Palace U12s complete WW1 Education Project ahead of Truce Tournament

Academy

7 Nov 2024

Putting their creative, social and historical skills to the test alongside their fledgling footballing ability, Crystal Palace’s Under-12s have been learning a lot about the First World War – and the Christmas truce in particular.

Every year, the Premier League organises a Truce Tournament in Ypres, Belgium, commemorating the 'Christmas truce' – a temporary ceasefire during initial months of the First World War, where British and German soldiers put down their weapons and played a game of football together.

In order to compete in the tournament, Premier League U12 teams are set three 'missions’, on a different theme relating to the War each year. The theme for 2024 is 'Pals Battalion', celebrating a tactic used by the British Army to get men local to one another to enlist together.

Pals battalions were formed in local communities across the UK, where recruiters promised that those enlisted would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours, colleagues and, in some cases, their teammates.

Palace U12s in World War 1 Education Project ahead of Truce Tournament

There were several instances of battalions being formed of footballers up and down the country and they were indeed joined by their teammates, coaching staff, fans, and even board members alike.

The first mission undertaken by our U12s saw the team create a ‘video portrait', with each player highlighting one of their characteristics outside of the world of football.

In doing so, each player managed to showcase their unique and individual identity while still within the environment of being in a team that plays together week in, week out, in a similar vein to that of the soldiers who were enlisted to fight during the War itself.

For mission two, the U12s needed to create a poster, inspired by British Army recruitment posters, to advertise a community outreach event which they would host.

This was not only a way to test their creative ability, but also a means of building a strong sense of camaraderie and togetherness within the team and the community.

They decided they wanted to hold ‘trials' with some of the younger children in the local community. As a result they made a number of posters with a key focus on locality, talent and getting people in to participate.

With the help of the Palace For Life Foundation, they managed to host a successful small tournament and host a press conference in which they fielded questions on life as an Academy player.

The Academy's third and final mission built upon the previous two missions, whereby the U12s were tasked with going out into the community and encouraging people to come together.

Partly inspired by the recruitment posters they had made previously, and with the help of the Foundation, they got a number of young members of the community together for their ‘trials.'

The U12s successfully carried out coaching and refereeing with the young community members, while also taking on their questions in a press conference style. By completing the third mission, they successfully celebrated the power of football in bringing people from all walks of life together, and embodied the spirit of the pals battalions that had gone before them.

Speaking on the project as a whole, after the completion of the third mission, Palace Academy Tutor Hannah Robathan said: “The Premier League wants to really celebrate the unifying force of football.

“We are celebrating this idea that football is unifying, football is something that you do together, and we've been playing, coaching and refereeing with some of the younger kids in the community, and we ran a little press conference as well.

“All the younger kids were able to ask our U12s any questions they wanted about the Academy, about football, and we really encouraged everyone to join in with the games and activities throughout.

“This was a part of our third mission – to go out into the community and encourage people to play football and to effectively all come together as a team.

“They're the youngest, or some of the youngest, players in the club, but now they have to be authority figures, and that is pretty good for them to be in a leadership role of sorts.

“I think for a club as a whole, this is a really important part of community outreach. To do something like this means the U12s can learn so much. It's nice to kind of get out of that space and be here with the younger kids, as well as get the important messages about the Christmas Truce Tournament across.”

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