Sport

Sport By Mr Sam Hewick, Director of Sport

At Pangbourne, we work hard to embed resilience in all of our pupils, and sport is one way of embedding this key attribute. It can be used as a vehicle for life, regardless of the level at which we perform.

This year, over 90% of the College community took part

in competitive team sport. This is a huge amount, and it is worth reflecting on some of the benefits this brings to the

individual. Whether that is the challenge of taking part, the enjoyment of playing with friends, or the pursuit of

high performance, this is what ‘Team Pangbourne’ is, and combined with an excellent attitude, our pupils can really achieve some excellent things.

Tennis

Tennis is a very popular sport in the Summer Term and at times, we have huge numbers of pupils playing. The girls’ 1st team have enjoyed some notable

victories across the season and showed some strong development as the season went on. The U15 girls had

an excellent season which culminated in winning the Berkshire Cup. The boys’ 1st team had some tough

fought matches, and unfortunately fell on the wrong side of the final score. The U14 and U15 boys have had

some competitive fixtures across the term, with some

strong performances. The Dunbar boys and girls have had a successful season with the boys reaching the later stages in the LTA cup.

Cricket

The Cricket club has enjoyed one of its best seasons

in recent years. The 1st XI enjoyed some strong wins

against Shiplake College, Mill Hill School, Chieveley Cricket Club and Reading Blue Coat, along with a draw

against the MCC and The Stragglers of Asia. Coupled with some excellent victories for the 2nd XI, Senior

Cricket is in a strong position. Furthermore, it has been

great to see the commitment of the Senior players. Even after the exam period started, they were able to

manage their time effectively to ensure that they could still represent the school.

The U15s battled hard across the season, and it was

pleasing to see a couple of the members of the team being promoted to Senior teams towards the end of the season. At U14 level, the A and B teams secured an

excellent victory against Shiplake with captain George Millbank hitting a wonderful 50.

The Dunbar teams have had a busy term with fixtures

most weeks, with opportunities for every pupil to play. Cricket has been offered as a co-educational sport for the last two years, with boys and girls given equal opportunity to play cricket. With Jemma SwireThompson leading the way in the 1st XI and being the

top wicket taker for the season, this is inspiring girls and boys across the school. We are looking forward to seeing cricket continue to develop across the next few years.

Netball

Boys’ Hockey

The netball team has been one of the most popular sports this year, with more girls taking part than ever before. It has been great to see some encouraging performances at all levels of the club. The 1st VII have had a strong season

winning the majority of their fixtures, however, it is the

reports from when they have played some of the strongest schools that stand out. Even when they lost a

match, it was commented that ‘all the girls were outstanding, they fought so hard and pushed every school to their maximum, making no point easy to gain’.

The 3rd VII received glowing reports each week for their

conduct on and off the court, and their season culminated in a brilliant 19-16 victory against Downe House. The

U14s and U15s continue to show strong promise with

notable performances across the term for both year groups. The whole atmosphere of the club was highlighted at the end of term with Divisional netball. It was an event

played in brilliant competitive spirit from start to finish,

and really did capture Team Pangbourne at its finest.

The boys’ hockey teams have shown some excellent development across the term, with the 1st XI battling

to a number of notable performances and making good progress. The U15s have had a strong season,

and culminated the season with an outstanding 3-2 victory away at KCS Wimbledon. The U14 As showed

true Pangbourne grit against Portsmouth Grammar School and came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1.

The foundations made this season can be used as a springboard for next year.

Boys’ Football

Boys’ football has seen its introduction this year, with

pupils in Year 11 and above able to select it as their

main sport in the Lent Term. I could not be happier with the attitude shown by those involved. I asked at the start of the term for standards of behaviour; ‘Just because it’s football you do not have to behave like footballers on TV!’.

I particularly enjoyed watching the 2nd XI come back

from 2-0 down to beat The Oratory 3-2. The 1st

XI played their matches on White’s and had strong

performances against Gordon’s, Abingdon, and Reddam House. It was a popular introduction and we were able to put out four teams most weeks.

Equestrian

The equestrian team enjoyed a 90% success rate of

top ten finishes throughout the whole of the year.

The team has proven to be a force to be reckoned with amongst other schools, as well as competing against international riders in the main arena at The Royal Windsor Horse Show.

The equestrian team has qualified for three

championships this year, across multiple disciplines: Showjumping, Jumping with Style and Arena Eventing

at all heights as well as Eventing at Stonar.

Grassroots riders Lillian Allen and Maisie Stephenson secured first and fourth places at the Nationals for

Jumping with Style alongside our Senior team of Amy Perrott, Izzy Corsinie, Thomasin Munro and Isla Farrow

following a convincing win at the Berkshire College of

Agriculture (BCA).

