Yesterday, Malet Lambert School hosted a 'Tie of the Round’ event courtesy of National School’s Cup sponsors Playstation, with Hull City midfielder Tom Huddlestone as the guest of honour.
‘Tie of the Round’ is a special event run by Playstation School’s Cup at only 10 schools out of over 1,500 that enter. It’s aim is to celebrate grassroots football with a full day of activities around a central match, and a special guest to give the event that VIP edge.
Tom spent over three hours at Malet in the run up to the main event of the day - the School’s Cup quarter-final match between Malet and Brockington College, South Leicestershire.
He was interviewed by the media, grilled by our students and battled against a member of the U14 B team for FIFA14 supremacy.
Budding sports journalists had a list of questions to ask him, ranging from ‘if you weren’t a footballer, what would you be?’ to ‘who’s the best footballer in the premiership (apart from you)?’.
They even asked him what he thought of the school, to which he replied, “From what i’ve seen, it’s unbelievable - it makes me jealous i'm not 12 years younger.” Students will be writing a report on the full interview which will be posted on our website shortly.
Later in the day, Tom took on Year 9 student and U14 B team player, Brad, in a bid to become champion of FIFA14. Tom played as Hull City, while Brad chose Sunderland.
Brad was crowing and the crowd cheering after he scored the very first goal, but Tom was playing it cool and came back with two consecutive goals to win the match. Next time, Tom!
Elsewhere during the day, students had lots to be excited about. Everyone who had a PE class yesterday was given the opportunity to challenge each other on FIFA14 or one of many other games available, or to get their photo taken for the front page of Match! magazine.
At lunchtime, hoards of excited students descended on the PE department to try out the equipment or support the sixteen students battling to become FIFA14 champion. The overall winner was Year 7 student Harry Codd.
Throughout the day, specialist ESFA coaches provided training sessions for students to improve their football skills and develop good technique. Year 8 student Tiahna gained a lot from the coaching.
She said, "I have been learning to tackle and just improve my game. Football is good fun and more girls are taking part now.”
Finally, the quarter-final match loomed. Tom helped with the pre-match warm up before tackling the crowds of students waiting to get their boots/t-shirts/rulers signed.
The first half of the match was on an even keel, with Malet scoring two goals early on and Brockington following suit just before half time.
In the second half, Malet exploded into action scoring an unbelievable 8 further goals! The match finished 10-3, with five goals scored by team captain Billy Chadwick, four by Jacob Dale and one from Alex Killingham.
The team will now play Honley High School from Huddersfield in their semi-final match.
Head of PE, Mr Ripley, had been the key contact for organising the event and was delighted with the outcome of both the activities and the match.
He said, "The PlayStation Schools' Cup activities have created a real buzz in the school and having Tom Huddlestone down has been brilliant.
"He is such a good role model and it gives something for the young lads to aspire to.
"The lads have worked really hard and we are all very proud of them. They had to battle in the first half when it was 2-2 but they proved really strong and played a great passing game in the second half.
“It was great to see so many people cheering on our lads and I think it really gave them a boost, even if it added to the pressure a bit.
“We’re very glad to have had the opportunity to host a ‘Tie of the Round’ event and now we’re concentrating on getting through the next round all the way to the final."
**More photos soon on our Gallery!