffron and partner gave some nervous moments but emerged victorious on 6-3 in the final with some excellent teamwork, strong tactics and consistent serving.

Overall, an amazing performance by the Wellington representatives at the tournament.

Rugby

Saturday saw Wellington take on Clifton College in a block fixture. At home all teams were victorious. The Colts A won 35-19 against a strong Clifton side. Special mention must go to Freddie (L) and Chester (Bl) who both put in big shifts in the engine room. The U16Bs also won 26-21 against a well drilled side. Gabriel (T) scored a fantastic solo effort cutting a fantastic line, while Jacob (S) and Jack (S) carried like trojans. The Yearlings A won a tight contest 18-12. Tom (Pn) put in a standout performance, while Alex (Hl) made an excellent debut in the backrow. The Yearlings B had a convincing 27-0 victory, scoring some excellent trys and the Yearlings C completed the clean sweep at home winning 25-7. The teams that travelled to Clifton had an overall tougher day at the office. The 1st XV lost an immensely physical contest 43-12, while the 2nd XV lost 45-0. The Junior Colts A lost their first game of the season 24-14, however the Bs and Cs managed to secure victories. The highlight away from home and the result of the weekend was the 3rd XV. Wellington scored with the last play of the game making the score 26-25 to Clifton, with a conversion to come, just inside the 15 on the left hand side. Alex (Hl) stepped up and snuck the ball just inside the left upright giving the team a 1 point victory!

Running Club

Wellington’s runners competed in two fixtures last week: the Haskell Cup on Wednesday at RGS and against the Old Wellingtonians at Wellington on Saturday. In the Haskell Cup our girls’ team of Liesl (C), Imogen (O) and Georgiana (O) achieved the third-fastest time (second school after Guildford High), with Liesl running twice to prop up a team hit by illness. Sadly this meant that they did not qualify, but a superb set of times from all three girls showed their valiant efforts. Our boys team finished 20th, with impressive efforts all round, particularly from Ollie (T) whose battle with mud and blood made him resilience personified. Top marks to those runners who then went on to compete against OWs on Saturday in a fun lap of the Kingsleys course with Georgiana and Imogen taking 1st and 2nd places in the women’s race and Barney (Pn) holding his own against some fast-moving OW men.

Shooting

Saturday saw 24 Wellingtonians shooting at the English Schools Long Range Championship at the Lord Roberts Centre at Bisley, with 167 students across 15 schools taking part.

There was some excellent shooting from many, with our newer shooters putting in strong performances as well. Special mention to Natalia (W) for placing 5th in the Wellington students, with a score of 189.004 which put her in 40th place and 2nd in her age category (the other scoring 189.007!) From the other individual performances in the top 35, Freddie (Bl) placed 28th with 190, Gabby (A) 11th with 194, Kitty (A) 10th with 194 (beating Gabby on count back from the 2nd shoot i.e. her 2nd shoot scored higher than Gabby), and Penny (A) with an incredible 197 scoring 3rd. Usually this would be 2nd or 1st place, but two others just pipped ahead with 2nd scoring 198 and 1st place scoring 199/200.

The Junior pair A team came 3rd, with Penny (A) and Sayan (M) scoring a combined 383.016, missing out on 2nd and 1st place who both scored 386.011 and 386.019 respectively.

The Senior pair with Gabby (A) and Freddie (Bl) placed 5th, 7 points behind 1st place – a very close matchup at the very top, with centres and single points making the difference!

For the Fours, breaking from the usual tradition of the B team beating the A team, the A team placed 3rd with an impressive score of 775.029 out of 800.80, which averaged out as a team to just under 97/100. On any other day, this would usually be enough to win, with our A team being 12 points clear of the Fours in 4th, 5th & 6th place; however, Greshams A and Bradfield A just pipped ahead with scores of 777.038 and 778.030 respectively, snatching victory away.

The team have come away with heads held high, but are hungry for victory at the next 50m championships event on 10th December, where entries are expected to exceed 200 students and over 18 schools.

Swimming

Swimming fixture at Marlborough College: The swimming team competed in a triangular tournament against Marlborough and Kingswood. Despite being diminished in numbers, an excellent performance was put in by all. A special well done to Martha (O) who came 1st in the girls’ U16s 50-metre breaststroke, Liesl (C) who came 1st in the girls’ U16s 50-metre backstroke, and Josh (Pn) who came 1st in the boys’ U18s 50-metre breaststroke.

Tennis

The U15 Girls Tennis team who had progressed through 6 x knock out rounds since April, played in the regional finals at Sutton Sports Park. The girls represented themselves and the College brilliantly, and came 4th overall. 4th in the South-East is a new high for the College Tennis programme, and a promising future awaits these talented girls. Well played Jess (Hn), Charlie (T), Georgia (Hn) and Annabel (C).

On top of this, huge congratulations are due to Isabella (W) who won the doubles at the 14 and Under, ITF World Tennis Tour event in Liverpool. A gruelling week with matches every day, Isabella did brilliantly. Well done everyone!

Team of the Week

The Rugby 3rd XV, who were trailing all game but kept putting in the effort to score with the last play and then convert the try to win 27-26.

Fencing

Continuing our run of home fixtures, we welcomed RGS High Wycombe on Thursday. They offered foil, epee and sabre teams plus a foil B team. Both foil matches were run together and were keenly fought. It was clear from the start that the visitors A were lacking some experience although physically strong and fast. Wellington (Karina (Hg), Josh (R) and Chris (L)) took an early lead and won all nine fights in the race to forty-five hits and were clear winners 45-13.

RGS foil B were a challenge for our young team as again they were quite physical. Nina (Ap), Radley (R ) and Annie (Hn) dominated the early fights, but RGS closed the gap in the middle of the match. Strong, determined fencing from the B team saw them moving ahead in the later fights, winning all nine fights and taking the match 45-28.

Sabre followed with Victor (R), Jacob (R) and James (Bl) pushed hard by the experienced visitors. Sabre is such a fast weapon that fights are not timed and RGS had quickly developed a 20-1 lead after four fights. Victor won the next fight, but the lead was too hard to close and RGS eased ahead with the match finishing 45-18.

Last up was the epee and RGS again presented a strong team. After a shaky start in the first fight, we levelled after the second fight at 10-10 and Helen (Hn), Tom (Bl) and James (L) grew in confidence. All remaining fights were won with our epeeists showing great promise and finishing well ahead 45-38.

Josh (R) also took part in the Leon Paul British Ranking Circuit Cadet (U17) foil at the weekend. He finished 16/58 and earned ranking points in a strong field.

Football

The Football Club had another solid week, albeit with a mix of results with the likes of Eton and Lord Wandsworth but it is great to see the ongoing development and performances of all those in the club. Preparations continue for the 1st XI as they look forward to their ISFA cup, round 3 game, against Aldenham School this coming Thursday 14:30 on Turf 1. Well done to Ronan (T) and George (Pn) for making their 1st XI debuts this week.

