Wolves under-12s will compete in the 2023 Christmas Truce Tournament after sealing qualification on Remembrance Sunday.
The academy youngsters topped a group which included Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Aston Villa, Stoke City and Reading to secure their spot in December’s competition in Ypres, Belgium.
Lead U11/12 phase coach, Courtney Pitt, said: “The boys acquitted themselves extremely well over the two days in Aldershot. This started with our preparation the morning before we travelled and their exemplary behaviour in and around the hotel. As for the qualifiers itself, the lads showed a real hunger and desire to compete and that was highlighted by the fact we didn’t concede a goal on route to topping our group.
“It’s a truly remarkable achievement to qualify, as this is the first time we have reached the Truce Tournament through the qualifiers. Nevertheless, we have a talented group and it’s our job as Academy staff to try and help these boys develop and maximise their potential.
“We have created a togetherness in this group that will hopefully stand us in a good stead in Belgium. It’s an experience we are looking forward to, not just for the football aspect, but the chance to visit and educate the boys on some definitive moments in history.”
Prior to the qualifiers at the Army FA’s Aldershot home, each team completed a reading of their fallen players during a poignant pre-event ceremony and laid a wreath on behalf of their clubs
Each year the Premier League, in conjunction with Big Ideas, invites clubs to participate in the Christmas Truce Challenge, where academies are tasked with engaging the whole club and its surrounding community around a given topic.
The 2023 Truce Project theme is Windrush75 with two key elements – the first being Walter Tull and the significant impact he made.
Tull was a professional footballer and became the first black serving officer in the army during World War One. He played for Clapton FC, Tottenham and Northampton Town and also signed for Rangers, but never played for the Gers due to the outbreak of WW1.
The second part of the project is around social action and how the boys can engage and celebrate the contribution of the Windrush generation in the local community.
Academy education and welfare officer, Natalie Deakin, has explained how the club have actively engaged in this year’s theme and why the project is so important for the next generation.
“The boys visited the Staffordshire Regiment Museum to have a guided tour around the trench there to get an understanding of what life was like for the men that served in the Great War. They then visited the National Arboretum Memorial while also completing a workshop on Walter Tull and the Windrush generation and created poems and letters about the Great War.
“The project is hugely important to help the children remember that the statistics they hear about on the news were, in fact, very real people with families and probably came from backgrounds not too different to them. It’s good to get them to visit the trench in Staffordshire, so they can get some idea about the conditions that the men had to endure.
“The boys will take with them to Ypres, a huge appreciation of the sacrifice that was made by all those involved in the First and Second World Wars.”
