Published on: Monday, October 2, 2023
After five weeks of intense training, nine members of our Royal Marines CCF Section travelled to the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines to contest the Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy Competition against 18 schools from across the country. This followed after their impressive record-breaking win last year.
Day one was a decidedly physical affair that comprised a number of military stances at the Centre and on Woodbury Common, including a Stretcher Race, the Assault Course, Modern Urban Combat and the Section Attack. On day two, the team started with an immaculate Drill display that was commended as 'better than Royal Marines recruits' by the inspecting Drill Instructor. They followed this by completing the infamous Royal Marines Endurance Course.
During a nerve-wracking closing ceremony, King's was named winner of the Drill, Endurance Course, Cam and Con, Assault Course, Command and Navigation stances, and joint winners of the Section Attack and Contact Drills stances with Sherborne. This individual stance haul, seven individual trophies, is the most successful to date. And yet again, King's were ultimately victorious, claiming first place overall.
It is worth noting that in the last fourteen years, King’s has come second on two occasions and won the trophy an incredible NINE times, an unmatched all-time record. For a second time, our team surpassed the 1000-point threshold, with the King's team this year achieving 1050 points.
This is a fitting reward for enduring a regime of early starts and late finishes, and their performance undoubtedly exemplifies the pinnacle of elite performance. What is even more impressive is that these young men commit whatever free time they have to train for this event, with no impact on lesson time. While this is an intensive period for them, the skills they learn (about each other as well as themselves), along with the deep friendships they forge, will last a lifetime. Despite those early mornings, no doubt they will look back at their involvement with fondness and pride.
King’s College CCF Contingent Commander, Major Steve King, said:
“The team are of course elated. This is a fantastic result – we have surpassed the all-time record of wins and it fully justifies the long and arduous build-up. I would like to make a special mention of Captain Pete Belfield, for his dedication, drive, enthusiasm and quality of instruction when training the team. I'd also like to mention one member of the team who has taken part in this event three times now and has won each time; Section Commander Josh C - very well done!”
The team comprised Josh C, Will K, Cameron W, Matt S-C, Hal S, Gray S, Oscar M, Ashton R, and Ben C.