Hockey

The Hockey Club had 15 fixtures against the likes of Seaford, Charterhouse and Pangbourne last week, with lots of exceptional performances and 14 wins from 15 games.

Massive congratulations to Shakila (A) and Cecily (O) on their England U16 Hockey selection. We are very proud of them both, as we are of all the other girls who were involved in the Challenge Cup and further assessments from this cycle.

Polo

A cracking weekend for the Polo team at the National Senior Championships in Oxford with Mollie (O), Emily (Hn) and Georgia (O) taking 1st place in the novice division and Leo (Pn), AC (Hn), Mollie (O) and Emily (Hn) coming 3rd in the intermediate division. A stunning display of teamwork and dedication through to the last chukka. A particular highlight was the second chukka for the intermediate team who stormed the arena winning 7-0 against Heathfield.

Rackets

The Rackets team travelled to Marlborough on Tuesday and put in some really strong performances. A particular highlight was the 2nd pair of Guy (L) and Arthur (T) who won a super tight match 3-2. Overall the College won four out of the five matches. This is promising ahead of the National Championships which take place at Queen’s Club throughout the last week of term.

Real Tennis

Wellington took on The Oratory in a fixture this week – the fixture was a split between singles and doubles and  played off handicap and despite all matches being close it was an Oratory win! We will get them on the return fixture.

WC House Handicap Doubles: The students have been competing all term for the prestige of being the Real Tennis House Champions. The competition was fierce! Stanley held off a strong challenge from the Hill to reach the semi-finals but the Stanley couldn’t hold off the much improved Raglan pairing in the semi-final (8-5).  Last year’s holders Hopetoun were on fine form and were looking to add their name to the honours board for the second year in a row with a fine win 8-6 over Talbot to reach the final. Raglan vs Hopetoun in the final. Both pairs were at their best and putting into play the tactics to try and shift the balance in either’s favour, but at 6-6 it was the Raglan pair who found the edge to win the title 8-6.

Rugby

It was a quiet but difficult week for the Rugby Club, which unfortunately saw the Junior Colts A lose in the National Cup to a strong Radley side. Saturday was a smaller set of fixtures as A teams prepared to face Sedbergh, but they were still highly challenging, with nearly all teams playing a higher ranked team. This meant only two wins were recorded, although there were good games for many.

Shooting

The Shooting team saw off RGS Guilford this week in a double match of 5 Bull & 10 Bull.

The 8 shooting the 10 Bull were a strong fielding, ahead of our main match this coming Thursday against Bradfield College. The team finished with an impressive 770/800 to RGS 753/800, with very strong performances from Sayan (M) with 97, Kitty (A) with 99, Penny (A) with 99, and Gabby (A) with 100 – her second hundred of the week and coincidentally in a row! This has earned her Shooter of the Week for this week. Alex (R) and Natty (W) gained some valuable match experience, which is an important and vital aspect for the future of the Shooting team’s continued success.

The 5 Bull team had a similarly strong outing, scoring 396/400 to RGS 392/400. This gives opportunity to our younger team to compete for the school and gain match experience, with RGS fielding students typically a year or two older than us for their 5 Bull team. Chung Hang (L) and Alex (R), both put in respectable 100s, with Ricky (M) scoring 99 and Oscar (M) 97, showing that there is strong talent coming through the ranks.

The match against Bradfield, the current English Long Range champions and Ashburton Shield winners, will be a true test of the team’s strength and breadth, and how determined they all are to be the best team.

Swimming

Joshua (Pn) has qualified for the Nationals in Sheffield and he will be competing in the 100m breaststroke race on Saturday 3 December.

Well done to the Open Water swimmers, who are getting up early on a Saturday and braving 9 degree water now! They show great humour, courage and resilience every week, as well as kindness and encouragement of each other.

Team of the Week

Yearlings C Rugby, following a fantastic away from home win in a high scoring thriller, 37-20. Well done boys.

Basketball

On the Friday before half term the U16 boys lost 25-37 to one of the best teams in the Central Valley League (CVL). The Surrey Rams fielded a number of national league players but on the whole we played good defence and ran some nice moves in offence. The Surrey Rams were clearly the more experienced and developed team but, having finished the first quarter with a 14 point deficit, Wellington began to play more cohesively and showed many glimpses of mounting a comeback. At the end of the day it just wasn’t meant to be, with Wellington failing to execute at important times during the game.

Special mention goes to JJ (R) who despite being in the Third Form stepped up to play for the U16 team. He contributed nicely in offence and was also the defensive anchor when he was on the court.

Basketball Tour to Valencia 2^nd-6^th November 2022

During October half term 21 students from Wellington travelled to Valencia for a basketball training camp.

Valencia is a mecca for basketball and the training facilities are second to none. The main stadium has a capacity for 20,000 spectators and there are enough training courts to host the 526 Valencia teams from ages 5 up to professional level. The courts are used continuously from early morning to late evening 7 days a week.

After arriving in Valencia, the students settled into their nearby hotel.

Day 1 began with a 90-minute training session followed by a highly competitive 3 on 3 competition. Inspired by the recent Olympic games 3 on 3 basketball is becoming increasingly popular. The team of Alex (R), Elias (R) and Hugo (M) produced some great teamwork to win a closely fought final match.

The students had a relaxing afternoon visiting the city of Arts and Sciences. The iconic buildings and science museum proved to be inspiring for all. The evening saw the U15, U16 and U18 teams play well drilled Valencia teams. Despite many great individual performances the aggressive fast paced Valencia teams came out on top.

Day 2 had a familiar format with one of the top women’s Valencia coaches leading the morning training session. This was followed by a 5 on 5 competition. At Valencia’s Oceanographic facilities the students learned about the research taking place into the 32 species of marine animals as well as visiting the aquarium. The highlight had to be the incredible dolphin display.

The evening matches again proved to be tough encounters but fine performances from Casimir (Bn), Theo (T) and David (M) for the U16 team and Cyrano (Bn), Mark (Bd) and Will (M) for the U18 team meant Wellington continued to perform well and scored over 50pts in each match.

Day 3 began with a late breakfast and a trip to the beach. Students were enjoying the fine November weather and many took an opportunity for a dip in the sea while others played beach football or frisbie. The early evening matches saw some fine performances from Wilfie (Bl), Ishan (M) and Hakan (L) for the U15 team. Tommy (M) had a man of the match performance for the U16 team and Adam (Bn) and Owen (M) had fine games for the U18 team. Dinner in the hotel was followed by a presentation ceremony for the outstanding performances mentioned above. Despite the tough opposition, everyone took something away from this tiring but rewarding tour.

The added focus to training sessions in the next half of term will prove invaluable for a successful Lent Term of fixtures. The students proved to be excellent ambassadors for Wellington College and their behaviour both on and off the court was exemplary at all times. The opposition coaches and hotel staff commented on the fine example they set.

