GAMES & PE

We want all boys to enjoy being active to build skills and confidence. We teach how to play safely and to enjoy healthy competition. Winter sports include football and rugby, while summer focuses on cricket and athletics.

There’s swimming, gymnastics, basketball and badminton. Facilities include extensive pitches at New Piece and Wolvesey, all-weather surfaces and cricket nets, along with outstanding facilities at Winchester College. There’s sailing, tennis, judo and rowing as well.     

Our talented sportsmen go on to win senior school sports scholarships.  A busy fixtures calendar provides regular competition, balancing performance with participation so as many boys as possible can represent the school. 

 
Pilgrims

A message from Myles Greenwood, Director of Sport

We are delighted to be in The Cricketer Magazine’s Top 50 Prep Schools for Cricket. It  reflects the dedication of our pupils, and our ambition as a school – an achievement we can all be incredibly proud of.  

Even More Opportunities in Sport    

Reflecting our close relationship with Winchester College, Pilgrims’ have continued use of the Sports Hall and access to the new climbing wall.  We have our outdoor pool but now use the brand-new College pool too. 

Our  staff are central to our sporting success here at Pilgrims’ so we run games according to the Pilgrims’ Pathway  – a comprehensive coaching manual designed for the entire Games Department to provide clear, sport-specific session plans that ensure progressive, age-appropriate coaching and to establish a consistent philosophy for all.  

 

CRICKET

In Years 3 and 4, we begin by playing the pairs version of the game. This allows for plenty of inclusive play as players lose runs, rather than their wicket, for being out. The hard ball is introduced halfway through Year 4. In Year 5, the boys adopt the more familiar 11-a-side format, with the regular laws, and a strong emphasis on the spirit of the game.

Adaptations of the format are adopted as appropriate for the level of any given team, throughout the age groups. Additional coaching sessions in the nets are held after school in the summer term and specialist cricket courses are available in the Easter holidays. 

Pilgrims’ boys often play at club, district, or county level.  

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ATHLETICS

Athletics takes place in PE lessons in the summer and is available as a specialist games option from Year 6. The boys compete against other schools and against each other, working to achieve and better English Schools Athletics Association age-appropriate standards, gain personal bests, and maybe to break school records. Hurdle heights, throwing and running event distances are all age-applicable, and modified equipment may be used. 

The Pre-Prep Sports Day is a mixture of competitive races and fun events with lots of family participation, while Athletics Finals, held on Wolvesey, is the culmination of the season for the Prep, a family day of track and field competitions, picnics, and Pimm’s. 

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FOOTBALL

Played during the Christmas term, the boys follow the FA developmental model with small-sided adaptations, smaller pitches and goals, and no off-sides until Year 7. Holiday courses culminating in a pre-season training week with professional coaches from Southampton Football Club are very popular with the boys.  We enter ISFA (Independent Schools Football Association) tournaments at U11 and U13 and nominate candidates for ISFA trials. 

RUGBY

Rugby is the main sport during the Lent term. As with soccer, we follow the RFU age grade rules of play. Skills are developed through a greater involvement within the game and a deeper exposure to the skills required. This is particularly reassuring for boys who are new to the sport. Our rugby coaching begins with learning to throw and catch the ball in the Pre-Prep, which develops to tag rugby in Year 3. Contact is introduced in Year 4, solely with the tackle, with technical components adding to the game as it develops to 13-a-side at Year 8. 

Staff hold the RFU Rugby Ready qualification as a minimum and the programme is supplemented further with weekly coaching by a specialist. We nominate candidates for the London Irish Developing Player Programme (DPP). 

The season culminates with the Rosslyn Park 7s, the largest 7s tournament in the country. 

SWIMMING

Weekly swimming begins in Year 1, taught by staff who are highly experienced in developing the skills and confidence of young swimmers. Swimming lessons continue throughout all the year groups. 

Water polo is played in our own outdoor pool (known as the Puddle), which the swim squad also use for training sessions. Impromptu swims in the day may also occur in the heat of the summer term when a quick splash in the Puddle helps to focus the mind. 

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SAILING

The games programme is supplemented by sailing at Spinnaker Sailing Club, near Ringwood and an RYA recognised training centre. The boys travel by minibus and sail a variety of dinghies on the lake.

We sail from the start of the Summer term through to the October half-term break, weather permitting, and it is open to boys from Year 5 upwards, from beginner to top racer!

Boys may be selected to compete at the annual IAPS Regatta at the National Sailing Academy in Portland where they would represent Pilgrims’ in a fleet of Prep School children from all over the UK. 

ROWING

Rowing is run in conjunction with Winchester College as a Commoner through the winter terms and as a games option in the summer for boys from Year 7. 

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FIVES

We are one of the few Prep schools to play Winchester Fives. It’s played in a court similar to a squash court, but with a solid ball and gloves on both hands.

Pilgrims’ boys play the game from the age of 11 as a Commoner activity at the Winchester College courts, while the younger boys begin to learn the game by playing pit-pat – the Pilgrims’ version – against various walls around the school.