Warwick School has a strong and proud tradition of producing homegrown sportsmen, who have either gone on to perform at the very highest levels of competition or having left the school, have gone on to make professional careers in their chosen sport. In 2021 Warwick School launched its first co-curricular scheme aimed specifically at supporting such boys, who have the aptitude and potential to reach these high levels in the future.

The performance support pathway aims to be a valuable resource for our young aspiring athletes, providing them with balance and support to ensure excellent coaching, strength & conditioning, nutritional advice, sports psychology and life style advice/mentoring, all in collaboration with the various internal and external stakeholders involved in their growth and education programmes. Athlete welfare, supporting improved performance and understanding what it takes to survive and prosper in high performance environments, will be the fundamentals of the pathway.

Our carefully planned pathway will provide a supportive framework of development and learning, which will maximise potential and ensure individually tailored support and mentoring. A comprehensive curriculum will develop in these boys the tools and life skills required to carve out a successful career in competitive performance environments.

Student Athletes who are involved in the programme will be expected to:

• be incredibly passionate about their sport,
• have high levels of intrinsic motivation,
• be highly detailed in their preparation,
• be resilient,
• be willing to work hard and make sacrifices,
• and take full responsibility for their own progress.

The pathway is built on the four main pillars of:

• Technical and Tactical Skill Development
• Mental Skills Development
• Physical Development
• Lifestyle Development

These pillars will be explored in more detail throughout the pathway through:

• Working closely with key specialist sport specific coaches to individualise and enhance skill development / S+C plans.
• Developing and tracking progress of Individual Development Plans.
• Reviewing and adapting training programmes / training load (both technical/tactical and physical skills).
• Improved knowledge and advice about nutrition,
• Developing understanding of injury prevention and rehabilitation.
• Mental skills training to improve preparation and in-competition performance, as well as dealing with set-backs / developing resilience.
• Target setting and monitoring.
• Lifestyle support.
• Mental health and wellbeing support.
• Understanding the realities of life in high performance environments                                           …Generally preparing each athlete to ‘kick on’ in elite sport upon leaving school.

The pathway will link in with the school’s values and traditions of excellence to ‘seek higher things' - Altiora Peto!