Sports at Wellingborough School

SPORT

AT WELLINGBOROUGH SCHOOL See our latest news

Meet our Team

At Wellingborough School we offer a wealth of sporting activities which form an integral part of school life.

We strive to offer pupils every opportunity to enjoy sport and to experience success. Those who have the desire to excel and those who just wish to participate, benefit from expert coaching and positive sporting.

Wellingborough has an enviable sporting reputation and our

‘Sport for All’ ethos has uncovered many fine talents. We aim to give every pupil the opportunity to represent the School in a sporting event or fixture. It is hoped that this superb provision for sport at Wellingborough School will instil a lifelong love for sport as well as providing individuals with the added benefits that sport provides such as self-discipline, teamwork and fair play.

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What’s on offer

LATEST

NEWS

We wished OW James Sales

the best of luck in his England U19CWC Final on the 5th February. Despite their loss, he played well contributing 34no and 2 wickets.

Congratulations to Will F (13Pl) Harvey S (13Ga) & Toby P (13Ga) on their successful selection to the Midlands U18 Rugby squad for this season. A result of all your hard work and dedication fully deserved!

Well done to our 1st-4th Senior Netball teams who took part in matches against Leicester Grammar. The girls stepped up to take three convincing wins.

Fantastic team effort and great play by all. Well done!

Congratulations to Frankie M

(13Ga) who has been named 1st VII Netball captain for the 2022 season.

5 of our Year 13 hockey players

signed off their 1st XI hockey careers this afternoon. With over 130 1st XI appearances between them, they can be proud of their achievements and the legacy they leave behind to the future generations of 1st X1 hockey players. Thank you!

Huge congratulations to Ed

(12Ga) who helped England to Gold in an International Combined Events competition and achieved 4 PBs.

congratulations Congratulations to Clara H

(8AJD) who gained 4th place in the Bloxham Eventer Challenge Series which was held at Aston Le Walls Equestrian Centre.

to Harriet Waite OW, who became the English Junior powerlifting champion 2021. Her performances also led to 3x English records - what an incredible achievement and inspiration to the Wellingborough School community.

MEET OUR TEAM Our Sports Department are available to answer any of your questions and to give you a great insight into Sports at Wellingborough.

Lee Hilton - Director of Sport Jonathan Dean - Assistant Director of Sport & Head of Football George Houghton - Head of Hockey, Teacher of PE and Games Fiona Burgess - Teacher of PE and Games, Head of PSCHE Cath Irvin - Head of Academic PE & Head of Tennis Clare Drakeford- Head of Netball & Teacher of PE and Games Andrew Doig- Head of Prep Sport & Head of Cricket Lester Williams - Teacher of PE and Games & Geography Jess Clarke - Teacher of PE and Games & Geography Kelly Rendall - Teacher of PE and Games Sami Eggleston - Head of Rugby

MAJOR GAMES

GIRLS BOYS

MICHAELMAS

LENT

TRINITY

PREP

HOCKEY

NETBALL

CRICKET

SENIOR

HOCKEY

NETBALL

TENNIS/CRICKET

PREP

RUGBY

FOOTBALL

CRICKET

SENIOR

RUGBY

FOOTBALL

CRICKET

FACILITIES The sporting facilities at Wellingborough School are varied and outstanding.

The facilities include: A. 1st XI B. The Grove C. Thatched Pavilion D. Astroturf 1 E. Floodlit Grids F. Bottom Courts G. Astroturf 2 H. Cabbage Patch I. 1st XV J. Co-Op K. Embankment L. Prep Field

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The Rugby provisions at Wellingborough School are broad and varied with over 300 students taking part across 22 teams in the 2021/22 season. These provisions range from entry into Rosslyn Park National 7s, and the National Schools Vase competitions, to social, non-contact rugby, encouraging youngsters and newcomers to the game to chance their arm against the seniors and staff.

Students at Wellingborough School are enabled to reach their full potential with use of the floodlit 1st XV Rugby pitch, 7 further pitches, and a well-equipped gym that sees morning strength and conditioning sessions for the seniors.

