Sedbergh is renowned for its top level achievement in a wide variety of sports, with boys and girls featuring prominently in national and international teams – and the School boasts 35 capped alumni in its ranks. The foundation for this achievement is built at Sedbergh Junior School.
Our recipe for success is simple. We play sport at least five days a week, and all pupils have top class coaching regardless of their ability, with an emphasis on fun as well as achievement. For pupils aged 9-15, we also organise extremely popular residential Sports Academies for rugby, cricket, netball and hockey during the school holidays, which are run by professional coaches and staff.
We strive to produce achievers, spirited young people with a professional attitude towards personal performance and team responsibility. Competition is taken seriously, and boys and girls participate regularly in regional, national and international competitions and tours.
However, we have never lost sight of the fun and pleasure that can be found through involvement in sport, and pupils are encouraged to cheer each other on even when they are not actively participating.
Access to facilities
We have numerous top quality facilities. As well as a number of playing fields and courts, we have an indoor pool, astro-turf pitch, running track, sports hall, fitness suite, weights room, fives courts, and rifle range. Pupils benefit from the latest training techniques, support teams, detailed de-briefs and performance analysis equipment.
Celebrating our sporting successes
Our sports results are updated on the website every week and we aim to celebrate even the smallest successes to encourage our younger pupils.
Girls’ Sport
Netball and hockey are run consecutively throughout the Michaelmas and Lent terms. SJS staff coach the Junior School teams but in addition to this the girls are fortunate to be coached by the Director of Girls’ Sport who is ex-England Netball international, Lucia Sdao. Lucia has 101 England caps, World Championship and Commonwealth Games medals and is currently a National Selector. Lucia runs netball throughout the Senior School and at the Summer Sports Academies. Rachelle Le Bourdon coaches hockey to both the girls and boys throughout both the Senior and Junior School. Rachelle is an ex-international and currently plays National League hockey. This ensures continuity of coaching throughout the entire school and input from the highest level.
All girls enjoy the opportunity to play representative sport, regardless of ability, and a 1st and 2nd team are run at both U13 and U11 level, and one team runs at U9 level. There is a full and extensive programme of fixtures in both sports in each term. All Y7 and 8 girls are invited to go on tour to Scotland to encourage the further development of the standard of play and to provide an opportunity for the girls to enjoy being part of a team, regardless of their level of play. Plans are currently underfoot for a tour to a European destination. Tournaments are held annually at Sedbergh and the SJS teams are invited to several tournaments run by other schools. These events provide competition at the highest level available and improve their standard of play. Any girl with talent is given the opportunity to attend County hockey and as they progress to the Senior School will become involved with the county netball programme at U14 level. SJS girls have gone on to represent the County and North of England.
In addition to games fixtures the pupils at SJS run. All girls will have the opportunity to run to improve their level of fitness and every child in the school competes in the Inter House Cross Country event. The tradition of running at Sedbergh inspires the younger pupils and they take pleasure in improving their own individual level of fitness. More talented runners are given the opportunity to train more extensively and are entered for county and national competitions.
In the Summer Term the girls focus on athletics and rounders in games and have the opportunity to play tennis .Girls perform particularly well in athletics and have competed at district, county and national level. Sedbergh School also organises athletics fixtures at home and girls are given the opportunity to compete in the National Track and Field competition. Once again, a full policy of inclusion is in operation, although the more able girls will attend district trials and the HMC athletics competitions.
Swimming is a developing sport at SJS and in addition to regular swimming lessons in PE, early morning training is available for keen swimmers. This has been very popular and swimming fixtures now feature on the SJS Calendar.
Boys' Sport
Sport fills a prominent role in the life of all the boys at Sedbergh Junior School and as such they are given the opportunity to excel in a variety of sports. Alongside this we firmly believe that sport should be available to all our boys and therefore they can participate in a range of activities at a level that suits their needs and ability. Sedbergh provides boys with the opportunity to take part in a structured games programme on five days during the week. This programme includes regular fixtures which are organised for Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, as well as a programme of activities for those not involved in school fixtures.
In the Michaelmas Term the main team sport is Rugby, however, other sports include hockey, swimming, sailing fives and running take place. The School rugby club is among the strongest in the country and many players from the Junior School have gone on to play at 1st XV, County and International level on their move to Senior School. While rugby is the main focus throughout the term in the Junior School we recognise that not all boys are suited to the sport and we therefore provide opportunities for boys to pursue the alternative activities mentioned above.
In the Lent Term, the main boys' sports are rugby sevens, hockey, soccer and cross-country running although there is still the opportunity to participate in fives and swimming. The highlight of this term is competing in the world’s largest rugby tournament the ‘National Schools Sevens’ at Rosslyn Park which the school won in 2005.
In the Summer Term the main boys' team sport is cricket and we aim to give as many boys as possible the chance to represent the school by fielding teams to suit all ability levels. There is currently a programme in place for elite cricketers under the tutelage of cricket professional Martin Speight and many of our boys have played at County level. This programme is an all year development programme and includes the use of video analysis. The strength of our cricket is growing culminating in appearances in County and National finals. Again there is also a range of sports available and boys also receive coaching in Track and Field athletics and tennis in this term.