After a short break, Shiplake College’s Festival of Sport — formerly known as FieldFest — made a brilliant return on Saturday 13 September, uniting pupils, parents, staff, and Old Vikings for an afternoon full of competition, community, and fun.
This year brought an exciting new addition: a netball tournament on our newly developed Paddocks pitches. Four mixed teams of current pupils, parents, and Old Vikings took part, with mums and daughters playing side by side in a fantastic show of teamwork and spirit. Congratulations to the Green Team, who took the trophy after a run of hard-fought matches. A special thank you goes to Miss James, Mrs Dunn, and Miss Cochrane for their superb organisation and umpiring.
Alongside this new fixture, the ever-popular Touch Rugby Tournament returned in style. Eight mixed teams competed across two pool phases before the semi-finals saw Blue face Orange, and Green take on Purple. The Purple Team, made up entirely of staff, clinched victory in a thrilling final against Blue. With the score locked at 2–2, golden try rules came into play and it was Mr Jones who sealed the win with a decisive run to the line. Huge thanks go to In2Touch for their refereeing expertise and to the Parents’ Association for their continued support with merchandise and logistics.
No Shiplake event would be complete without great food and drink. Thomas Franks’ sizzling BBQ and the Rebellion Brewery bar kept everyone fuelled throughout the afternoon, ensuring high spirits despite a few brief showers - the sunshine later in the day made the celebrations all the sweeter.
Reflecting on the occasion, Head of Community and Development, Mrs Spearing, said:
'It was a great way to continue our 65 years of sport at Shiplake. It was lovely to see a bit of healthy competition alongside lots of fun and laughter, and you could say it looked like everyone was having a ball!'
