Well, the waiting is finally over. The Year 8 Boroughbridge High School football team will be taking on Claremont School in the final of the ESFA Boys Under 13 PlayStation Small Schools’ Trophy on May 22nd at the Hawthorn’s Stadium which, for those unfamiliar with the Premier League, is the West Bromwich Albion ground. I know, exciting times indeed! In order to reach the final the team have had to secure 6 wins against a wide range of teams. A fantastic achievement. Congratulations to Alex, Harry, Josh, Nathan, Archie, Ryan, Matt, Harry, Will, Adam, Keane, Reuben, Monty, Dan and Mr. Collings, of course.

By way of preparation, Harrogate Town AFC have been very kindly showing their support. It was a great privilege to meet Aaron Williams and Iain Service when they joined a training session at Boroughbridge High School on Tuesday afternoon. As you can see, they also brought with them last season’s play off trophy, a clear representation of what can be achieved through hard work and determination. After watching the boys in action, the team had a chance to ask Aaron, a man who’s scored at Wembley, some searching questions. He revealed that part of his preparation for big matches was to imagine winning, describing the feeling of scoring a critical goal in front of family and friends and the deep sense of emotion. Tips for the big match were simple, ‘Don’t give up and remember that you’ve got this far as a team and whether you win, lose or draw, you do that as a team.’ Genuinely inspiring words. We’re really grateful to Aaron and Iain for their time and input.

So the team will be travelling down to the West Midlands on 22nd May in their new kits which have been very kindly sponsored by ‘2 h Storage Solutions’ based in Wetherby. This is such a momentous occasion that we’re hoping to take as many students from Years 7, 8 and 9 who would like to support the team. We’ll send out a letter and further details following the Easter break.

Thank you for your support throughout this Spring Term. I hope that you and your families have a lovely Easter break and we’ll look forward to welcoming Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 students for Easter Revision School from Tuesday 23^rd to Thursday 25^th April. Further details can be found on the website.