IAPS Football Tournament
The IAPS U13 football tournament has been running annually for many years and recently we added the U11 football tournament to the programme too. This has proved a popular age group with lots of schools entering.
In 2019, we hosted 6 qualifying rounds in each age group. The top 24 teams qualified for the national finals. The U11 national finals took place at Queen’s College and the U13 national finals took place at Culford School. In total 91 schools and 132 teams entered the U11 and U13 tournaments equating to 1320 participants.
David Byrne has hosted a football tournament at Bede’s Prep school for many years. David entered the IAPS hot seat to answer some fun questions about his role at school and sports!
Name: David Byrne
School: Bede’s School, East Sussex
What do you love most about your job: The comradery of sport. Watching every pupil have the opportunity to progress and develop. Not just with their sporting ability but through resilience, determination and teamwork. We aim for the Sport provision at our school to give pupils a foundation for a lifelong active and healthy lifestyle - and all of the physical and mental benefits that it brings.
Favourite Sport: Anything that involves running around or competing against someone else! There are so many sports, that is one of the best things about it.
Favourite sportsman/woman: Serena Williams, she has competed at the highest level for a sustained period of time. At times her path has been challenging, however she's always managed to come back stronger. Most of us can relate to that and it has been impressive to see.
Do you play a sport? I have personally always liked to play a variation of sports. Traditionally I played team-based sports, like Football, Rugby, Hockey and Cricket. I think these teach you great communication and interpersonal skills. More recently, I have taken up individual based sports like tennis and martial arts. These give you a different sense of achievement and an understanding of your own physical and mental attributes.
If so, do you or have you played for a club/country/country? I played country level Rugby for a number of years and ran for the county on several occasions.
What IAPS event do you host? We host a number of IAPS events: Football, Swimming, Hockey and Cricket. They are great events; lots of fun and the pupils thoroughly enjoy getting involved.
How long have you hosted an IAPS event for? We have hosted these events for 5 years. Each year they get bigger and better. The pupils really value them as a highlight in their sporting calendars.
What do you love most about hosting an IAPS event? The pre and post excitement from the pupils. It’s fantastic to see their hard work and dedication pay off. The results are often irrelevant as long as they feel they have achieved their aims.
Favourite colour: Pink, I think it is thoroughly underrated. We took some pupils on a tough mudder course in June 2019, where we all had pink t-shirts on - easy to spot in a crowd and the pupils still wear them now!
Favourite food: If you asked the boys in my boarding house they would probably say broccoli. I try to eat it with most meals and often have it with my dinner whilst on duty.
Favourite celebrity: Keanu Reeves. From what I hear he is always going out of his way to help others. I believe that says a lot about someone.
If you hadn’t become a teacher, what would your dream job have been? I travelled quite a bit when I was younger. There is so much of the world to explore! One of the best things about my job is meeting people from all over the world. I would love a job where I could travel and experience different cultures.
Do you have any pets: A dog. He used to go running with me every day but he is pretty old now. My daughters love him, and they often dress him up - he has lots of patience (more than me!)
Next holiday destination on your bucket list: I have travelled across both South America and South Asia. Next, I would really like to try China, South Korea and Japan.
What was the best bit about lockdown? The ability to adjust. It is amazing what alternatives you find to keep yourself busy. We were lucky to have great online teaching provision. It was fantastic to be able to engage with the pupils. We had lots of online sporting challenges and many pupils and parents were happy to get involved with some fun competition.
What you are looking forward to most in 2020-2021: A newfound appreciation. We have started having pupils back for controlled pre-season sessions. The pupils are delighted to be back, and we as coaches are thrilled to have them.
Interesting fact about yourself: I suffer from galeophobia, an excessive and persistent fear of sharks. I think I watched ‘Jaws’ when I was too young.
We hope to be able to stage the football tournaments later on in the Autumn term if Coronavirus allows us to. Look out for updates on our website if these can launch.
