As thousands of fans made the pilgrimage to Wembley for this year’s Challenge Cup Final, some of Skolars very own made a special trip up Wembley way for a day they will never forget.

Aita Kyunoshi of the club’s successful U19’s was chosen as London Skolars flag bearer for the pre-match parade. Each of the 96 clubs who started this year’s Tetley’s Challenge Cup were represented on the field as the two teams from Hull FC and Wigan Warriors stepped out onto the Wembley turf. The flag bearers stood guard as Abide With Me was belted out by the enthusiastic crowd and then returned to their seats to watch Wigan overcome in an error-strewn final.

This was not Skolars only representation through the day however. Community Coach Matt Cuss (pictured above with Sam Tomkins) was joined pitchside by U14’s players Joel Bateson, Ben Woodward and Tom Hamer as they were given the honour of being a ball boy for the day.
The Skolars lads were met by Matt at the ground and along with 12 other lads from across the junior London RL clubs were ushered into the bowels of the stadium, to their very own dressing room, just yards away from Wigan and Hull’s. After being given a brief introduction to their roles by match commissioner Gerry Kershaw, Joel, Ben and Tom were all kitted out with their very own ‘Ball Boy’ uniforms and led pitchside to familarise themselves with their fantastic setting. The lads had the luxury of a practice game, using the Champion Schools Year 7 final as a warm up to get used to what they would soon be doing in front of millions of people.

After the schools games had finished, a quick lunch was wolfed down and the boys were giving a few words of advice from the match-officials – it was time for the main event. Walking out in front of 76,000 people alongside some of the world’s best players was just a surreal experience and one which may never be replicated. Matt Cuss commented “watching the game from pitchside gave me a whole new perspective on how tough the game actually is, the noise was incredible and you can see why the players love playing at Wembley so much, it was a fantastic occasion. The boys were all a credit to London Skolars and London RL and were warmly congratulated after the match for the superb job they did.” The lads left Wembley stadium that evening clutching the match-balls that they were allowed to keep and with memories that will last forever.”