Cricket

Well done to Zaara (W) who has been selected to be part of the Surrey County Cricket Emerging Player Group Programme, as one of only 12 girls aged 14-18 on the programme.

Equestrian

Well done to Tilly (C) who had a great show in Lyon, jumping clear on day 1 to place 15th. She had an unlucky pole on day 2 which put her out of the jump off, but in the World Cup FEI standings she’s currently placed 17th and 2nd out of the GB team. This means she is one of only two to be selected to compete in Stuttgart next week at the next leg of the World Cup.

Golf

Over half term Benny (Ap) played a number of tournaments in Italy and in the last one the National Youth Trophy Rocca di Asolo U18 she finished 4th overall and the 1st U16. Great results and a nice end of season for Benny too.

Hockey

Hockey Interhouse results saw, the Combermere dominate the Seniors and Inters with the Hopetoun winning the Juniors.

Rugby

In the Rugby Interhouse, there were Cup and Vase competitions. In the Cup the Hill won the Seniors, Beresford Inters and Stanley Juniors, with the Lynedoch dominating the Vase.

Running

Welling10k Results

On the Saturday before half term the rescheduled Welling10k event was run, seeing the whole school taking part in a 5k or 10k run, as ever a brilliant event. In the 10k run, the fastest times were recorded by Aidan (R) and Liesl (C). In the 5k event, Guy (L) and Anya (Hg) took the fastest times. Well done to everyone who took part and to those staff who make the event possible!

Squash

Before half term there was another hard afternoon for the Seniors. Unfortunately we were without our No. 1 Andrey (R). On a brighter note the juniors improve week by week. Fantastic wins for Jeremy (Bn) and Frances (S). Well done everyone that played. It has been a great start to the term, with everyone improving and gaining valuable experience.

Team of the week

This week’s TOTW is the Basketball team following their successful Valencia trip over half term, with excellent performances and behaviour both on and off court.

Cricket

Well done to Zaara (W) who has been reselected for the Surrey Cricket Performance Squad for the 2023 season following recent trials. Great news ahead of some focused winter training.

Football

A fantastic week for the Football Club. Highlights include the 1st XI coming back from 1-0 down to beat Latymer Upper 5-1 and the U15A team beating Thorpe House School 4-2 on penalties. Both teams have progressed to the next round of the National Cup. A huge well done must go to the girls this week: 23 girls represented the Football Club on Turf this past Thursday with all girls playing a part in the incredible 6-3 win.

Golf

Camberley Heath claimed its very own Champion of Champions on Saturday, when 2021 and 2022 Ladies Club Champion, Ellie (W), defeated her opponent from Epsom Golf Club 4&3 in the final of the Surrey Ladies tournament at Cranleigh GC.

Starting back in May, the competition has brought together the individual Ladies Club Champions of Surrey in a scratch matchplay knockout format, in alternating home and away fixtures. Ellie had some memorable matches along the way, including victories over Walton Heath and Hankley Common. The Walton Heath match was particularly exciting as Ellie’s opponent made a hole in one on the 8th at Camberley Heath to take a 3-up lead! But Ellie fought back, levelling the match on the 18th, and clinching victory at the second extra hole.

1-down after 6 holes at Cranleigh, in some quite muddy conditions and very slow greens, Ellie started to take control of the match, winning 3 holes on the bounce, with birdies on the 7th and 9th, to reach the turn 2-up. She gave a hole back at the 190-yard par-3 11th, but birdies at the 12th and 14th helped take her to 4-up with 4 to play. Her opponent looked to be mounting a comeback when she put her approach to 6 feet on the 15th, but Ellie calmly rolled in her own 20-foot putt for birdie to secure a 4&3 victory.

She becomes the youngest ever winner of the tournament, ahead of both Old Wellingtonian and Sky Sports commentator Inci Mehmet and Ladies European Tour star Annabel Dimmock, by some 3 years.

Hockey

Congratulations to the U14 Girls who last week became Berkshire Champions.

This weekend the hockey teams then took on Churcher’s. The 1st XI produced a fine display winning by 10 goals. This weekend also saw the debuts of Rosie (A), Claudia (A), Annie (Hn) and Charlotte (W), all of whom slotted in seamlessly to the team. Elsewhere the U15 teams also had high scoring affairs winning 7-0, 8-2 and 5-0. The U14 teams played a mixture of the younger Churcher’s teams in 7-a-side matches. Whilst the hockey was brilliant, the displays of sporting behaviours and respect to the opposition were also highly noted. A really positive way to finish competitive fixtures for the half term.

Netball

Another busy week of fixtures for the College netball teams this week saw the 1sts and U16As attend the SE Berks Tournament, the U14As take on The Abbey and three matches against St Mary’s School. The 1sts and U16As had a successful afternoon, with both teams progressing unbeaten to the final of the competition. The 1sts played a close fixture against The Abbey, running out winners of the tournament thanks to some exceptional defending from Chenique (W) and shooting from Charlotte (Ap). The U16As lost out narrowly to The Marist School in their final, but showed excellent cohesion and adaptability across the afternoon. The U14As travelled to The Abbey on Thursday afternoon to continue their preparations for the County Tournament. They were able to trial many combinations, and won the match 19-11.

On Saturday afternoon two senior teams and a mixed U16/U15 team travelled to St Mary’s to play some friendly fixtures. For Juliet (A), Gabi (Hg) and Scarlett (W) this was their first game representing Wellington; congratulations! The 1st Senior team played a thrilling 25-25 draw, with Immy (O) gaining a last-minute interception, skilfully converted by Sophie (Ap) to level the game with only two seconds left.

Rugby

This past weekend saw the 1st XV travel to Ipswich to compete in St Jo’s National Schools Festival, while the U15s travelled to a similar part of the world to compete in the Langley Festival. The U16C team also travelled to Cranleigh for a fixture. On day one of the St Jo’s Festival the 1st XV started their competition against Hurstpierpoint securing a 12-0 victory, with Wilf (Hl) going over for one of the trys. In the second game of day one, the boys came up against familiar opposition in Dulwich. Another free flowing contest ended in a 19-0 victory. Winning their first two games meant the 1st XV were through to the Cup competition, no matter the result against Denstone College.

Denstone as always, were immensely physical and the final group game ended in a 22-0 loss. Losing the 3rd group game on day one meant we had to play one of the top seeds in the other groups. Trinity College from Croydon were the opponents. Another hugely physical and intense encounter, in which we started well with two early visits to the Trinity 22; however, we were unable to capitalise on these opportunities. Trinity, on the other hand, were able to convert their two chances into two trys, adding the extras to one, securing a 12-0 victory. This loss meant we dropped down into the Plate competition and faced RGS Newcastle in the semi-final. A dominant Wellington performance saw the 1st XV score three trys, the pick of these being the first, finished by Luc (L). The Plate final saw Wellington come up against Kirkham Grammar School. The 1st XV started the stronger of the two sides exerting early pressure in the Kirkham half. This early pressure resulted in a penalty and Inigo (Hl) stepped up to have a shot at goal. The kick rebounded off the post and was regathered by Wellington. Two phases later Lloyd (Hl) and Will (Bd) combined well to see Will run in under the Kirkham posts untouched. Three minutes later Inigo (Hl) slotted a penalty to extend the Wellington lead to 10 and then kicked another early in the second half to further extend the lead to 13. Kirkham scored a try but this proved too late and Wellington won the match 13-5. Congratulations to all boys involved in a superb weekend!

