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Footballing thrill for Dyffryn Taf Pupils
A group of pupils from Dyffryn Taf School recently visited the David Beckham Academy in London and marvelled at the wonderful facilities there.
The London Academy is the largest sporting facility of its kind in Europe, built on the Greenwich Peninsula next door to The O2, where it houses two full-sized, indoor pitches and state-of-the-art educational and medical facilities, and gives the message;
“The David Beckham Academy welcomes all young players regardless of their ability - we offer something to each and every player who walks through our doors.”
Activities galore
The group spent the day at the academy taking part in activities based around football skills and healthy living. All the activities also encouraged a positive attitude to sport and exercise amongst the young people. The day gave pupils a truly unique experience, linking physical activity with areas of citizenship, science, nutrition and leadership.
The mixed group of Year 7 and 8 pupils from Dyffryn Taf were split into teams representing countries for the World Cup-themed day. Throughout the day the different countries took part in a wide variety of football-based tasks and challenges both on and off the pitch. The teams collected points for how they completed the tasks and challenges and also for showing good sportsmanship, teamwork, helping each other and having a positive attitude.
Pupil comments
“The Academy is an amazing facility; it’s really modern and has a great design. The pitches were huge and it was great to see all the football memorabilia and David Beckham shirts,” said Joseph Latham from Year 8, who attended the day.
“All the activities were really interesting and the coaches we worked with on the day were really nice and they made the day great fun. Visiting the Academy was and amazing opportunity and I really enjoyed it,” said Kate Marsden from Year 8 who also attended the day.
Deserved awards
Both Kate and Joseph were among the pupils who were chosen by the coaches to receive a “Good Team Member” medal for working well within their teams and helping others throughout the day.
All the pupils who attended will be presented with a certificate and a souvenir football during an assembly at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf.
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