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b oys b r i ga de b eat foot bal l wor l d r ecor d
At 10pm on Thursday the 11th of September 16 Young Boys Brigade
men took part in the challenge of a lifetime, the longest game of 5 a side
football ever! A challenge that would see them not only play through cold
dark nights but would see them break a world record. I was
lucky enough to be one of those young men.
The record attempt was a continuous 55 hour game of
five a side football, which broke the existing record of
53 hours, held by Sodexo Ireland. There was a few rules
we had to stick to obviously like not being able to sleep
outwith rest breaks which lasted an hour and a half
maximum. Players played for 2 and a half hour
slots with an hour and half off on rest breaks
which although seems a lot I can guarantee it
is the quickest hour and a half of your life.
The event was run in partnership with
Engage a Generation to help promote
the amazing work of the Boys Brigade
and that it did with several mentions
on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2
even broke the news that we had broken the record live on air. The players
were helped by a wonderful gang of support team staff who kept players
fed, motivated and made sure all the players were feeling okay. There was
constant physio and KCR support for us throughout the 3 days.
The event didn’t come without its problems mind you, a small lighting
error meant the wrong pitch lights were switched off, and the dreaded
injury which unfortunately fell to me at the 30 hour mark when the physio
decided that my time at the challenge was over due to a dodgy knee. This
didn’t stop me staying up with my team and support them for the next 24
hours.
The challenge was the gruelling, painful, cold and dark but also the single
most enjoyable experience of my life and it was the little things that made
the difference, like the cake which was made locally by Creative Cakes
of Stewarton and also the continued support messages on Facebook and
twitter. Thank you to everyone in the town who has either wished me luck
or congratulated me over the past few months and to the guys that I took
part in the attempt with. These guys I didn’t know in February this year
and I can now call my friends.
By Kris Wales, pictured left