Preparing the Pitches and Spectators

The morning’s session at Beech House was fast and furious, as everyone helped make the Extra Time football pitches.

As the team worked, they shared some of their sporting stories, from raising bruises on the hockey pitch to custom made ten pin bowling balls.

This led to a different sort of bowling, as Peggy recounted using a stick to bowl an old bicycle wheel along the road. Apparently, it didn’t matter if the tyre was on or off – but it made a better noise without it.

Amongst the chat – and the singing – the team also settled on their name; the Beech House Bakers.

And the kit colour? Pink, with a white icing top.

That afternoon, the Super Sewter Dudes warmed up with a bit of pen football – dribbling (scribbling?) their white marker across a green ‘pitch’ in time to some well known football tunes.

One player commented that they felt better after that – it had helped them relax and they were now ready to get stuck in.

First, however, they had to decide on a team colour – and that turned into quite a debate.

With four suggestions to choose from, the children discussed the reasons behind their choices (e.g. purple because it’s ‘royal’, green because of school colours, yellow because of Norwich) and tried their utmost to persuade the others to agree. That led to several compromises but still no clear winner; so they put it to a vote.

The whole process took some considerable time, and it was really impressive to watch as the children voiced their own opinions, listened to opposing views, negotiated and argued and moved, ultimately, from abject opposition to a result on which they all willingly agreed.

And the colours? Orange and purple.