Our school’s football festival reaps huge rewards for children from the state and independent sector, writes Martin Stott
One of my favourite days of the year at school is our Improvers Football Festival. It?s brimmed full of the kind of determination and raw enthusiasm that children?s sport should be about.
The shared focus of the schools we invite is that of inclusion for those who would normally not be selected to play in a tournament side. There are no results or places as such ? all the players receive a certificate and a participation medal and enjoy the after-match hospitality, which is the norm for regular players. This event is for youngsters who just want to put on a team kit and play, regardless of ability ? football for football?s sake. The Best Day of His Life
After one particular festival, the mother of one of the players wrote to me to tell me that as her little boy went to bed that night (still wearing his medal) he said it had been the best day of his entire life. He had never played in a football tournament before.
It is a day we stage here for prep schools in the area but it is a constant reminder of how desperately important it is to make sport available to all children and to include those who would not necessarily be selected to represent their school in a tournament.
To some, this may sound patronising, but for the children who get to play it is most definitely not: it offers a chance to shine and feel the buzz of competition and the exc...