For anyone who has followed our company blog for any length of time, you will be aware that the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity is one that is very close to our hearts. At the final Daffodil Ball, which has supported this cause for over 34 years, David Fyfe successfully bid for an auction prize where a junior football team would get a special session hosted by Barry Bannan of Sheffield Wednesday and social media star, Steve Bracknall, of Royal Oak FC.
David knew that his two grandsons, Hari and Arvind, who are both football mad and lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fans, would love to have Barry and Steve along to a session. With Hari already helping Arvind’s Porter U14 team with training, it made sense to arrange the session for Arvind’s team (and as head coach for the team, I was more than happy to oblige!).
Needless to say, the kids all loved it and definitely had an extra spring in their step as they ran through all the drills. The key messages from Barry were to work hard and to communicate, which are important principles whether it’s in football or life in general. Steve told them not to be afraid to put a foot in and make sure they ‘gerrit’ forward!’.
Unfortunately, despite coming back from 3-0 at half time in the their next match against Beighton Magpies, to make it 3-3, we got caught with a last-minute sucker punch and lost 4-3 but hopefully the lads have learned plenty of valuable lessons to take into the rest of the season. Also, despite my best advice to Barry, Sheffield Wednesday were also unable to win their subsequent match, but most importantly the real winner is the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