The Junior Colts had a very similar weekend winning the Plate at the Langley Festival. The Langley Festival, however, runs on a round-robin format. On day one, the Junior Colts had four 20-minute group games. Game one, was against Brighton College. The boys came out of the blocks well and secured a 12-0 victory. Next up they faced a strong side from Merchiston. Two evenly matched teams on a slightly small pitch somewhat cancelled each other out. The game was scrappy with a lot of penalties and turnovers. Wellington gave the crucial penalty away on the brink of the final whistle. Merchiston pointed at the posts and kicked the penalty to win the game 3-0. A quick turn around meant the boys didn’t have time to dwell on the loss as next they were up against Abingdon. In an almost identical game to the previous, Wellington against Abingdon proved to be another very scrappy encounter, except this time it was Abingdon who gave away the crucial penalty towards the end of the game and Wellington kicked the points to win the game 3-0. A draw between Merchiston and Brighton meant that going into the last game the Junior Colts could still top the group but had to score four trys against Norwich. A shift in mindset and a willingness to keep the ball alive saw Wellington score three excellent trys but ultimately come up short. At the end of day one we were second in the group and were to play against fellow second seeds Trinity and St Benedict’s in the Plate competition on the Sunday. Game one saw the Junior Colts come up against a Trinity side with a big pack of forwards. Trinity dominated possession and spent the vast majority of the first half in Wellingtons 22; however, the Wellington defence didn’t budge. Excellent movement, communication and textbook tackling stopped Trinity from crossing the whitewash, although they did kick a penalty to take a 3-point lead into half time. The Junior Colts managed to get some possession early in the second half and exert some pressure on Trinity for a change. This pressure ultimately resulted in a fantastic team try giving Wellington a 5-3 lead. They then followed this up with a successful penalty making the score 8-3. Trinity kicked long and managed to force a turnover in the Wellington 22. The Junior Colts then spent the rest of the game defending their own line but once again didn’t concede and the score remained the same until the final whistle. A special mention must go to Henry (S), Tom (S) and Brady (Bd) for the sheer volume of tackles they made during the match. The Junior Colts were then straight on against St Benedict’s. The previous game had taken a lot out of the boys and there were many walking wounded. More like the games on day one this very quickly became a scrappy, error congested encounter with neither team able to string multiple phases together. The game finished 0-0 which ultimately proved enough to win the Plate. Congratulations to all boys involved.

The other encounter of the weekend saw the Colts C team travel to Cranleigh for a one off fixture. An immensely tight game ended in a 33-31 loss. A special mention must go to Toby (Bl) for his outstanding performance.

Running 

Both Liesl (C) and Rory (Bl) ran the Oxford Half Marathon last weekend. Liesl was the fastest woman in the under 20 age group and was 20th fastest out of all the female age groups in a field of approximately 7,000 runners. Both Rory and Liesl ran in impressive times of 1.37 hrs and 1.29 hrs respectively.

Shooting

The Shooting team wishes to congratulate Gabby (A) and Julius (T) for both shooting the first 100s in 10 bulls this season, and a congratulations to Natalia (W) and Oscar (M) for achieving their first 100s in 5 bulls over the last two weeks. Keep up the good work!

First match of the season took place on Thursday, with the format being unconventional for the team – to compromise with the opposition, we shot without Jackets & Slings off blocks, as our opponents have practised more of. This was therefore an interesting match, and an opportunity for those who have less experience in a match setting to take part for the shooting team. Special mention to Natalia (W) and Veronika (Hg) for top scoring in the grouping and rapid (100 for Natalia, 90 for Veronika) which was some excellent shooting.

After a good grouping shoot, which arguably shows better shots, the team (and Mr Allum) struggled to get sights properly adjusted for the Rapid shoot – this resulted in the overall match being a loss. However, being an unconventional format we look forward to shooting against Gordon’s again and will practise a bit more ahead of this type of match format in the future.

Squash

Well done to the Squash players involved in the Senior and U14 fixture against Winchester last week. The match saw some great games and whilst some tough results for Wellington, there was brilliant resilience and fight shown, with special mention to Leo (Bl) who showed real determination to come from the brink of losing to win his game.

Tennis

Well done to Isabella (W) who won all three of her matches and earned a Berkshire County Team-leading 9 points at the LTA 16 and under Twelve Counties National Competition over the weekend.

Team of the Week – The Badminton team

Last Saturday saw another great match against the Winchester team, where the team put in great effort although ended up with a tough loss of 7-9.

Special mention to the 4th pair, Jacob (Bl) and Toran (T) for winning a nail biter best of three match 21-9 in the final game.

Also a big well done to the 1st pair Jie (R) and Yashwanth (R), who have been undefeated across all five matches played this season.

We hope the whole team keep up the good performances and look forward to future wins.

Badminton

There were two games last week. The Eton fixture at home was met with much success with Wellington ending the day with a 5-3 win. The captain Jie (R) continues his undefeated streak with his partner Yashwanth (R). New recruit Oli (T) played well too. Saturday saw a fixture against MCS. Wellington did well to get a 7-9 score against such a strong team. Special mention goes to Danny (M) and Toran (T) who won as the 3rd pair, and also Jie (R) and Yashwanth (R) for the continued undefeated streak.

Fencing

Abingdon Match Report

The squad travelled to Abingdon for their first away match of the season. Abingdon are traditionally a strong epee club and requested two matches in that weapon and one in foil, with no sabre.

Karina (Hg) generously stepped in to the A team to cover a late withdrawal and, together with Tom (Bl) and James (L), put up a spirited fight to keep the match close until the middle of the nine fights when Abingdon drew ahead and we finished 28-45.

Our B team really faced a challenge from a tall and fast Abingdon team. Foilists Annie (Hn) and Radley (R) had gallantly offered to swap to epee and it proved very tough for them fencing against skilful epeeists but they both worked hard and scored some good hits breaking a blade in the process. Debutant Arthur (M) settled in well and showed he will soon match the opposition physically and technically. Overall, it was a tough match ending 17-45.

Foil finished the match with Karina (Hg), Chris (L) and Joshua (R) starting as favourites. From the start it was keenly fought but with good humour, and the fencing traditions of honesty and respect were on show. Wellington quickly developed the lead in the nine-fight race to forty five hits and were never behind winning 45-23.

A difficult match but promise showed for the future. We look forward to hosting Charterhouse next week.

