Two pupils from Abacus Belsize Primary School, part of Anthem Schools Trust were privileged to travel to Munich last weekend to be mascots at the UEFA Champions League Final.
The match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan saw Paris win in a record-breaking 5-0 victory at the Munich Football Arena.
The two lucky girls, Yarden and Tilly, from Abacus Belsize Primary were flown to Munich (with a parent guardian) for three days where they got to meet all the players at the training ground the day before the game.
They attended various football events and then walked out onto the pitch with the players before the game kicked off.
The girls were joined on the pitch with other children from all over the world ranging from Germany, Spain and the Maldives. Yarden was with the goalie for PSG and Tilly was with the captain of Inter Milan.
This fantastic opportunity was made available to the Abacus pupils by Bloomsbury Football Club, a charity that works with the school to provide lunchtime football coaching, as well as after school clubs.
Bloomsbury has an academy that young players can attend in the evenings and through this, the Abacus girls were selected as mascots.
Tilly said: “We had to go on the stairs and the players walked in and we got to hold hands and walked onto the pitch. There were loads of people and drums and a band playing.
“It was exciting, but I was a little bit nervous. It’s the best mascot you can be – to be in the final! The players were nice, they said thank you after I said ‘I think you’re a really good player, I hope you win!’”
Yarden said: To be chosen was exciting – not everyone gets chosen, it’s a once in a lifetime chance. It was like I had all my friends there. Sometimes I get stage-fright, so I imagined that the fans were my friends.
“It was so loud! When we ran back to the tunnel and went back to our seats, I could hear the crowd screaming when PSG got a goal when we were out of the stadium.”
Melissa Chandler, Headteacher at Abacus Belsize Primary School, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for our pupils! They had a wonderful trip and we enjoyed hearing all about it when they came back to school.
“We would like to thank Bloomsbury Football Club for making this trip possible and for all the work they do at Abacus to inspire our pupils to get active and involved in sport.”
