Cadets forge lasting bonds during CCF Pringle

After a hiatus of two years CTCRM Lympstone, the home of the Royal Marine Commandos, opened its doors to 16 schools and their Marine Cadets for the Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy Competition. Competing over 12 stances, pupils are tested both individually and, crucially, as a team.

Here, five of our Cadets recount their experiences from the two-day event.

AMY (I)

Pringle will be a weekend that I will always remember. It was a new experience for everyone and we went from a group of nine pupils who didn’t really know each other to a team in just two days. Spending time together outside of the stances, looking at all of the photos and eating together, those were the moments that brought us closer together. We laughed and made jokes whenever we could, even after the Endurance Course when we were all soaking wet and freezing cold.

I enjoyed the Observation Stance and the infamous Endurance Course, as these are where teamwork is the most important. I struggled with the Endurance Course; running is not one of my favourite things to do, but I did it for my team and I want to thank Will for helping me get through it. He never left mine or Maya’s side, no matter what. He chose to support us despite being capable of going a lot faster than us. It’s a time where you had to be willing to accept help when you needed it.

One of the most challenging yet incredible parts of the course was the sheep dip where each participant is pushed and pulled through an underwater tunnel by their teammates. It was testing as I had to put all of my trust into my team and they had to put their faith in me, however, with the Endurance Course being the last stance of the competition, we had already established the trust that was needed to get through it.

Everyone put their everything into each stance and we pushed our bodies to the max, both physically and mentally. Yet we were still able to laugh over meals or when the alarms went off at 5:30 in the morning. Competing against 15 other schools was a real challenge but provided some good-hearted rivalries, whether it be chanting in the aircraft hangar, getting to know people from other schools when we first arrived or chatting in the meal queue. Everyone was going through the same thing so it helped to share experiences about each stance.

Everyone worked really hard to make this team work but a special mention has to go out to Marcus who was a leader throughout everything, encouraging us when we weren’t sure that we could do it and he never gave up on our team. He kept the spirits up on the Endurance Course and commanded everyone all the way through.

My experiences taught me that often it really is just mind over matter because if you keep doubting yourself then you will never be able to achieve it. However, if you believe in yourself and have the support of the team around you, then you can succeed. I never thought that I would be able to complete the monkey bars but, when it came to tackle them, I took confidence from the team and believed in myself. We may not have won any trophies but we came back with so much more; a stronger team that had relied on, and trusted, each other throughout the weekend, with bonding across all of the year groups represented. We proved to ourselves what we could achieve individually and were all proud of what we achieved as a team due to our determination.

I could not have wished to spend that experience with any other group of people. Thank you to the Pringle 22 team and to Mr Daniels and Mr Mills for an experience of a lifetime.

GEORGIA (K)

It meant a lot to me to be selected for the Pringle team as I’ve never considered myself to be the fittest person and I feel like my efforts really paid off. I’m hoping my experiences can inspire those who believe that you have to be fit to be selected for the team, although I can’t deny being fitter would be a bonus!

Everyone clicked as a team; we all got on really well and this made the experience even more valuable. I particularly enjoyed the Drill stance as it was just incredible how all our hard work came together, really highlighting our team relationship.

The activities where we acted as a collective and each team member was calm, careful and resilient were the ones in which we thrived. The sessions where a Cadet perhaps hesitated or doubted themselves or any member of the team for even a second, we struggled. Yet thriving in this case meant performing the absolute best that we could and not necessarily winning.

Something I have always struggled with my entire life, yet hated to admit, was leadership. I have always found it difficult to use my voice and have always been quite anxious about doing it when I had to. Yet being thrown into the Section Attack as Second in Command and wanting to represent Bradfield in the best way possible I knew I had to do it and I had to push myself to get what I wanted. So, when I finally opened the score sheet and saw that we had come second of 16 schools I was incredibly proud of myself and knew that it would be something I would remember for the rest of my life.

I led, and competed with, Bradfield’s team of nine top performing Royal Marine Cadets in the Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy Competition. After expecting the competition to be cancelled for the third year in a row, we were delighted to hear it was going to go forward in March.

Our preparation started immediately. The combination of breaktime drill practices and the gruelling 7am PT sessions led by Mr Daniels or Mr Mills certainly helped cement our familial bond and communication. Our team spanned a range of year groups as well as an even split of women and men which I believe was essential for our success in stances such as the Command Task, where having a diverse outlook on the problem at hand helped us solve it quickly and efficiently.

As we drove through the gates of the Commando Training Centre, to say I was nervous would be an understatement. I felt the pressure of both representing the College’s name in competition, along with not wanting to let my team down. However, after doing a further Drill practice that evening, I could tell our team was prepared for this weekend and was going to put 100% effort into every event.

In fact, when running the Endurance Course, it would be disingenuous to say we only put in 100% of our effort. Every single member pushed themselves harder than they ever thought was possible, fighting through panting breath, shockingly cold water and cut and bruised legs. Pringle was a beautiful culmination of not only our training, but also our team’s synergy. We left with our heads held high and an immense feeling of pride for what we had just achieved.

The Pringle competition goes high up on the list of hardest things that I have ever done in my life. It was one of the things that I had to push to get through the most and, looking back, the hardest part was probably the endurance course. This was a 2.5-mile run that involved wading through large ponds and the infamous sheep dip, an underwater pipe about two metres long which you have to get through via a combination of teammates pushing and pulling you. I feel like this experience has vastly improved my resilience and taught me just to keep on pushing. This will come in handy in my co-curricular and academic life.

Another challenge was the Obstacle Course; a track that we had to navigate and get over a number of obstacles which varied from a six-foot wall to monkey bars over freezing water. Doing this has greatly improved my teamwork capabilities as we had to work as an efficient team to get around the course the fastest. I also feel competing in the Pringle has made me more open-minded as it has shown me glimpses of the military life of real Marines. As well as being up there on the list of hardest things I have ever done it is also up there on the list of things that I have enjoyed most in my life.