3 Days, 34 students, 3 teachers. What a fantastic time was had by all.
The Be A Baller discovery days started at Smestow on the Tuesday where Mr Webb had put on a range of different matches and activities into a Euros like tournament style, looking for teams to come out on top. We had a 9v9 full game going on, 5 a-side out on the field and then also some fun Panna football in a 1v1 situation but extra points were awarded by for a ‘megs’ so we saw lots of tricks and flicks from the students in this one. Some fantastic quality and excellent work rate was on show as the students endured on 4 hours of game situations and then finished with some penalty shootouts.
Big shoutout to Elite FC who were the winners of the YR7&8 Competition and then Project Neymar took the title for the YR9&10s.
Wednesday then came where we embarked on Aldersley Leisure Village where we were met by coaches from Wolves Foundation who led the students through a 2 hour training session looking at some different types of shooting and then some passing and possession based work. The students were absolutely fantastic and had lots of praise from all of the wolves coaches, a quote from them was; Teddy, Louis and Kurran were blown away by the stadium session this morning and the skill and standard of behaviour shown by all. The students were a credit to the school, the session finished with a team penalty shootout and the winners who received a replica Wolverhampton Wanderers first team shirt were Cristian, Danny, Svetlana and Omid.
In the afternoon, we then went for a tour round Molineux stadium which the students loved and really got chance to see what it was like behind the scenes of a professional football club. The chance to sit where some of their role models sit in the changing rooms or look out onto the pitch as they were a pundit or a commentator really topped the day off for the students. Another quote from the wolves staff was; The Stadium Tour was a pleasure to host due to their participation and engagement. An absolute credit to the School, their teachers and their parents. Please extend our thanks.
The final day of Discovery days and it was the biggest one yet for the Ballers with a 5:45am meet at school and we didn’t return until 19:30. However, this was all worth it with a breathtaking day down at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. If the students were taken back by the Molineux training and tour then this was a different level and it left some of them speechless. Once we arrived in London, the day started with a training session at the Tottenham Hotspur training ground which was led by academy coaches and the students got to see exactly what a state of the art training ground in the premier league is like. They even got chance to see a Tottenham first team player from afar. The training sessions were excellently led and our students engagement and quality on such a hot day was once again a credit to them. We had lots of compliments from the coaches and some of the quality of our players really got some plaudits; special mention to Kye and Svetlana in YR10 who were pointed out by the academy director of Tottenham as being exceptional players. Once the training was finished, we then went onto a tour of one of if not the best stadium in the world and it definitely lived up to the expectations! The students and also Mr Webb who has been to many stadiums in his time were taken away with the facilities at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. On a self guided tour, we got chance to see what it is like to be an executive member at Tottenham, what it is like to be not only a football player but also an NFL player at the stadium with a trip into the NFL locker room which nobody on the trip had ever had chance to see inside. An absolutely amazing experience for the students and something that will stay with them for a very long time.
The Be A Baller discovery days were a huge success with everyone enjoying themselves along with some once in a lifetime experiences. The behaviour was exemplary from everyone involved and all were a credit to the school. Until next year Ballers.