Football

Saturday saw some fantastic games against Tonbridge, with a penalty scored within two minutes of the 1st XI game; however, the 1st and 2nd XI went on to lose but the U16A and U15A won great games.

Gymnastics

Massive well done to Amelia C (W) who competed last weekend and successfully landed a triple somersault with a half twist on trampette. She became the youngest female in the world to successfully complete the skill;  only a handful of women have completed the skill and just one other GB woman regardless of age. It was an amazing moment and the result of endless hours of prep.

Amelia T (W) has recently had a great weekend of gymnastics at the International Open competition in Bulgaria, winning silver with her pair competing for the Southern region for GB. A great way to finish a fabulous year.

Hockey

Well done at the weekend to the U14s in particular who all recorded wins, which is a great effort against tough opposition.

Further congratulations to Shakila (A), Cecily (O) and Jess (Hn) who are through to the next round of England U16 Hockey selection, including a three day residential camp at half term. Good luck girls.

Netball

This week the 1sts, U16As and U14As all played in pre-county tournaments to gain vital practice before the qualifying rounds of the National Schools Competition. The 1sts and U16As travelled to Queen Anne’s School on Wednesday afternoon to play a round robin tournament against local teams. Both teams remained unbeaten across the afternoon, with Wellington victorious in both age categories. This was a particularly impressive victory given it was the U16s’ first outing as a combined 4th and 5th Form team, and the 1sts saw all 12 players take to the court across the afternoon. Thursday saw the U14As travel to St George’s Ascot for the South East Berks Tournament. Thanks to some excellent defence from Evie (Ap) and Freya (T), no team managed to score against Wellington in the Round games. After successfully winning their quarter and semi-finals, the girls met a strong Marist team in the final game. Despite going goal-for-goal for most of the match, the Marist came out 7-5 winners; nonetheless, a great result for the girls in their first game as a squad.

Rackets

The Rackets team hosted Eton, one of the strongest schools on the circuit. A full gallery was treated as the 2nd pair of Arthur (T) and Guy (L) won an epic 18/16 in the fifth and deciding game. Well played boys!

Rugby

Some wonderful rugby on Saturday against Millfield with lots of high scoring games and five of eleven games being within one score! Away from home the U14A and U16As managed to secure victories in tight physical contests. The U14s’ victory was defined by a huge defensive effort with Tom (Hl) and Freddie (Hl) leading the way, while Inigo (Hl), George (Hl) and Bill (Bd) stood out for the U16s. At home the U15As secured an impressive win, while the 1st XV lost by an agonising 4 points; however, Harrison (Hl) put in an outstanding performance.

Running

Well done to Liesl (C) who was the fastest girl in the Charterhouse Cup. Georgiana (O), Barnaby (Pn) and Zara (Hn) are also to be commended for running hard and giving their best.

Squash

Well done to the Squash team in their triangular match against Marlborough and Radley. 3x Senior Boys / 3x U16 Boys / 4x Girls against Marlborough. There is an improvement every time they play now. We had two outstanding performances from the two captains  Andrey (R) and Issy (W) who both won against Marlborough. There were also good performances from Jeremy (Bn) and Alex (Pn). Well done to Scarlett (Hn), Emma (C) and Jessica (C) who made their first outing for the girls’ team. Finally well done to Algie (S) who played in for the U16 and secured a win against Radley.

Swimming

Another action packed afternoon in the pool last week for boys’ Interhouse. From the points it could not have been closer at the top, but even more than that, in the final race the Picton would have come outright second place if they were one second faster and first place if they had been two seconds faster, in a race which takes roughly two minutes; an entertaining end to the afternoon.

Triathlon

Alistair (Pn) has completely brilliantly qualified for the GB Age Group team for the World Championships in Hamburg.

Team of the Week

The U15A Football team. They came back from two recent heavy defeats to work exceptionally well as a team and win 4-1 against a team from the year above. The team spirit was infectious and each player worked at 100% for the whole game, moving the ball well and playing with great chemistry. This TOW nomination is for the real grit and determination they have shown to bounce back from these recent losses.

Sporting Policies & Procedures of Note

Team Selection – this will always be done by staff to the best of their ability and in a fair manner – should a pupil have a sporting overload (i.e. too many sporting commitments), this should in the first instance be flagged to the tutor or HM by the pupil, where possible.

Absence – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment, this must be requested with 3 weeks’ notice to the Assistant Head Pupils (Tom Wayman tfw@wellingtoncollege.org.uk)

Injuries/Illness – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment due to injury/illness, this must be reported to the Health Centre, often doing this via the HM or Matron may be most appropriate.

SOCS/Calendar – please do continue to use the school calendar and SOCS to obtain the most up to date sports fixture information.

Saturdays (Fixtures / Training) – where possible we continue to aim for fixtures for all those pupils in team sports on Saturdays and where this is not possible we will offer training sessions (in some cases, training may involve a rota where space is limited e.g. Squash, but the rota will be advised to pupils in advance).

Match Teas – parent match tea locations and timings will be listed in the weekly Sports Programme and we are aiming to place these in locations to best provide for all sports.

Coaching Philosophy – the main coaching impact will undoubtedly occur midweek and on fixture days we continue to encourage staff/coaches to avoid using too much direct instruction, except in cases of major issues or safety, but instead, encourage staff to use well timed questions to encourage a problem solving approach from pupils, albeit this will continue to be combined with appropriate praise and encouragement too.

Sports Code of Conduct

The below is intended to outline commonly accepted behaviours for all those involved with sport at Wellington from pupils, staff, parents and spectators.

1. All behaviours should be underpinned by the College values of Respect, Integrity, Kindness, Responsibility and Courage.
2. Encourage full effort and competitive but fair play and support and respect for everyone involved.
3. Encourage participation in sport for all it offers, such as, enjoyment, engagement, development and positive outcomes.
4. Maintain appropriate communication with all parties, including use of SOCS, face to face conversations and email where required. On this note, we ask that staff decisions on selection are supported and we ask that staff provide clear feedback to pupils should they not make a team they are aiming for.

Any issues concerning sport at Wellington College, please e-mail the Sport Department at sport@wellingtoncollege.org.uk, rather than individual coaches, unless it is on a purely administrative level.

Badminton

The Badminton team played against Harrow on Saturday, while they were traditionally strong. After the minibus journey, we started some intense games. It was a full six games for the first pair Jie (R) and Yashwanth (R) and they took a convincing win at the end. Also a good effort for Kaiyu (Bd) in the second pair. Wellington ended with a loss at the end but still played excellent rallies throughout. We look forward to our next match at home and will certainly improve the score.

Equestrian

Well done to Tilly (C) and the GB team, who won gold at the Nations Cup Final.

