The Nest hosts action-packed Football Tournament to kick off an exciting new year of Inspiration Trust Sport Events

On Monday and Tuesday this week, all nine Inspiration Trust secondary schools attended our annual Trust Football competition at The Nest, the Community Sport Foundation’s 22-acre site located just north of Norwich.

Monday saw our Year 7 and 9 students take to the pitch, and on Wednesday it was the turn of the Year 8s and 10s. 36 boys’ and girls’ teams competed each day, with 72 teams competing across both days of the tournament. 

The Nest was witness to fantastic sportsmanship, teamwork and competitive gameplay from all our schools across the 2 days, with students consistently doing their best and supporting players from all teams when spectating. The Nest gave our students the amazing opportunity to compete on state-of-the-art 3G pitches throughout the tournament. 

Our Inspiration Trust players all competed at an impressive level, while maintaining high level of professionalism on the pitch. All our schools gave 100%, played with determination up to the final whistle and put on a show for the first Inspiration Trust Sport event of the year. Fast-paced and intense 12-minute matches led to entertaining, end-to-end football, with scorelines, often being decided in the final moments of each match. 

The two days saw lots of action across a total of 288 matches played in a Round-robin style competition, which ensured all schools had the opportunity to play each other across each day. The matches were refereed by Norfolk FA qualified referees, supported by sports leaders from Sir Isaac Newton and King Edward VII Academy. 

Inspiration Trust Assistant Sports Coordinator Thomas Wilkinson said: 

“What a way to kick off the season! Seeing the students demonstrating sportsmanship and determination, while enjoying an exciting, high quality football competition was incredible to witness, with the atmosphere around the 8 simultaneously running pitches electric across both days of the tournament.” 

Paul Wayman, Trust Sports Coordinator added: 

“We would like to express our thanks to the fantastic staff at The Nest for going above and beyond to ensure that all the Inspiration Trust students had a brilliant experience! Not only does The Nest provide an elite and contemporary football venue, but to host 720 students from all 9 of our Trust schools is no easy feat and their help allows us to run this amazing event. Some students even described the event as the opportunity they needed to go and join a local football team!

 

It is a pleasure to work with talented people from across the Trust, students and teachers alike, to enable young people to participate in sport and lead in a variety of roles. A special mention must go out to our Norfolk FA referees: J. Sutherland, C. Brown, P. Reynolds & A. Durbridge who were supported by our Trust sixth form leaders from King Edward VII & Sir Isaac Newton. Without their support, the days could not run as smoothly as they did.” 

C. Brown said:  

"Another enjoyable couple of days, despite the rain today. Once again, it’s appropriate that I mention just how well behaved and respectful the boys from all the schools were, both to me and their opponents. It says so much about them as individuals and about Inspiration Trust." 

Students eagerly checked their results throughout both days and took that knowledge into the final matches of each day. Standout performances from our Players of the Tournament led to marginal victories and comebacks in key matches, securing essential points for their teams. 

A massive thank you to all staff and students that participated across both days of the event, and congratulations to our winning schools, All-stars and Players of the Tournament. 

Overall results:

Players of the tournament: