A group of boys from Etwall Primary School have gone through their last steps of preparation before representing Derby County at Wembley Stadium for the Kinder+ Sport Kids Cup Final.
Harry Hawkins, Ben Price, Sam Cheetham, Nick Dickens, Conor Livingstone, Leo Wilkinson, Agish Shibu and Jack Perry qualified to represent the Rams by winning the Community Trust’s local final back in February.
They then went onto win the Regional Final in Barnsley against several other Sky Bet Championship clubs which set them up for a date at the national stadium.
They will play in the National Final on Monday 29th May, where they will take on representatives from Ipswich Town on the pitch ahead of the Championship Play Off Final.
Following Etwall Primary’s victory at the local final, the Community Trust have been on hand to coach the boys and prepare them for the Regional and now National Final.
Coaches from the Community Trust visited Etwall Leisure Centre last week for their last training session before the big game.
Passing and shooting drills took place in the session along with a rundown of what to expect on the day, where they will get treated like professional footballers, enjoy a tour of the stadium and have the chance to watch Reading and Huddersfield Town battle it out for a place in the Premier League.
Etwall Primary Teacher Sarah Giles said: “The boys are really excited to be playing at Wembley and can’t believe they’ve got this chance.
“Most of them have ambitions to go on and become famous footballers so it’s great that the Derby County Community Trust and the EFL have given them an opportunity to play on such a big stage.”
On their to the final, she added: “Everyone at the school is so proud of them and what they’ve achieved, having beaten off competition from 62 other local schools to represent Derby County, then to come out on top against 12 teams at the regionals is a fantastic achievement.
“We are all behind them to go all the way on Monday!”
To keep up to date with the progress of the Etwall Primary School team on Monday, follow Derby County Community Trust on Twitter (@DCCTofficial).