For Germantown Friends School Varsity Boys Soccer, the 2026 preseason began more than 3,500 miles from home. In August, the Tigers traveled to Winchester, England, for an intensive training experience centered at Winchester College. The nine day international trip combined training and competition with cultural exploration, team building, and an opportunity to immerse themselves in a country where soccer—or football—is woven into everyday life.
The connection between GFS and Winchester College did not begin with this summer’s trip. The two schools have participated in an academic exchange program for Upper School students for over 20 years. And Jason Dodd, Winchester College’s Head of Football and a former professional player, has been a regular visitor to GFS over the years, working with Tigers during preseason and helping establish a relationship between the two soccer programs.
Last summer, that relationship expanded when Winchester College brought its team across the Atlantic to Philadelphia. One year later, it was GFS making the return trip.
For the Tigers, that meant more than simply traveling to England to play soccer. Staying in the dormitories at Winchester College, eating meals together, training on campus, and walking into town gave the players an opportunity to experience a version of everyday life at one of England’s historic boarding schools (founded in 1382!).
It also gave them something invaluable at the beginning of a season: time together.
“Winchester is a truly special place, and after seeing and experiencing just about all it has to offer, I think the boys will leave with memories they’ll cherish for a lifetime,” said GFS Assistant Coach and alumnus Caleb MacTavish ’09. “Dorm life has been a lot of fun, with table tennis and board games during down time, and we’ve been well fed!”
Senior captain Will Pendse reflected on the team's time at Winchester: “We almost got to live like the Winchester College kids' daily life, it was a really different experience than here. The team bonded a lot, we were together all the time, not just during training like other preseasons.”
Of course, this was still preseason though, and there was a lot of work to be done.
Training sessions were built into nearly every day, and the Tigers played four matches in four days against a variety of competitors. GFS earned a 3–1 victory over a Winchester College squad composed of first- and second-team players and delivered one of the trip’s highlights with a seven-goal, clean-sheet performance against a local Winchester side.
The greatest test came in the final match against a Bournemouth-based academy squad. This team featured players primarily between 17 and 19 years old who had come from around the world to train in England while pursuing opportunities to play collegiately or professionally.
Despite facing an older, deeper opponent, GFS came out aggressively. The Tigers earned five corner kicks in the opening 10 minutes before senior captain Cole Fosnot converted a penalty to give GFS a 1–0 advantage. The Tigers carried that lead into halftime before Bournemouth’s depth and fresh legs eventually helped turn the match, with GFS falling 3–1.
“I could not be any prouder of the performance your boys put into last night’s match,” Head Coach Sam McIlvain wrote to families afterward. “The work rate and effort remained outstanding.”
The result mattered less than what the Tigers learned from it. Four matches against unfamiliar opponents offered an opportunity to adapt to a different, more physical style of soccer and to discover how the group responded when tired, challenged, and outside its comfort zone.
“The matches have been competitive, with a 2–2 record overall,” MacTavish said. “The boys are certainly bruised and battered—it’s a different brand of football over here—but they’ve grown stronger from the experience."
And while soccer provided the foundation for the trip, the experience extended well beyond the pitch.
A day in London brought the Tigers by train to Waterloo and then on foot to Borough Market, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. From there, the group navigated the Underground before experiencing English soccer culture firsthand at an Arsenal match.
“The time away from the pitch was very fun. We got to go off in our groups for these little outings and being in England, the birthplace of football, it was the perfect bonding experience,” said senior captain and Tiger goalkeeper Wyn Stace.
Another excursion took the team to Bath, where players visited the Roman Baths, explored the city, and tested themselves in escape rooms at Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein. Back in Winchester, the Tigers visited the Great Hall, explored the historic city, and finished their stay with a walk through the surrounding English countryside and a team dinner at a traditional fish and chips restaurant.
From navigating a new city with teammates to stepping onto the pitch against unfamiliar opponents, the Tigers spent the week experiencing something new together.
That is ultimately what made Winchester valuable as a preseason destination.
The trip provided high-level competition and daily training in a culture passionate about the sport, but it also represented the kind of broader opportunity GFS Athletics hopes to provide its student-athletes: the chance to compete, travel, build relationships, experience another culture, and learn alongside teammates.
The Tigers now return to Germantown with the regular season ahead—and a milestone potentially waiting for their head coach. McIlvain enters the season with 99 victories as head coach of Varsity Boys Soccer, meaning his next victory will be No. 100 with the boys program. Including his previous tenure as head coach of GFS Girls Soccer, McIlvain has earned 135 varsity victories at Germantown Friends.
It’ll be the new faces on the team that will help the Tigers repeat the successes of last season. Both Pendse and Stace agree, “The team is coming together great, we have some new faces and they’re putting in a lot of effort,” said Stace. “I think we look good!”
For a program preparing for another season together, England offered something difficult to replicate at home: uninterrupted time to train, compete, explore, and grow alongside one another.
Last summer, Winchester brought a piece of its soccer culture to Germantown. This summer, the Tigers had the opportunity to experience it for themselves.
They returned home with four matches under their belts, countless shared experiences, and, most importantly, a stronger sense of the team they want to become.