Pringle Trophy 2022

This year’s Sir Stueart Pringle Trophy competition took place over the weekend of 5-6 March.  This annual national competition at the Commando Training Centre, Lympstone is the premier inter-schools’ cadet event with Royal Marine cadets from schools across the UK testing their skills to the limit in a series of gruelling challenges – in some ways the ‘national championship’ of Royal Marines CCF…

Canford once again made the journey down to the Commando Training Centre to pit themselves against eighteen other CCF RM. Canford’s Lieutenant Colonel Dan Culley takes up the story of this year’s competition:

“With the restart of normality nine cadets from the Royal Marine Section at Canford School led by Warrant Office 2 Luke Zamoyski-Freitag travelled down to the home of the Royal Marines at Lympstone along with eighteen other schools from across the country for the annual School intersection competition, the Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy Competition. Seen by many as the blue riband cadet event, the top cadets in all the Marines sections compete over eleven disciplines including battlecraft, endurance, planning, command and control, fitness, navigation and drill. The weekend concludes with a spin round the gruelling Marines endurance course, along with a trip through the full water tunnels known fondly as “The Sheep Dip” to test one’s self-control.

 With the 2020 competition cancelled due to Covid, only one member of our team had experienced the event before. Despite this the Canford cohort proved to be hugely consistent and although they didn’t win any individual stands, an exciting fourth place was achieved beating Wellington, Shrewsbury, Harrow, Bradfield, Pangbourne and Charterhouse amongst others.”

Major Rob Hoey added “After a long day on Saturday followed by much preparation of kit and sleeping in the famous Drill Shed alongside the other teams, it was an action-packed Sunday for the Canford Pringle Trophy team. An outrageously early start, drill competition then the renowned Commando Endurance Course, a tough cross country run over heathland, through bogs, crawling through tunnels and not forgetting the infamous ‘Sheep Dip’ underwater tunnels!  

 The outcome: 4th out of 17 schools… and first mixed team - what a result! This is what can happen when purposeful engagement and courageous attitude are applied under gracious leadership (Well done Luke and Joe) to humble ambition - we can excel! It was a fitting finale to an awesome competition. A special prize was awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Culley for his 25+ years of contribution to Royal Marines CCF. Congratulations!”

 For more information about CCF at Canford, please visit: Canford CCF