On Wednesday 29 January 2025, Princethorpe College was delighted to welcome back Old Princethorpian, Rich Hill, who left the College back in 2015 and remembers his time at Princethorpe well. He was and still is a Field Hockey enthusiast and he proudly led the College’s First Team as Captain for two years. A highlight of his visit, in fact, was bumping into his former coach, Paul Whitehead; they enjoyed reminiscing about the much-loved South Africa Tour, which was a fun but jam-packed schedule of fixtures and tourist excursions!

Rich was returning to share his experiences and insights as the First Team Strength and Conditioning Coach for Wrexham AFC, the club famously owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Strength and Conditioning is a key component of Princethorpe's Sports Talent Development Programme, an initiative which aims to assist top-performing athletes in the school, many of whom represent at County level or beyond, in managing their time between training, competing, resting and studying.

Rich spoke about his journey to his current role and gave the pupils an insight into his daily life, the science behind his work and the commitment and professionalism required, as well as some of the benefits to his job. He then shared his advice for the College’s young athletes, and for those interested in practitioner roles, to help them get a head start in their future careers. He stressed the importance of a firm foundation in strength and conditioning and how that can help give you an advantage on the pitch. He encouraged them to never say no to an opportunity and to always put in 100% effort, as that certainly made the difference for him.

After Princethorpe, Rich went on to study Sport and Exercise Science at Coventry University and made the most of his placement year, having landed a role working with the First Team at Southampton FC. After completing his degree, he undertook a voluntary placement at Coventry United Ladies FC before working as Strength & Conditioning Assistant at Ipswich Town FC, whilst completing an MSc. in Strength & Conditioning. It was then the opportunity arose to move to his current role in February 2022, which he describes as "not like work at all; I love what I do so much".

Rich made the most of his visit to Princethorpe, taking a tour with Alumni Relations and Development Officer, Caroline Spencer, to see his old haunts and explore the new Science Centre. As well as bumping into his former coach, Rich enjoyed long catch ups with a couple of his favourite teachers - Mr Vella and Mr McCollin. They reminisced about A-Level RS and Hockey, respectively, and Rich was able to update them on the lives of his siblings and his OP friends, Luke Bromley and James Hobbs, whom he sees regularly. In fact, Rich is hoping that he and his friends will be able to come back to the College together in June for the OPs Summer Supper Reunion, to celebrate their tenth anniversary of leaving Princethorpe.

Our thanks go to Rich for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit the College, and for generously sharing his expertise and advice with pupils and staff. We are always grateful for the support of our Old Princethorpian community, they are such great role models for our current pupils, inspiring and encouraging them to follow their dreams. We were delighted to welcome him back to school and hope he is able to return for the Summer Supper Reunion.

If you would like to support current pupils by sharing your own expertise and professional insights, we would love to hear from you. Please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.

Also, if you are going to be celebrating your 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th or 50th anniversary of leaving Princethorpe, please do come along to the Summer Supper Reunion on Friday 27 June 2025. See more info and sign up details on our events page, here.