18 September 2013
One of our Year 12 students, George Fox, was recently selected to play for the England Cerebral Palsy Development Team in a Home Nations Tournament, held at Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Shropshire. Over the course of the weekend matches were scheduled between England and the Republic of Ireland for Friday, followed by Scotland and the Republic of Ireland on Saturday, and finally England versus Scotland on Sunday.
Unfortunately, George was injured during training on the Friday morning, straining his thigh muscle. Unable to play in the game later that day, George was disappointed to say the least. With only one more England match to go, tensions were high and fingers were crossed that George would be fit in time for Sunday.
Sunday morning arrived and George was spotted with his team in full kit and warming up - it looked like George would get to play! His coaches were hopefully that George would get some match time, but he was not able to start the match because of his injury.
The Republic of Ireland had beaten Scotland the day before, and England had drawn against the Republic of Ireland on Friday, so everything was riding on the outcome of this final match.
The match started well, with the team keeping possession and with plenty of attempts on goal. However, a few silly mistakes took England to 2-0 down by half time. Hopes of seeing George play looked remote. Would they risk playing an injured player when they were so far behind?
At the start of the second half, the team had been changed around a bit and a couple of fresh players were brought out onto the field. Approximately 10 minutes into the second half, George and his teammate Dylan, a fellow member of the North West Regional Cerebral Palsy Team, came onto the pitch. The game soon turned around and England scored a great first goal, raising their spirits. Not long after, George sprinted down the wing and crossed the ball into the middle for Dylan to put the ball in the back of the net!
The boys were elated and George was over the moon, not only to actually get the chance to play for his country but also to have helped turn the game around. The match finished 2-2 and meant that Ireland won the tournament overall with England coming runners up.
George and his teammates were each presented with medals to commemorate the tournament and will also receive an England cap. In addition, George was voted by his teammates as Man of the Match.
All told, this was a tournament of highs and lows for George, which ended on a superb high and one which will help carry him forward to the future with renewed enthusiasm. George hopes to continue to progress in the Development Squad and, in the longer term, to progress onto the senior squad, where players are selected for the GB team and to compete at the Paralympics.