Fencing

Marlborough match report – Home 29th September 2022
In a change to the usual format, Marlborough brought two teams in both foil and epee but no sabre teams. This gave Wellington an opportunity to give our younger fencers their first experience of fixtures. The format was teams of three with nine fights and a race to forty-five points.
Marlborough had experience and depth with two team members having competed at the recent Commonwealth Fencing Championships and unusually many of them were left-handed. We were missing some of our most experienced fencers. .
Both foil matches were run at the same time followed by the epee. Our foil first team saw stalwarts Chis (L) and Josh (R) joined by third former Annie (Hn) for her first fixture. She rose to the challenge and together they won 45-29.
Our foil seconds saw Radley (R) making his debut alongside Nina (Ap) and James (Bd). Marlborough proved very tough opposition with big athletes and although Wellington worked hard for every point, we lost 17-45.
Epee was up next, and Victor (R) graciously stepped in to support Helen (Hn) and Tom (Bl) in the first team. He is a natural sabre fencer and was asked to fence a weapon he does not particularly relish. This was a far from easy challenge but was hard fought with Marlborough dominating. The result was 14-45.
Finally, epee seconds closed the match with Elspeth (T) rising to the challenge having only fenced for a few weeks alongside Jacob (R) and James  (Bd) who also fenced foil. Marlborough again put out a very strong team and although some fights were closely fought, we lost 17-45.
Lots of fencing and much experience gained and we look forward to meeting traditionally strong Abingdon away next week.

Hockey

The girls’ 1st Xl got their campaign in the England Hockey Tier 1 competition off to a fantastic start with a 4-0 over St George’s on Wednesday afternoon. The weekend saw some fantastic results against Cranleigh with a highlight being the U14 teams who won all of their games without conceding a single goal.

Rugby

Saturday saw fixtures against Dulwich in a highly contested block. The Yearlings and Colts travelled to South London. The Yearlings D team played in a 17 all thriller, while the Colts A  put in an excellent second half performance to come from behind against a physical Dulwich outfit. At home the 1st and 2nd XVs secured victories with Harry (S) producing the standout performance in the 2nd XV match, while in the 1st XV game captain Charlie (T) made his long awaited return to Bigside after a long stint on the sideline with a knee injury.  The Junior Colts B team continued their impressive form with another win and a special mention must go the Junior Colts A who not only beat Dulwich but made it through the first round of the National Cup during the week, beating Reading Blue Coat 20 points to 10.

Shooting

Congratulations to Rory (T) for being selected for the GB U19 selection squad. We wish you the best of luck for the selection squad training, and that you’re picked to represent GB U19 at Easter.

Skiing

The Indoor Lowlands Championships, the first international children’s races of the 2022-23 season, were held this last weekend in the Landgraaf Snowhall in the Netherlands. Team GB joined the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland and Luxembourg; and Emily (Ap) succeeded in coming 9th.

Squash

Last week saw a fantastic afternoon of Squash at Eton. The 1st team lost 3-2 but there were good wins for Andrey (R) and Harry (Bl). The U16s put up a good fight with some excellent games with some very tight matches. Normally this early in the term we wouldn’t be able to field an U14 team but so is the interest and standard of our players we were able to have a full U14 match. Even though  they lost 4-1, all games were tight with Francis (S) putting in a real gutsy performance.

Swimming

Last Monday saw the Swim squad take to the water in anger for the first time this year. The team travelled to St George’s to compete in the ESSA relay event, which is a time trial against all schools around the country. The various relay teams acquitted themselves very well and lots of praise should go to the new swimmers, Serena (W), Sienna (W), Emelia (Hg) and Josh (Pn) who were all immediately integral members of the team, producing some excellent times. The highlight was the inter girls winning their heat, battling back from a first leg deficit to claim victory in an exciting finish. Well done to all the swimmers and the swim squad is looking forward to welcoming everyone to the pool for Interhouse over the next two weeks.

In the girls’ Interhouse Swimming last week competitions were won by: Juniors – Orange, Inters – Combermere, Seniors – Hopetoun and overall – Hopetoun, Wellesley – 2nd and Orange – 3rd.

Tennis

Last week saw the second round of the LTA Youth Schools years 9/10 competition, featuring five of our best Third and Fourth Form, who recorded a strong win over Bedford School, which now means they progress to the next round, the regional finals, which takes place at Sutton Sports Village on Thursday 10^th November.

Team of the Week

The Swim team, who travelled to St George’s and competed admirably in the ESSA relay event.  Well done to the team as a whole!

Sporting Policies & Procedures of Note

Team Selection – this will always be done by staff to the best of their ability and in a fair manner – should a pupil have a sporting overload (i.e. too many sporting commitments), this should in the first instance be flagged to the tutor or HM by the pupil, where possible.

Absence – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment, this must be requested with 3 weeks’ notice to the Assistant Head Pupils (Tom Wayman tfw@wellingtoncollege.org.uk)

Injuries/Illness – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment due to injury/illness, this must be reported to the Health Centre, often doing this via the HM or Matron may be most appropriate.

SOCS/Calendar – please do continue to use the school calendar and SOCS to obtain the most up to date sports fixture information.

Saturdays (Fixtures / Training) – where possible we continue to aim for fixtures for all those pupils in team sports on Saturdays and where this is not possible we will offer training sessions (in some cases, training may involve a rota where space is limited e.g. Squash, but the rota will be advised to pupils in advance).

Match Teas – parent match tea locations and timings will be listed in the weekly Sports Programme and we are aiming to place these in locations to best provide for all sports.

Coaching Philosophy – the main coaching impact will undoubtedly occur midweek and on fixture days we continue to encourage staff/coaches to avoid using too much direct instruction, except in cases of major issues or safety, but instead, encourage staff to use well timed questions to encourage a problem solving approach from pupils, albeit this will continue to be combined with appropriate praise and encouragement too.

Sports Code of Conduct

The below is intended to outline commonly accepted behaviours for all those involved with sport at Wellington from pupils, staff, parents and spectators.

1. All behaviours should be underpinned by the College values of Respect, Integrity, Kindness, Responsibility and Courage.
2. Encourage full effort and competitive but fair play and support and respect for everyone involved.
3. Encourage participation in sport for all it offers, such as, enjoyment, engagement, development and positive outcomes.
4. Maintain appropriate communication with all parties, including use of SOCS, face to face conversations and email where required. On this note, we ask that staff decisions on selection are supported and we ask that staff provide clear feedback to pupils should they not make a team they are aiming for.

Any issues concerning sport at Wellington College, please e-mail the Sport Department at sport@wellingtoncollege.org.uk, rather than individual coaches, unless it is on a purely administrative level.

Football

A slightly smaller fixture card this week for the Football Club, with the 1st XI and U15A recording high scoring victories and the U14A putting in a resilient performance against Kingston Grammar School. A special mention must go to Anya (Hg) who made her 1st XI debut this weekend, the first girl to represent the 1st XI here at Wellington.

Golf

The golf season has got off to a great start with Wellington managing dominant victories over Cranleigh and Bradfield in both scratch and handicap formats. Special mention to Ellie (W), who shot 1 under par to win the scratch individual! Well done to all those who played – a great team effort.