In Showjumping, our riders took many County Titles at

BCA; Thomasin took the top spot for Berkshire in the

80cm and went on to take sixth in the country at the

County Championships. The team of Isla, Izzy and Amy won for Berkshire in both the 90cm and the 1m where

Amy also took the individual titles.

Our Senior team has qualified for the Keysoe Plate in

the 90cm and 1m classes. Amy and Izzy have qualified

for the Nationals taking first (1m) and second (1.10m)

respectively. At The Royal Windsor Horse show, the team of Isla, Amy and Izzy took a respectable fifth place

in a hotly contested Queen’s Services Showjumping,

Isla narrowly missing out on the best rider under 25 to

a competitor from the Bahrain Defence Force.

Rowing by Mr Charles Waite-Roberts, Director of Rowing

The Lent Term is where the majority of the training is put in for the Boat Club, but along with the hard miles the rowers have had opportunities to race at events such as Wycliffe Big Head Race and Saltford Head Race.

The work that was put in during the cold Winter months were put to the test as the Boat Club travelled

to London to race in the Schools’ Head of the River Race. The event boasts more than three hundred crews and it provides a national ranking for schools and clubs. The 1st VIII posted a very credible position of

14th overall. The J16 VIII claimed the 6th spot in their

event and the J16 Girls’ VIII rowed the course with

determination as getting over the course is quite an achievement in itself. The J15 A & B VIII both had good

starts but the J15 B VIII had a technical malfunction

and they had to withdraw mid-race.

With the Head race season in the rear view mirror, the Easter training camps provided the lower and upper

years with a chance to get in some solid groundwork for the Summer racing season. The lower years had a very productive camp at home over the course of four days with the upper years travelling to Ghent for a week of rowing and revising. It culminated with a regatta at the end of the week to test their on-water speed and practise the processes needed for success.

The Summer racing season quickly came over the horizon and the Boat Club were getting in amongst the racing at

the likes of Wallingford Regatta, Bristol Avon Regatta and

Reading Amateur Regatta. Each event that the Boat Club

raced at were all great chances to prepare for the main event of the year, the National Schools’ Regatta (NSR).

We fielded a strong contingent over the three days of NSR

with the highlight of the weekend being the championship 4+ being crowned National Champions on the Saturday. It was a great event that became a two-horse race between Pangbourne and St George’s. Pangbourne took an early lead and controlled the race the whole course covering any attacks made by St George’s. The final sprint

in the last 250m ensured Pangbourne crossed the line first

and celebration was had by all crew members. Well done to Harrison Green, Ryne Robson, German Shashlov, Peter Garnier and Olivia Crane.

Other notable performances came from the J14

Girls’ Octuple Scull where they placed 6th in the final,

which no other J14 Girls’ crew had done in the history

of Pangbourne. The J16 Boys’ VIII were in 2nd for

the majority of the B-Final but unfortunately found

themselves in 5th as they ran out of steam in the last

400m. The J16 Girls’ 4+ placed a commendable 4th after

putting in a confident performance in the semi-final.

After the build up to NSR, the focus for the upper years turned to Henley Women’s Regatta (HWR) and Henley

Royal Regatta (HRR) where the lower years found some

great experience in smaller boats at more local regattas.

The J16 Girls’ squad fielded a quadruple scull and coxed

four to race in the time trials to gain qualification for

the side-by-side racing over the weekend of HWR. Unfortunately, both crews missed out and were unable to experience the feeling of racing between the booms against opposition but they will be back for more over the coming years.

The J16 Boys’ VIII competed in the qualifying time trial

for the Temple Challenge Cup (University Eights) to try

and gain qualification for HRR. They were always going

to be up against it but they found a strong rhythm and gained a lot of motivation for the next few years when they aim for a spot in the 1st VIII. The 1st VIII had to race the qualifiers of HRR having

not been given pre-qualification, which they dealt with

in a true effortless fashion. The crew qualified and

were drawn to race St Edward’s on the first day of the

regatta. The 1st VIII pushed all the way to line but were

unable to match the Silver medalists and were knocked out of the regatta.

The regatta season came to a close but there was still the business of a very successful Junior Summer Rowing Camp which was held over the latter weeks of July. 35 rowers attended the week with the majority

having never rowed before. It contained a week of learning, raft building, a row to Reading and finishing

with a small fun regatta. The Boat Club is looking

forward to the coming season in 2023.

Sports Dinner

On Friday 17 June, around 180 pupils and their families

joined us for our first Sports Dinner to celebrate

successes across all of our key sports. The guest of honour was Gail Emms MBE who in her speech, talked

about resilience whilst being on your journey. She

talked about the impact her Mum had on her, and she instilled a consistent drive to get better. Gail won a silver medal at the Olympics and a gold medal in the World Championships at mixed-doubles Badminton.

