A group of primary school pupils hosted the Cleveland Browns ahead of their NFL game against the Minnesota Vikings in London.<\/p>\n
The American football team visited Thrapston Primary School, in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, on Thursday as part of its school attendance programme.<\/p>\n
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Year 5 teacher and NFL fan Kevin Smith said he thought the visit had “generated 400 new fans” for the sport.<\/p>\n
Former Browns player Gary Barnidge said the event’s aim was teach pupils “how important it is to stay in school” – as well as introducing them to a new sport.<\/p>\n
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The visit was part of the NFL’s Stay in the Game programme, which promotes school attendance [James Burridge\/BBC]<\/p>\n
Mr Smith said: “I got an email through from the Cleveland Browns asking if they could come to our school to talk about their attendance programme and of course I’m going to say yes.<\/p>\n
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“I’m a massive Cleveland Browns fan and for me and for the children it’s been a brilliant day.”<\/p>\n
Some of the pupils were already familiar with American football because they play flag football – a non-contact version of the game that involves players pulling a flag off the person with the ball rather than tackling them.<\/p>\n
About 20 children take part every Tuesday and the school is looking to enter a team in a tournament in March.<\/p>\n
American football – and its main competition, the NFL – is a sport with a huge footprint in North America.<\/p>\n
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This season it has had a record run of seven international games<\/a> played across five countries, three of them in London.<\/p>\n The Browns face the Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with kick-off at 14:30 BST.<\/p>\n The school already offers pupils a non-contact version of American football called flag football [James Burridge\/BBC]<\/p>\n Stay in the Game is the Browns’ programme<\/a> to improve school attendance.<\/p>\n Mr Smith, who is also the school’s PE lead, said: “The more you go to school, the more opportunities you have in life, he said.<\/p>\n “It shows a commitment children make friends at school they learn values at school so yeah, it’s a massive deal.”<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Mr Barnidge said he was impressed by the children’s enthusiasm.<\/p>\n “When they came in, they were flipping the towels, and screaming their heads off – it was like I was back in the stadium again,” he said.<\/p>\n “You just see their eyes light up, they’re enjoying it, they’re taking it all in, they’re learning something new and that’s what it’s all about.”<\/p>\n Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n More on this storyRelated internet links<\/p>\n