Spalding teacher leads futsal team to bronze
Many people can only dream of helping the England team to international footballing glory – but Gleed Boys' School assistant headteacher Mark Locking is using his expertise to do just that.
He recently returned to Spalding from Argentina where, as sports scientist, he helped the England partially-sighted team scoop an impressive bronze medal in the World Championships.
England went down 3-2 to Belarus in the semi-final – a respectable result against the eastern European nation, who had been unbeaten for ten years before finally losing to Ukraine in the final.
They then went on to win a thrilling third place play-off against the South American hosts, which was decided by a penalty shoot out after the match ended 5-5.
Mr Locking said: "As soon as it went to penalties I thought 'That's it – England never win on penalties' so to win was phenomenal.
"I have been speaking to the lads at school about it because Argentina scored to make it 5-4 with 49 seconds to go but we went and scored with 29 seconds to go.
"I have told them if you keep going, stick to a plan and believe in yourselves then it's amazing what you can achieve in life."
The partially sighted team plays futsal – a five-a-side football game played indoors, which is popular in Spain and Brazil and was played by stars such as Ronaldinho when they were growing up.
Many of the players play semi-professional football but struggle to see more than two thirds of the pitch.
Mr Locking has completed a masters degree in sports science and had worked with Boston United before making the step up to represent his country.
He said: "The standards are very good.
"There are one or two exercises they can't do but otherwise it's the same as what the full England squad will be doing."
The squad is now gearing up for the European Championships in France inJune and Mr Locking hopes the success might provide inspiration for Gleed Boys' bid for specialist status in citizenship and life skills.
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Weather for Spalding
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
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