There were also speeches from our Sports Captains: Rory Hogan (Rugby); Liam Turnbull (Cricket); Cameron

Spiers and Emily Cox (Hockey); Felix Nelson (Football

and Boys’ Tennis); Poppy Simpson (Netball); Ryne

Robson and Olivia Crane (Rowing) Megan Fergusson

(Girls’ Tennis) and Imogen Benson (Equestrian).

It was a great, informal evening and a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our collective and individual

sporting achievements.

Awards

Full school colours are awarded to pupils who have

made an outstanding contribution and commitment to school sport, normally over a two-year period for the 1st team. Pupils will have been great role models for the

school on and off the sports field. This year, full school

colours were awarded as follows:

Lent Term:

Boys’ Hockey

• Cameron Spiers

Netball

• Megan Fergusson

• Alice Moody • Charlotte Richards • Poppy Simpson

Football

• Joe Hollis

• Felix Nelson

• George Young

Summer Term:

Cricket

• Noah Teague • Liam Turnbull • George Young

Tennis

• Megan Fergusson

• Myles James • Felix Nelson

• Lucy Skinner

Rowing

• Olivia Crane • Peter Garnier • Harrison Green • Ryne Robson • German Shashlov

Colours

1st team colours are awarded to pupils who have made a sustained and significant impact on the 1st team in their

sport. They will have attended almost all practices and shown a high level of commitment. In the Summer Term, 1st

team colours were awarded as follows:

Lent Term:

Boys’ Hockey

• Freddie Barnes

• Jamie Dunstan • Tom Harvey • Rory Hogan • Jackson Song • Josh Symons

Football

• Dan Jones • Raphael Löwenstein • Isaac Nelsen • Will Stokes

Netball

• Emily Cox

• Grace Gillespie • Frederika Goodwin-Scott

• Tillia Harris

• Ellen Williams

Paravicini Shield

The Paravicini Shield award was awarded to Liam Turnbull who has proven to be one of the best cricketers we have had come through the school in recent history. He has played in the 1st XI since Year 9, and this year has hit

over 50 runs in three matches. Since joining in Dunbar

he has hit over 6000 runs and taken 220 wickets (that is including one year being wiped out for Covid). He hit 38

half centuries, 2 centuries and taken 1 five wicket haul.

He recently became captain of Hampshire U18s and has

Summer Term:

Cricket

• Dan Davies • Rory Hogan • Dan Jones • Toby King • Jemma

Swire-Thompson • Dylan Teague

Rowing

• Edward Butterworth

• Morgan Llewellyn • Euan Mackenzie

• George Symington • Callum Wray

Tennis

• Alice Dutton

• Ellie Farrow

• Poppy Simpson

Riding

• Izzy Corsinie • Isla Farrow

• Thomasin Munro • Amy Perrott

also represented the Isle of Wight mens side in minor counties fixtures. He is on the pathway to becoming a

professional cricketer and if he keeps working hard at his game then it will come. We are looking forward to having him on the OP cricket team next year!

Divisional Sport By Mr Sam Hewick, Director of Sport

Sadly, and reluctantly, we had to cancel divisional girls’ title for the first time in two years. The difference

athletics just as the event had started. Torrential between the girls was 1 point, and divisional swimming

rain and thunder put paid to this anticipated event. Hopefully, we’ll have better luck next year! Divisional

swimming was hotly contested with the whole school supporting each other through the events. Divisional tennis was a strong tournament with those who regularly take part in tennis being selected for the different year groups. Divisional cricket returned this year in the format of Super 6s. Each division gave a

team to the event and it was a resounding success.

Harbinger took home the boys’ trophy this year, again by a strong margin. St George pipped Illawarra to the became the deciding factor.

100% Race Colour Run

The annual 100% Race took place in April and to add to the fun, it was combined with a Colour Run.

At different points along the route, staff were ready to throw coloured powder at the runners. 93% of the

College community finished the race, with some Dunbar

pupils running the course several times over, and others supporting their friends to reach the finish line.

This was a sponsored event and we raised almost £1,500

for the British Red Cross Ukraine Appeal. Well done to

CCCCs Emily Cox and Rory Hogan who showed strong

leadership to make the event happen.

Finally

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all pupils and staff for their efforts in the sport programme this year; it certainly wouldn’t happen without you. To the leavers this year, and particularly to the Upper Sixth students, thank you for your commitment and leadership within sport. You leave a strong legacy and much to aspire to for the pupils below you. I wish you all luck on your next journey.

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