"Believe"
A simple yet powerful sporting philosophy immortalised by the great Theodore "Ted" Lasso. A wonderful word which unifies sportspersons of various skills and backgrounds and inspires them to collectively achieve great things.
After a two-year hiatus, Bruern sent a squad of 14 boys to compete in the prestigious Sibford 7's competition. The prize was a place at the National finals day to be held at Franklin's Gardens, home of the Northampton Saints. The Sibford Competition comprised of 24 schools coming from 8 counties. The initial stage was the group stage containing 4 teams who would play each other. The top two teams would proceed to compete for the cup and the bottom two teams in the group would compete for the plate.
These 14 boys had been training hard for 10 weeks where Mr Cole and I pushed them on their fitness and their determination. The boys held the most powerful weapon, Belief.
After a rather inopportune start and a rushed preparation, our first game ended in a resounding defeat. We rallied and captain Monty F drew them together reminding them to "believe!" The next game was a statement of intent and a brilliant victory to set up a scintillating third game that would give us a chance to compete in the cup knockout stages. Agonisingly, we fell short of qualifying by 2 points. Most sides would be crushed, not the Bruern 14!
Fuelled by their raucous support and their own camaraderie, spearheaded by the powerful running of Chris E and the guile of Louis S and Tom B we battled and fought through the Quarter and Semi Final to play the formidable Buckingham in the plate final. Alas, it was a bridge too far but we fought and fought till the very end. The squad ended up runners up and the 4th best side in the tournament.
My sincere thanks to all the parents who supported us so amazingly, Mr Cole for his brilliance and mainly to the boys for their commitment, good humour, courage and heart.
They believed and my goodness, they definitely achieved!!!
Mr Vadivale
7's squad: Monty F (Capt), Leo W (vc), Tom B, Narayan B, Tom E, Jack W, Will B, Max B, Matthew E, Edward R, Chris E, Freddie D, Louis S and Rudy C(S).
