Alma Primary triples down on being top small footballing school in the country

Students from a Jewish primary school in Whetstone are celebrating pulling off an incredible quadruple to reign supreme as the best small footballing school in the country.

Alma Primary are now Pokemon national winners, Barnet league winners, Central Cup winners and Dick Bailey cup winners.

The inspirational team won the Dick Bailey Cup on 23rd May.  Just two weeks later, as reported by Jewish News, they represented the South East of England at the National ESFA school’s cup, sponsored by Pokémon at Leicester City’s King Power stadium. There too, they emerged triumphant.

In order to get to the the national final they won the Borough, Middlesex and southeast regional qualifiers.

Following this stunning victory, two weeks ago they won the Barnet League title (for the second year running) and then on Tuesday afternoon went on to win the Central Cup beating a local Whetstone team 6-0 in the final.

Nadav Okrent, Gilad Sasson, Levi Kay, Charlie Gelb, Ethan Lazarus, Ari Kaye, Yoni Shamash, Josh Norman and Oli Cohen, all aged between 10 and 11 years old are the young sportsmen who have also won Barnet and Maccabi tournaments this year, collectively bringing home 6 trophies and a range of medals.

Team member Ari Kaye said: “Alma previously was not known for its sporting achievements. However, in a matter of two years it’s incredible how far we’ve come within sport and football especially. And to now be labelled as the best small (footballing) school in England, this is just an amazing achievement!”

Team coach Alex Norman tells Jewish News: “What a fantastic way to end their primary school journey. The maturity the boys have shown has been amazing. We have fantastic individuals but the team has been successful because of the collective spirit with each boy understanding their role and working selflessly for each other. The way they listen and respond has been incredible and I’m proud to have been able to be part of their journey.”

Jewish News understands that Alma Headteacher Marc Shoffren is now very happily looking for a new trophy cabinet.

As a result of their success, the football team, their parents and some of the teachers have been invited to a celebratory reception with the Mayor of Barnet at Hendon Town hall next month.

Watch this space!