I'm going to give droning on about what the business is up to a miss for a week and talk about rugby, and specifically Middlesbrough RUFC under-16s and York under-16s.
Yesterday, the aforementioned teams, with Boro captained by my son and part-time staff member Matt, played in their third Yorkshire Cup final against each other in three years. York, had been beaten by us in the two previous finals and Boro had also won the final against Sandal at under-13, so were aiming to make it 4 in a row. This year York turned the tables on us with a fantastic attacking performance running out deserved winners 32-21.
I watched 70 mins of skilled and committed young men in an immense physical battle that will have left most of them aching somewhat today. What I also saw was respect for each other and the officials, tears from the losers and joy from the winners. The losers were honourable in defeat and the victors humble in victory. There were joint team photos after the presentation, parents and coaches from the losing team congratulating those from the winning team and a pride in the performance and the conduct of both sets of players.
We often hear stories of how bad the youth of today are supposed to be - well if I could be half the man that those young men of Middlesbrough and York are I would be very proud of myself.
If only footballers could act in the same way.
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