As you may know, on June 8th and 9th,  London hosted a Major League Baseball series at the London Stadium. The Philadelphia Phillies played the New York Mets.

The day before their to their head-to-head on the field, Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of MLB; the owners of both teams; ex-players (including All Stars and a Hall of Famer) and the mascots of both teams had a pressing engagement at Roger Ascham. It was the first time I can remember having guests at the school who arrived with their own body guards!

The London Series is part of the MLB’s initiative to introduce baseball to a wider audience around the world and they chose our school to promote their 2024 First Pitch Legacy programme. Tom McCarthy, the Phillies TV broadcaster, held a special assembly for our junior children with the help of ex-players and the mascots. Then the executives unveiled our brand-new baseball diamond (which was a gift from the MLB and very GREEN!) After speeches and ribbon cutting the players joined the children to play. This was the best part of the day as super stars from the game of baseball joined our pupils on the new diamond – giving support, advice and encouragement. The players were generous, enthusiastic and kind –and seemed to enjoy the experience of playing with children who didn’t actually know who they were!

It was a fantastic occasion, a great opportunity and one that will be remembered by all involved for a long time to come. You can watch the MLB’s video of their visit to our school on https://www.mlb.com/mlb-together and scrolling down to the video ‘New Playground Baseball Diamond Unveiled’.