Sport Winchester

Please save the date for the inaugural Sport Wi******er Awards – a celebration of community sport in our city.
Join us on Friday 9th October 2026 at Wi******er Rugby Club for an evening of celebration and connection, recognising the talent and commitment of athletes of all ages, alongside the amazing club staff and volunteers whose dedication keeps local sport thriving.
Whether you pull on a shirt or a costume, pick up a whistle, run the social media or fund raising campaigns, wash the kit, or cheer from the sideline, this evening is for you!
Details of award categories, nomination deadlines, tickets and timings, will follow soon, along with information on opportunities to be involved as an event partner.

Congratulations and a big thank you to Sport Wi******er Intern who graduated yesterday from the University of Wi******er BA (Hons) Media and Communications. Wishing Emma all success for her Masters study 🎓We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Media and Communication Programme

Congratulations to Littleton Junior Football Club and Prodigy Sport Academy, a division of Wi******er Amateur Boxing Club, joint recipients of Sport Wi******er’s Community Grant One. Both have been awarded funds to support community sport through the creation of new facilities or resources to increase participation. More details will follow. Stay tuned for the next round of grant applications.

We are delighted to announce that is our newest member! Active LD empowers people with learning disabilities through activity, confidence, and community. At Sport Wi******er, we strive to make sports accessible to all in our community.

Free boxing training for Wi******er schools! To find out more email: or call

Can you help in the latest for sport quest?Reaching out to the Wi******er community to find free land where Cyclocross coaching and practice can take place. We would love to hear from anyone who has land or knows of space that could be made available.

The recent report, “Game Changing: How sport gives every girl a better chance”produced by Public First and commissioned by Sky Sports, estimated that enabling 18-year-old girls to play sport could lead to £570m in annual productivity gains and £73m in savings to the NHS each year. 
Despite the many generally-accepted benefits, it remains a fact that girls are far less likely than boys to be involved in sport. Girls are still dropping out of physical activity at alarming rates post primary school and many mothers are feeling such disappointment at how little has changed since their own school days.
All of this is playing out at a time when the profile of women’s football and rugby is at an all time high following stellar performances by the home nation teams in recent World Cup competitions. There is no shortage of fantastic female role models across the sporting landscape - clear and proud in their advocacy for opportunities for all, across gender, sexual orientation, body type, ethnic and other boundaries. On our screens, we see stadiums overflowing with young girls full of dreams of their sporting participation and achievement, but all too often these dreams fall by the wayside, unable to survive the obstacles. 
According to the detailed “Women in Sport - Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls” report, only 14 per cent of girls 5-16 achieve recommended levels of physical activity falling to 10 per cent of girls 13-16. Importantly, 1 in 3 girls aged 14-16 are unhappy with their body image and only 4 out of 10 girls consider themselves “sporty”.  Girls with low body esteem avoid trying out for the team sports that would help to develop leadership and teamwork skills and create camaraderie and shared responsibility.  
Girls are building less of the resilience, confidence and adaptability that sport supports and is so fundamental to creating opportunities in work and in life. 
It is time to make the changes necessary to deliver a better future. 
Sport Wi******er intends that a sharp focus on female sport must inform our future planning.

Sport Wi******er recently launched its vision for a sporting hub at the location of the old River Park Leisure Centre – full details of which can be found on our website.
Sport Wi******er Chair, Andy Eymond, commented, “We’ve been delighted by the level of interest in our River Park plan. While the new Wi******er Leisure Centre at Bar End is a huge asset, it doesn’t solve the long-standing shortfall in facilities for many of our city’s clubs and community members. Our clubs need more high-quality, affordable space to thrive and to deliver the positive societal benefits that we want for our city in the future.”
“The site has a unique covenant designating it specifically for sport and leisure – for the physical and mental health of the people of Wi******er. Instead of letting this valuable space sit unused, we want to create a facility that complements the Bar End centre and provides more opportunities for everyone in our community.”
“The protocol established by Wi******er City Council is underway and we are currently awaiting the results of their survey of the site’s condition. For now, it’s too early to discuss specific costs or whether we’d need to refurbish or demolish the existing building. We are in the process of putting together a team of local experts experienced at delivering successful city redevelopment projects and highly personally invested in this one.”
“We have to plan today if we are to build a community facility that can be loved and used by all of us for decades to come.” Photo: Friends of River Park