Last weekend saw the final selection process for the England Schools International football team. Mr Lavelle as team manager was part of the process, which involved coaching sessions on Friday afternoon, followed by an evening presentation highlighting the expectations of the players during the international season.

As well as being Director of Expressive Arts, Subject Lead and Teacher of PE here at Aspire, Mr Lavelle manages a team of sports conditioning coaches, performance coach and goalkeeping coach. He also has an assistant manager, who like him, is an UEFA A Licence coach.

The players undergo a rigorous set of technical training sessions, followed by evening discussions where the players contribute to show their knowledge too. The trial players had games against the RAF (lost 3-1) and the Royal Navy (winning 2-0) and afterwards they had personal interviews and psychological questionnaires with the ESFA coaching squad. The last part of the trial was a game involving all 32 players on Sunday morning, from which the 16-player squad was selected for the season. 

There is a presentation weekend on the 27th January followed by a four day training camp at the end of February, before the international fixtures start against Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.