The 2023 Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy

Nine pupils competed in the Sir Steuart Pringle trophy at the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone. The competition required the squad to take part in a number of different stands that cover the key skills that build a Royal Marine.

The first day held the majority of the competition, and the Winchester squad got off to an excellent start, scoring 98 points out of 100 on the first stand. This set the team up well for a long morning on Woodbury Common, involving navigation tasks, a stretcher race, camouflage and concealment, and a full section attack.

Using radios, the squad was able to communicate efficiently throughout, allowing for quick and successful operations in all the stands, and put the squad in a strong position going into the afternoon.

The afternoon began with a leadership task, in which the goal was to build a freestanding antenna. Here, the entire team showed a fantastic ability to work together, allowing the relative strengths of each member to speed up the process. At the digital shooting range, George, Oli, Xingchen and Jeffrey showed excellent marksmanship, despite some having never used the digital range, putting Winchester in third place for that stand.

Over on the assault course, Winchester raced against Canford for the second year in a row, and finished with a strong time, ready to end the day with the observation stand and Urban Close Quarters Battle. After an intense day the squad was more than happy to get some rest before the Endurance Course on the Sunday.