RUGBY Wellingborough School has a long tradition of Association Football, currently with over 20 boys’ teams playing competitive fixtures throughout the Lent term.

The school has 13 grass pitches ranging from 7 a-side through to 5 full size pitches. For training purposes we have a floodlit grass training area and access to 2 full size Astroturf pitches. We play a range of block fixtures against opposition from the East Midlands and beyond. Our 1st and 2nd XI play in the Mercian League which includes fixtures against 8 other schools. The School enters ISFA competitions with some age groups, as well as running a competitive inter-house Football competition for all boys in the Upper Prep and Senior School.

The Football fixture list traditionally finishes with games against Old Wellingburians. A popular day amongst the current pupils and the OW community.

FOOTBALL Hockey at Wellingborough School continues to thrive, aided by the use of two high quality, floodlit astroturf pitches on site. Hockey is the major sport for girls in the Michaelmas term and we run 11 competitive teams in the senior school, all of which have regular midweek and Saturday fixtures with their own, dedicated and qualified member of coaching staff. 11 regular teams allows us to cater for the recreational hockey player, whilst at the elite level we are able to fully support those players with regional and national aspirations. Wellingborough School teams regularly qualify for Midland's finals at a variety of age groups and in both indoor and outdoor hockey.

HOCKEY

NETBALL From girls who are as young as seven years old, about to step on the court for their first Bee Netball experience, to our 1st senior team, putting on the ‘1st VII dress’, the girls at Wellingborough immerse themselves in Netball during the Lent term. We have 6 courts, which are used both for training and matches including our Sports Hall, which is our 1st VII team venue. Fixtures will range from midweek to weekend fixtures against a range of state, local day and boarding schools, whilst also competing in various tournaments for different age groups with the chance to compete at Regional and National competition tournaments. As a School we have recently made links with Wasps Netball as the home training and match venue for the Northampton Wasps Hub. This also provides our elite athletes at School to access top level training in the local area.

CRICKET

Wellingborough School has a deep and rich cricket history, currently fielding over 25 teams throughout the summer term for both boys and girls throughout the school. The 1st XI play all their home matches on The Grove; a magnificent cricket ground with its own recently refurbished thatched pavilion. We have an additional five cricket squares, used for both training and matches, as well as a six-lane all-weather net training facility.

Summer block fixtures are arranged throughout the school against local independent schools at both hard and softball level. The summer fixture list also includes 1st XI flagship games against Old Wellingburians, The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and The Forty Club. We also enter several national competitions for boys and girls for both indoor and outdoor cricket, as well as running a competitive inter-house cricket competition.

TENNIS

Tennis is the major Trinity sport for the girls and teams are run from Year 7 to 1st VI based on doubles pairings. Fixtures are played over three sets and the opposition regularly includes Stamford, Trent College, Bloxham and Kimbolton.

Girls and boys are entered in the LTA Schools Tennis Competition which involves singles and doubles play in teams of four. All pupils are welcome at after school practices on the 2 astro courts and 5 hard courts that are set in the summer term.

In 1864 a Commission on the leading Public Schools praised games as not merely sources of amusement, but a way of promoting valuable social qualities between boys. Henceforward, any school worth its salt would actively promote games.

The key sports were football and cricket. Rugby dates from 1931 and Tennis was played for fun in the time of Dr Platt (1897-1907) and competitive tennis began in 1921.

Boxing, described by The Wellingburian at the time as “a fine manly game”, was introduced in 1912 but did not last long.

A scan of this photo was emailed to the School by a man in New Zealand in 2011; he had found it in an album bought on eBay.

The Under-14 XI off to a match circa 1900

Athletics, Lent Term, 1933

NETBALL

A games certificate for Bob Knight, 1891

The open-air swimming pool (opened in 1912) was a source of torture for some, pleasure for others. It was not heated until 1973.

The opening of the Sports Hall in 1983, and then the laying of the first Astroturf pitch in 1998, have helped to expand the sports facilities, particularly for girls’ hockey matches.

Philip Fryer scoring 306 runs at the County Ground in June 1897