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On Thursday 15 November 2012 four young men and two older men traveled to Eastwell Manor, Ashford to represent a squad of twenty players, a PE department and a school.

Having been nominated for Kent Regional Newspaper's Young Team of the Year in the summer of 2012 it had been lengthy journey to this point. Students, parents, family and friends of both players and staff alike had been asked to vote for this team of worthy young men. Since their coming together as a team in year seven they have grown as individuals but more significantly as a group.

They have competed across Kent and indeed the South of England against opponents of skill and quality. In year seven they lost in the quarter final of the Kent Cup to the Howard school from Rainham. In Year Eight they played some terrific football to reverse that result when they met the same opponents in the final. The four-nil victory was as comfortable as it sounds and the team identity really shone through. In Year Nine they returned to the Kent Cup Final and defeated Hurstmere school three-one with a magnificent display of teamwork and three quality goals. Both opponents were schools of double our size and both campaigns had involved a variety of challenges to be met and overcome. In Year Nine they competed on two fronts having been entered into the National Cup. Eight hundred and ten teams entered this competition, eight games into the competition and our team were in the last sixteen in the country, eventually losing to Brentwood School in a closely contested game. As they move now into year Ten we enter December having won the local league at both A and B level and still in both the National and Kent Cups and their hunger for success remains as strong as ever.

As a department we have often said of this group that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and the desire to not be beaten has been witnessed often. This team spirit and enthusiasm for hard work has brought many a victory when defeat looked probable. There are of course a number of individuals who have exceptional skill and when they function at the top of their game the teams job is easier. However, no individual is above the team and when watching them play the collective responsibility shown is what stands out as their greatest asset.

Yet the real story of this team lays not only in their success on the field but in their characters off it, fiercely competitive, totally driven, passionate and skillful but at the same time respectful, honest and humble when the occasion demands it. It is for these reasons that the team were proposed for Young Team of the Year and perhaps for these reasons that the team received enough votes to be in the top five. From this shortlist the judges invited three teams to the presentation and we arrived with hope but tempered expectation. As the nominations were described we realised how tough the competition was. In time honoured fashion the the final placings were announced in reverse order. The warm glow of satisfaction which pervaded our group as the announcement was completed led to chests swelled with pride at our achievement. In typically magnanimous fashion our skipper led the small, but happy band, to the stage to accept the plaudits on behalf of every player who has represented the team in the last three and half years.

Many Thanks to all who voted and have supported the team and the department during this time and we look forward to this continuing. It was a real privilege to sit with so many talented performers and hear about so much sporting dedication throughout the county, we can be proud of the part that we have played in it.