Bleasby Church of England Primary School celebrate Sam White Memorial Shield win

For the first time in their history, Bleasby Church of England Primary School won the Sam White Memorial Shield ­— a tournament that celebrates the life of Sam White, who died in 2013 having battled a brain tumour.

Sam, aged 16 when he sadly died, was a hockey enthusiast and often coached school children in his free time.

The tournament, in partnership with Newark Hockey Club, was created to raise awareness of the Sam White Legacy, and to introduce children to the sport.

Bleasby school joined Chuter Ede, Long Bennington and John Hunt on its winners’ list after beating Barnby Road 1-0 in the final thanks to a Zak Marshall goal.

Fifteen teams from 13 schools entered the tournament and the coach of the winning team, Mrs Allison Hobson, said she was proud of her school’s efforts.

“We worked so hard during the league and they just got better and better as the season went on,” said Mrs Hobson, a sports co-ordinator at Bleasby.

“Some of the children can turn their hand to so many different sports and some of them aren’t particularly hockey players, so for them to experiences this is fabulous.

“But also, as the day went on, their hockey just got better and better.

“They were passing and moving and working as a team.

“There’s not much more I can ask for.

“We focus on sport, and we play at lunch time and every day after school.

“The children love their sport and to say we are a small school we have a lot of talented children.

The player-of-the-tournament award was won by Emmanuel Muoka, of Chuter Ede’s Fernwood site.

He received a case containing Sam’s hockey stick, which will be displayed at his school, and a trophy.

The year six pupil said he received the award for winning the most man-of-the-matches.

“I was proud to win, I got voted by five teams,” he said: “I play hockey a lot at school and I really enjoy it.”