They think its all over....... It is now !!

Saturday 25th June 2011

Lomas suited & booted

Its all gone by in such a blur of activity its hard to believe its all but over!!
The morning was given over to the kids going around with their host parents & getting up to different activities all over the city then it was off to the Midland Hotel for the final presentations and closing ceremony.

The lomas turned up in their tour suits and looked very smart and it turned out to be Lomas captain Bank's birthday so we got the Wright Robinson lads & Lomas together  in a scrum & sang happy birthday to him. Once all the dignitaries from the council had arrived it was a sit down dinner with a buffet from the four visiting teams' countries. Food from India, Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa & of course Thailand made sure all the lads had plenty to eat.

Once dinner was over Councillor Mark Hackett the man who made this tour his own gave a rousing speech about how much the city of Manchester had enjoyed being host & how much it meant to the youth & host schools as well as the visiting teams to have taken part. He was so impressed by the success that he wants to make it an annual event !!.
Phil Clarke of the RFU then presented the touring captains with a rugby shirt before handing proceedings over to Touraid director Andy Berry the driving force behind this incredible charity that has seen over an amazing 50 tours of under privileged kids to the UK since its inception 5 years ago for his final say on the event which all agreed was a brilliant success.

After all the formalities were over it was down to the visiting teams to do a spot on the floor, the Indian side entertained with a bollywood dance routine with all the music and flare that entails, then the South African team did a heartening rendition of their national anthem. The Trinidad & Tobago team did some Reggae music led by their inspirational coach Rudolph which had the whole hall clapping. Then it was down to Thailand and the boys came in wearing their ancient Thai Boxing gear to put on a Thai boxing demonstration that left the 500+ guests in awe !! At the end they all lined up with a Thai flag signed by all the schools & participants & sang the Thai national anthem before presenting the flag to the Lord Mayor who said he would have it framed & hung in a place of honour in the town hall !! Lots of people wanted photos of the lads in their kit including the Mayor & Chester Williams. Bank & WR captain Ben Powell were presented with signed match balls in memory of Banks birthday by Chester
With all the photos & formalities over it was down to the DJ's to rock and all the kids were on the dance floor for an impromptu dance off with the Trinidad and South African teams winning that one !!

A great week of educational activities, tours & rugby well done Touraid, Well done Wright Robinson Sports Academy, Well done Manchester & well done LOMAS !! See you all next year !!