Meet the team behind sport at The Oratory Prep School

Published by The Oratory Prep School on Wednesday 2nd of September 2026

The Oratory Prep School has launched its new Sports Booklet, shining a light on the remarkable breadth of sporting and coaching experience within its staff team.

The Oratory Prep School has launched its new Sports Booklet, shining a light on the remarkable breadth of sporting and coaching experience within its staff team.

Among those coaching pupils at the South Oxfordshire prep school are former international athletes, national champions and county-level sportsmen and women, with experience spanning swimming, rugby, hockey, cricket, netball, athletics, tennis and more.

One member of staff represented Great Britain and England in swimming, competing at two Commonwealth Games, European Championships and the 1991 World Championships in Perth. Elsewhere in the team are staff who have represented Hong Kong in rugby, Scotland at U18 level in lacrosse, played hockey for British Universities and been selected for the GB Athletics Development Squad.

Headmaster William May brings plenty of sporting experience of his own. A former county cricketer and qualified rugby, hockey and cricket coach, he has also completed 28 marathons, two ultramarathons and an Ironman. His more adventurous challenges include running 75 miles across the Namib Desert carrying his own provisions, climbing Mont Blanc and cycling from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.

Behind the impressive sporting CVs is a considerable depth of coaching experience too, from staff who have spent decades coaching prep school sport to those who have led teams to national competitions and taken pupils on sports tours around the world.

For OPS, however, the aim isn't simply to produce winning teams. The school wants every child to have the chance to get involved, experience different sports and find something they genuinely enjoy, while providing the coaching and competition for talented pupils who want to take their sport further.

The new Excellence in Sport Booklet brings together the people, programme and philosophy behind sport at OPS – and reveals a few surprising sporting facts about the staff along the way.