Wellington is renowned as being one of the strongest sporting schools in the UK but our ethos is equally focused on inclusion and participation, with over 98% of pupils regularly taking part in sporting and physical activities on a weekly basis.
We want Wellington College to be universally recognised as the leading co-educational boarding and day school for sport in the UK and one of the best in the world.
At Wellington our vision for our sports programme is that all pupils should have the opportunity to participate in a sports programme appropriate to their ambitions and aspirations.
We want pupils to participate in sport for life, in addition to being challenged and supported where appropriate to perform to their highest capacity possible.
We believe sport has the capacity to support the development of life skills, and thus supports the college’s aims of developing a holistic model of education.
This vision should be underpinned by pupils and staff behaving in line with the College’s core values: Courage, Integrity, Respect, Kindness and Responsibility.
Sporting Aims
At Wellington our aim is to provide a sports programme that is based on engagement, enjoyment, development and positive outcomes for all. We believe in the development of the whole individual, the fostering of an ‘active lifestyle’ and the promotion of a lifetime investment in sport and physical activity.
Our sports programme should make a substantial positive contribution to the following areas of pupils’ lives:
Physical health and literacy and mental health and wellbeing
Individual development and performance capacity
Lifetime investment in physical activity
Provide a safe yet challenging environment for growth in confidence and self-esteem
Academic standards
Develop life skills such as resilience, communication, teamwork, social/community leadership and employability skills
Wellington continues to be a school that understands the value of sport and provides a wealth of opportunities for all to excel at all levels which in turn can transform the life chances of young people in their personal, social, academic and working environments.
Coaching Philosophy
We aim to challenge and support pupils to engage, enjoy, develop and have positive outcomes in their sport.
Our staff will utilise limited direct instruction, except in cases of major issues or safety, but will prioritise and encourage well timed questions to encourage a problem solving approach. Clearly, all of this will be combined with appropriate praise and encouragement too.
What sport looks like at Wellington
Pupils have to take part in sport three times a week (A teams may have some additional training times too).
Pupils take part in different sports across the three terms, until they progress to 5th form and above, where they are able to begin to specialise.
3rd and 4th form pupils should take part in a minimum of 3 sports, 5th form 2 sports and only in the 6th form can pupils begin to narrow down to 1 sport (*individual cases may differ).
All levels are underpinned by high quality coaching.
Those pupils identified as having high potential (Sports Scholars) are supported through the Aspirational Athlete Programme.
1st Team+ through to 2nd Team levels are supported through exposure to more experienced sports coaching staff and often a more specific competition schedule, such as tournaments and overseas tours.
All pupils are given the opportunity to experience competitive sport through the sports program and the Interhouse Sports program supports this need too.
News
Rising Golf Star: William Crowned 2023 British Speedgolf Champion
To support the opportunities we provide to all pupils at Wellington, we are lucky to have some magnificent sports facilities within our 400-acre campus. The provision for sport at Wellington College is truly second to none.
These facilities include:
two floodlit AstroTurf pitches
the new indoor Robin Dyer Centre which has four purpose-built Cricket lanes and two Tennis/Netball courts
11 Rugby pitches
7 Football pitches
A modern, well-equipped Sports Hall, including indoor swimming pool, gym, spin studio, dance studio, Basketball courts, badminton courts, indoor hockey pitch etc
A newly refurbished Rackets court, five Squash courts, and a Real Tennis court
An onsite climbing wall and shooting range
A nationally acclaimed nine-hole golf course
An outdoor swimming pool
Our nationally acclaimed 9-hole golf course
22 hard tennis courts
9 cricket pitches
“In recent years, our teams have achieved national renown and titles in hockey, rugby, golf, shooting, triathlon, squash, equestrianism, cricket, rackets and polo. Despite these successes we are just as proud of the unbeaten U14D team as we are of the First XI!”
