A Spotlight on Sports at Dulwich Puxi: More Than Just A Game

Recently, the community of Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi has been enjoying the world-class sports on offer right on the doorstep of our campus, with the Shanghai Rolex Master Tennis and Buick LPGA Championship golf tournaments taking place. Why is it important to bring our young students to see these?

Let’s hear Mr. Matt Uffindall, our Director of Sports, explain how this is done and why sport is so important to our college values.

Quoted by Matt Uffindall , Director of Sport

Q1：So why is sport so important at Dulwich Puxi?

Here at Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, our values of Work Hard Together, Aim High Together, Being Kind &  Respectful Together, and Make A Difference Together are brought to life in our sports programme. Our clear pathways support all of our community through participation in performance, through academic sports and preparing our students for the world that they will enter when they leave. The breadth of choice and the culture of the college ensures that everyone is welcome, from participation to performance levels.

Q2：What makes Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi special?

It is about our values, ethos and the people that drive this forward. From Year 1 to Year 13, our students have a sporting pathway where they can choose many different directions and options. With our truly world-class facilities and our excellent partnerships, there are opportunities for every single member of the community to participate and perform. This is lived daily through our teaching team, coaches and external partnerships. Our 50m 8 lane swimming pool, floodlit tennis centre, numerous football fields, and triple basketball, quadruple volleyball court, and gym space are a joy to play on and in, and we take great pride in these.

Besides, we have a great location close to two international sporting venues, which offer our students great opportunities to enjoy world-class sports. For example, The Shanghai Masters Tennis is a short ride from us, we take students and staff every year, this year we watched the great Novak Djokovic on center court, it is moments like this, seeing and creating idols in the flesh that truly inspires! Equally the Buick LPGA Championship takes place at Qizhong Golf Club, a short walk from us. We have students on the course watching, then meeting the professionals, picking their brains and listening to their journeys, it is really incredible. We have thriving partnerships and programmes for both these sports; our tennis with SportEd on campus daily is fantastic, and every week, our golfers are at the golf club training and practising on the same course and facilities as the professionals.

Q3：Can you tell us some more about your pathway?

Of course, our Mustangs pathway, the name for our college teams, starts in Y1, with our youngest students enjoying Mini Mustangs. An introduction to so many different sports and games. Learning and developing physical skills, understanding rules, and how to play as an individual or as a team. Through our pathway way pyramid, as we move up through the school the breadth of sports narrows as our seniors intensely focus on two or three key sports as they prepare for college life after graduation. Competitive city leagues, national competitions and worldwide events showcase our students and give them real-world experiences.

Q4：How do the Mustangs support college applications?

By the time our students are in high school, they have a number of years of experience of Mustangs under their belts. Many students will apply to American colleges, and it is here that we focus a lot of our sports and support scholarship applications, amongst other things, for NCAA and other conferences. Our sports and partnerships are strategically aligned to help this, we have the key team sports of volleyball, basketball and football alongside the most popular and well-funded individual sports of swimming, golf and tennis on offer.

Q5：As an International school with a focus on high academic rigour, how does sport fit into daily life at Dulwich Puxi?

Two-fold, first of all, all our students are student – athletes, so they are students first and athletes secondly. This culture along with our Mustangs Code of Conduct and values of Pride, Passion, Respect and Resilience, ensure that our students balance academic workload and expectations alongside their sporting commitments, this is something that colleges really value and an important life skill.

Secondly, we have an academic pathway for sports too. We offer IB Sports Exercise Health and Science as well as A Level Physical Education in our Sixth Form. The Cambridge IGCSE course is the perfect gateway to these, and we are very proud that this year we have 25% of all Year 10 – 13 students sitting an academic PE course.

Q6：What would you say to someone thinking about joining Dulwich Puxi and the Mustangs programme？

Do it! The environment we aim to create is one for absolutely everyone to be able to access and enjoy. We want to create opportunities and experiences that will shape our young people and really make a difference in their life. We want them to experience the highs of winning and learn from the pain of a defeat, to be respectful to their opponent but not to fear taking on the challenge. Our team here of PE teachers, Coaches and partners welcome you with open arms, once you are a Mustang, you will always be a Mustang！