Hockey

The weekend saw another fantastic set of results for the Hockey Club that started with some outstanding fixtures on Friday evening with the U16As winning 4-0 and the 1st XI narrowly running out 3-2 winners against Epsom. Special mention must go to the U15C team who won convincingly again this weekend and remain unbeaten.

Rackets

The Rackets team played Clifton College on Tuesday and the 1st pair of Sam (Bd) and Fergus (Bd) won 3-0.

Rugby

This Saturday Wellington Rugby Club took on Seaford College in a block fixture. The Seniors and Junior Colts teams travelled to Sussex while the Colts and Yearlings hosted Seaford on Bigside. On Bigside all sides were victorious, collectively scoring an impressive 167 points while only conceding 59. Away from home the 1st XV won a physical encounter by 27-17, while the Junior Colts Bs produced a performance the Harlem Globetrotters would have been proud of!

 Team of the Week

The Girls U15C Hockey team, who won convincingly again at the weekend 5-1 and remain unbeaten. Well done girls!

Sporting Policies & Procedures of Note

Team Selection – this will always be done by staff to the best of their ability and in a fair manner – should a pupil have a sporting overload (i.e. too many sporting commitments), this should in the first instance be flagged to the tutor or HM by the pupil, where possible.

Absence – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment, this must be requested with 3 weeks’ notice to the Assistant Head Pupils (Tom Wayman tfw@wellingtoncollege.org.uk)

Injuries/Illness – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment due to injury/illness, this must be reported to the Health Centre, often doing this via the HM or Matron may be most appropriate.

SOCS/Calendar – please do continue to use the school calendar and SOCS to obtain the most up to date sports fixture information.

Saturdays (Fixtures / Training) – where possible we continue to aim for fixtures for all those pupils in team sports on Saturdays and where this is not possible we will offer training sessions (in some cases, training may involve a rota where space is limited e.g. Squash, but the rota will be advised to pupils in advance).

Match Teas – parent match tea locations and timings will be listed in the weekly Sports Programme and we are aiming to place these in locations to best provide for all sports.

Coaching Philosophy – the main coaching impact will undoubtedly occur midweek and on fixture days we continue to encourage staff/coaches to avoid using too much direct instruction, except in cases of major issues or safety, but instead, encourage staff to use well timed questions to encourage a problem solving approach from pupils, albeit this will continue to be combined with appropriate praise and encouragement too.

Sports Code of Conduct

The below is intended to outline commonly accepted behaviours for all those involved with sport at Wellington from pupils, staff, parents and spectators.

1. All behaviours should be underpinned by the College values of Respect, Integrity, Kindness, Responsibility and Courage.
2. Encourage full effort and competitive but fair play and support and respect for everyone involved.
3. Encourage participation in sport for all it offers, such as, enjoyment, engagement, development and positive outcomes.
4. Maintain appropriate communication with all parties, including use of SOCS, face to face conversations and email where required. On this note, we ask that staff decisions on selection are supported and we ask that staff provide clear feedback to pupils should they not make a team they are aiming for.

Any issues concerning sport at Wellington College, please e-mail the Sport Department at sport@wellingtoncollege.org.uk, rather than individual coaches, unless it is on a purely administrative level.

Badminton

Last Saturday, the badminton team played Abingdon at home for their first fixture. The opponent teams were very strong and produced a string of high-quality and closely fought matches. Although the result was a 2-6 loss, the team still demonstrated great skills and determination. Special mention goes to the fourth pair Jacob (Bn) and Rain (M), excellent improvement from 6-21 in the first game to 16-21 in the second, and also well done to Yashwanth (R) for coming forward to the first pair and winning both matches against Abingdon. All players played excellent badminton. Well done to all!

Cricket

Well done to Eddie (Bd), who last weekend was part of the Middlesex U16s National Championship winning team, in the inaugural Royal London U16s County Cup, beating Yorkshire in a nail-biting final.

Equestrian

Well done to Annabella (W) and Gio, who are the new Stübben Inter II Gold Champions.

Fencing

Match Report vs Eton, 15th September
Wellington fencers had their first fixture of the season at home to traditionally strong Eton. It was a full 3 weapon match which started with foil and Karina (Hg), Chris (L) and Joshua (R) cruised through to an easy 45-32 victory.
Epee followed and it proved a challenge for our slightly under-strength team against tough opposition. In his first fixture Tom (Bl) stepped in to support Helen (Hn) and Nicholas (T) but the opposition proved too tough, and we lost 29-45.
At one match all, it came down to the final weapon, sabre. Karina (Hn) and Joshua (R) secured an early lead ably supported by Victor (R) but Eton began to dominate in the middle fights of the match and although Karina scored a massive 11 hits in the last fight the lead could not be overtaken, and we lost a close match 39-45.
We look forward to our next match at home to Marlborough on the 29th.

Football

Football at Wellington returned this week with all five teams in action. Successful block fixtures against Marlborough and King Edward’s Witley saw the boys perform well with a special mention going to the U16A team who put five goals past Marlborough to win convincingly.

Gymnastics

Congratulations to Amelia (W) and her team who won Bronze in the European TeamGym Championships in Luxembourg this week in what was a fiercely competitive final, narrowly missing out to Denmark and Sweden. The whole team went clean and nailed all their runs and were absolutely thrilled with their result.

Hockey

Well done to all those girls at the St George’s Sixes last week. The A team narrowly lost to Surbiton High in the final of the whole competition. The B team had a commendable day with a mix of wins and losses.

On Saturday, all of our girls’ teams played against Hurstpierpoint. There were lots of great performances and plenty of goals across the board. The standout performance was from the U16As winning a 6-3 thriller. The U15A, B and C teams continued their Saturday unbeaten runs, as did the U14Bs after coming back from 1-0 to win 2-1 late in the second half. The U14Cs also won again and kept another clean sheet. The 2nd XI also remain unbeaten, with another draw, 0-0, but they will be hopeful of converting a few more of the chances they are creating. Lastly the 1st XI produced a controlled and composed 4-0 victory. Next week we look forward to fixtures against Epsom College and most excitingly our Friday Night Lights event!

Rackets

The Rackets Club started the season with a fun fixture at home against Malvern. Well played to Sam (Bd) and Fergus (Bd) for winning at first pair, and to Arthur (T) and Algie (S) for making their team debuts in just their second week at College. There was a notable performance too from Reuben (S) who demonstrated great leadership and experience under pressure.

Real Tennis

Friendly vs The Oratory for the U16s: Archer (R), Clemmie (A) and Saffron (C) had a good first outing away at The Oratory. After the singles, Wellington were 2-1 up; however, after the first 2 doubles we were 3-2 down, then Clemmie and Saffron clinched the final match 6-5 in a nail biter. A draw. An excellent afternoon of tennis.

