Sam Peters sits down with old friend Will Dixon, Chief Operating Officer at Lord Wandsworth College, the school that produced Jonny Wilkinson and Ugo Monye.

Will lost his lower left leg to an IED while serving with 3 Rifles in Afghanistan in 2009. Fourteen months later he was part of the Row2Recovery crew, the first all-amputee team to row the Atlantic, raising £1.5 million for service charities. Sam told that story in his book Road to Recovery.

In this conversation Will reflects on the guilt of leaving his soldiers behind, the perspective he found on the wards at Headley Court and through Blesma, and why he has never seen his injury as more than “a scratch”. He explains the path from Barclays to running the operations of an independent school, and what he has learned about building resilience in young people without going back to the stiff upper lip.

The second half turns to school sport. Will and Sam discuss:

• Why winning is not the point, and why losing matters just as much
• How Lord Wandsworth College runs its concussion programme, and why educating parents is as important as educating staff
• The pressure sports staff can face from parents to get a child back on the pitch too soon
• Why “if in doubt, sit them out” has become the mantra in school rugby
• How the marketing of the professional game, with its focus on collisions and hits, is unhelpful for participation
• The difference between the men’s and women’s game in how they bring people in
• Choice, touch rugby and non-contact options for younger pupils
• Why shouting does not work, in the army or on the training pitch, and the “connect before correct” approach the school uses with pupils who have experienced trauma

A conversation about sport, service and what schools owe the children in their care.

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