The Flagpole

The 2018 Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) U13 Regional Football Festival took place at Shrewsbury School between Saturday 7 and Monday 9 April 2018.   Princethorpe College was well represented with three Year 7 boys, Mark Dunkley, Finn Osborne and Jamie Robinson playing in the Midlands Region squad of 16 and a further two, Ollie Bench and Sean Hewlett, on standby as reserves.

The boys competed against representative teams from across the UK regions including Hertfordshire & Essex, London, North West, South Central, South East and South West.  Shrewsbury School provided a marvellous setting for the Festival with its outstanding facilities located on the banks of the River Severn. 

As a football festival no results were formally recorded and there were no final winners but standards were high.  Over the three days a total of 21 matches took place and every region won at least one match making this year’s festival a more even event than for many years.  The team from the Midlands, however, played particularly impressively; they were the only region to finish the festival with an unbeaten record, five wins and a draw, scoring 17 goals along the way. 

All three Princethorpe boys played brilliantly with the Midland’s coaches commenting, ‘they were an absolute credit to your school’.  They now have to wait and see if they are selected for summer camps and to find out if they will represent the ISFA nationally at U14 level next season. 

What a really great experience for them all.

Congratulations to Madoc Williams, Jamie Smith and James Robinson who play for the U13 Warwickshire Hockey team. The three Princethorpe boys played in the inter County Midlands tournament last Sunday 22 April against teams from Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire and Derbyshire and won to become this year’s Midlands Champions.

Recognition is also due to their fantastic coach - our very own Emma Nobes.

A fabulous result – well done to all!