Rugby

This weekend saw the Rugby Club play a block fixture against Whitgift. The Seniors and Junior Colts travelled to Whitgift, while the Colts and Yearlings played at home, with all home matches on Bigside. The 1st and 2nd XVs won nail-bitingly close contests, while the 3rd XV had an emphatic victory in a one-sided contest. The 4th XV travelled to Hurstpierpoint for a fixture against their 3rd XV and lost a close match 22-19. At Whitgift there were also comfortable wins for the Junior Colts A and B teams. At home the Colts A played on Bigside 1 securing a 26-8 victory, while the Bs lost a close contest on Bigside 5 but scored some excellent trys including one finished off by Chester (Bl). The Yearlings A put in an improved performance to win their second fixture of the year, 29-12, with some fantastic tackling from Sam (Hl). The Yearlings B and C teams lost very close contests.

Shooting

This Saturday saw the fullbore members of the shooting team take on Bradfield and RGS in the annual quadrangular match; Marlborough were absent due to staff illness. Wellington fielded two teams of 4 and one team of 3, with RGS and Bradfield (who were winners of this year’s Ashburton) fielding two teams of 4 each. For Freddie (Bl) and Rory (T) this was their first outing as captains of the shooting team, and they selected and managed the team brilliantly. Wellington A won the A team matches, with a score of 364 and 31Vs, beating Bradfield A by two points. Wellington B won the match against the B team, scoring 345 and 19Vs, beating RGS B by 5 points. Top scorer for the A team was Kitty (A), scoring 100.11 and shooting a 33 with 4Vs in 3 minutes, converting two 4s due to time pressure. Top score for the B team was Gabby (A), scoring 100 with 7Vs.

In addition, some brilliant news from before term began with regards to news for our GBU19 and GBU18 representatives.  Sophie (W UVI leaver) travelled to Guernsey and shot the meeting with GBU19. Sophie set the new highest scored record shot by anyone in the open, dropping 1 single point – the shooting team and OWRC shall be watching Sophie and her shooting career with interest.

Freddie (Bl) and Rory (T) both toured the UK with the British Cadet Rifle Team (Athelings, GBU18s) and got to experience various ranges across the UK. Their tour finished off at Bisley, where the GBU19s were split into Red and Blue teams to compete against Wales. Rory top scored at short range, with an impressive 104 and 13Vs. Freddie was elected Captain for the Athelings, and having spoken with the Commandant of the team, Freddie was described as “Determined and an excellent leader, who stepped up and led by example.” Both have been put forward for GBU19 selection, and we hope they shall be successful.

Tennis

Well done to the girls who this week won a great fixture against Headington (Oxfordshire champs) in the LTA National Schools Competition.

Triathlon

Congratulations to Caitlin (Ap) on qualifying to represent the British Triathlon Age-Group Team for the 2023 World Sprint Distance Triathlon Championships in Hamburg next summer.

Well done also to the triathlon team who raced at Eton over a super sprint distance (the same as the mixed relay in the Olympics). A particular well done to all of the first time triathletes on a fantastic effort and a great day out! We were especially pleased that our students were recognised for their great manners and kindness to the officials!

Team of the Week

For their excellent victory over Marlborough, the U16A footballers are this week’s award winners.

Sporting Policies & Procedures of Note

Team Selection – this will always be done by staff to the best of their ability and in a fair manner – should a pupil have a sporting overload (i.e. too many sporting commitments), this should in the first instance be flagged to the tutor or HM by the pupil, where possible.

Absence – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment, this must be requested with 3 weeks’ notice to the Assistant Head Pupils (Tom Wayman tfw@wellingtoncollege.org.uk)

Injuries/Illness – should a pupil need to miss a Sporting commitment due to injury/illness, this must be reported to the Health Centre, often doing this via the HM or Matron may be most appropriate.

SOCS/Calendar – please do continue to use the school calendar and SOCS to obtain the most up to date sports fixture information.

Saturdays (Fixtures / Training) – where possible we continue to aim for fixtures for all those pupils in team sports on Saturdays and where this is not possible we will offer training sessions (in some cases, training may involve a rota where space is limited e.g. Squash, but the rota will be advised to pupils in advance).

Match Teas – parent match tea locations and timings will be listed in the weekly Sports Programme and we are aiming to place these in locations to best provide for all sports.

Coaching Philosophy – the main coaching impact will undoubtedly occur midweek and on fixture days we continue to encourage staff/coaches to avoid using too much direct instruction, except in cases of major issues or safety, but instead, encourage staff to use well timed questions to encourage a problem solving approach from pupils, albeit this will continue to be combined with appropriate praise and encouragement too.

Sports Code of Conduct

The below is intended to outline commonly accepted behaviours for all those involved with sport at Wellington from pupils, staff, parents and spectators.

1. All behaviours should be underpinned by the College values of Respect, Integrity, Kindness, Responsibility and Courage.
2. Encourage full effort and competitive but fair play and support and respect for everyone involved.
3. Encourage participation in sport for all it offers, such as, enjoyment, engagement, development and positive outcomes.
4. Maintain appropriate communication with all parties, including use of SOCS, face to face conversations and email where required. On this note, we ask that staff decisions on selection are supported and we ask that staff provide clear feedback to pupils should they not make a team they are aiming for.

Any issues concerning sport at Wellington College, please e-mail the Sport Department at sport@wellingtoncollege.org.uk, rather than individual coaches, unless it is on a purely administrative level.

The sporting afternoon began with a minute’s silence to commemorate the passing of Her Majesty The Queen, along with team captains wearing black armbands.

Following this, it was wonderful to be able to see so many pupils back out for the first full sporting Saturday of the year.

Cricket

Well done to Eddie (Bd) who this week represented Middlesex 2nd XI vs Essex 2nd XI.

Hockey

The hockey club got the season off to a fantastic start against Cheltenham with ten wins from the thirteen games. The U14s were particularly impressive winning all four games, scoring 24 goals and only conceding one. Well done to all involved.

Netball

Congratulations to Amelie (W) who represented Surrey Storm U15s at the School Games in the last weekend of the summer holidays. Amelie and her team played against the top junior franchise players in the country. The tournament took place over four days, with group games, semi-finals and play-offs for final standings. Amelie’s team played three matches a day, putting their fitness to the test. They lost out in the 3rd place play-off, finishing 4th overall; a highly impressive achievement!

Rugby

The opening block fixture of the year saw the  Yearlings and Colts travel to opponents Harrow, while we hosted the Seniors and Junior Colts at Wellington. The Junior Colts A put in an excellent performance to come away with a 19-3 victory. The First XV game was an incredibly physical contest, narrowly losing out 21-15; however, the team scored an excellent full length of the field try on the stroke of the final whistle, with Tyler (Pn) crossing the whitewash. A special mention must go to the Junior Colts B whose excellent team performance saw them come away with a 14-12 victory over a very good Harrow side. Highlights included Ry’s (Hl) impactful runs from full back and Max’s (R) incredible try-saving tackle. The Junior Colts B are deservedly the team of the week.

Team of the Week

Well done to the Junior Colts B Rugby for their well earned 14-12 win vs Harrow.