In Ireland in 1998 we visited the Waterford Crystal Factory and passed through Dublin on the way home, but my lasting memories are of Father Pat Moran, the Principal of St Augustine's College, Dungarven.

We were the first to arrive in Dungarven and after a few worthies had asked him if his name was Ted, Father Pat took us into the dining room where on the middle of our table was a large plate piled high with filled rolls.  "SOS" said Pat.  Our pupils looked at each other, totally bemused.  "Stretch or Starve" he continued, and everyone tucked in. In the opening ceremony his welcoming speech started, "As Henry VIII said to Ann Bolynn, I will not keep you long".  He had the wonderful gift of an Irish senseof humour.

In Helsinki, 2000 we stayed for 8 days in Kunelmakki in the outskirts of Helsinki.  Helsinki is a beautiful clean city with parks, lakes, beautiful buildings, trams and is overlooked by the Olympic Tower.  I have visited Helsinki recently and it rekindled all the happy memories from May 2000.  We originally stayed in the old Olympic village which is now a Youth Hostel and latterly we moved to Kisikalio which is the training centre for Finnish International Athletes.

The centre is set in a forest with a lake and clearing which holds the sporting arena and modern chalets for the athletes.  There is a sauna cabin about 30 m from the lake and about 10m above the level of the lake.  This is where I witnessed my first ever miracle.  Andy Ruffin, who will be nameless, injured his leg at the football tournament.  He attempted to play basketball the next day but unfortunately aggravated the injury and he could barely walk.  That evening our group was up in the sauna and someone suggested we have a swim in the lake. Three weeks before we came to Finland this lake had been frozen over. Some brave souls jumped in, swam to the steps and quickly climbed out of the almost freezing water. Andy decided that he would like a swim.  He emerged from the cabin, descended the wooden stairs, each step causing a grimace of his face as the pain of bearing his own weight was excruciating. Still he slowly walked down each step. When he reached the jetty over the lake, he junped into the water.  Soon he realised just how cold the water was. He clutched at the stairs taking them two at a time.  He climbed onto the jetty and sprinted up the wooden stairs and into the sauna.  It was a miracle.  Someone who could barely walk, enters the healing waters and is able to sprint immediately afterwards.

Helsinki Superschools was also very special as this was the first competition which we had won.  Third in Wales, second in Ireland but this was a tremendous achievement by our youngsters whose talent, determination and effort was evident in every sporting contest.

France 2001, saw the Czechs return to Superschools.

They dominated the athletics and swimming events and gained enough points for the team games to win the competition comfortably.  We stayed in F1 hotels and travelled to Gwarelines, the home of the French National basketball team, each day.  We were re-united with Billy, the driver, who works for Irvines of Law and who was a valued member of our team in Dungarven.

On the way home we met up with Allan Anderson, who was the best man at my wedding, and he was chief purser with P & O Ferries.  We were all given a tour of the bridge on the ferry.

We were the hosts - where do you find accommodation for 200 people in the Carluke area?  Seventy six stay in the Youth Hostel in New Lanark and one hundred and twenty eight stay in the Lodge in Hamilton Park Race Course.  Apart from breakfast all meals are provided in the Carluke High canteen.  Basketball and badminton are staged in the school and community centre, athletics in East Kilbride, football in Hamilton Palace Grounds and swimming in Larkhall Leisure Centre.  Presentations and entertainment can be accommodated in the Assembly theatre in the school - sorted.  South Lanarkshire Council helped with funding, Supercounty contributed a healthy grant, the staff in the school helped out immensely, despite the staff in the school being preoccupied with meals, transport, accommodation, medal presentations, pipers, discos and bands.  The team from Carluke performed magnificently and won Superschools for the second time in three years.

Wales offered to host their second Superschools in 7 years. We stayed in Christ College in Brechin.  This is a beautiful 18th Century building with a huge dining hall which resembled the dining hall in Hogwarts in Harry Potter's school.

Our pupils performed resonably well in basketball, very well in badminton, swimming and football and we were leading the competition with only the athletics to come.  The Czechs had an extremely talented athletics team and were confident of surpassing our lead.  After two events, hurdles and the 60m sprint, they were on equal points.  We had an extremely capable squad with some outstanding athletes within our ranks.  We won the 60m (boys), 200m (boys), 200m (girls), 400m (boys), 800m (boys), 800m (girls), 1500m (boys), long jump (girls), 4 x 200m relay (boys) and 4 x 200m (girls).

We won the athletics competition and the overall Superschools Championship and the win was much more sweeter as we had beaten the Czechs.  The final presentation that evening was one of the proudest events I have ever attended.  Hearing "and the winner is Carluke High School" resounded over and over again, reinforced how special this team was and how talented, determined and dedicated those young people were.  If I could have bottled the "team spirit"   which overflowed from the Carluke High pupils I would really be involved in Enterprise.  As this was held in Soth Wales, my wife, daughter, son-in-law and grand daughter shared in the outstanding success of our pupils.

We flew to Vasta and collected the coach which transported us to Upsella.  We stayed in holiday chalets beside the excellent Leisure Centre which hosted most of our events.  Upsella is a beautiful university city 60km north of Stockholm.  We had a strong team who performed well in every event.  We were extrememly unfortunate to lose first place by a single point, but we were happy that a Welsh team won their first ever Superschools competition.

We were based in the fantastic setting of Nottingham University.  The halls of residence and the sporting facilities were first class and the pupils settled in effortlessly.  The athletics competition was changed prior to the start of Superschools and only 4 boys and 4 girls were allowed to participate in the following events, 2 x 200m, 2 x 1500M (boys), 4 x 100m relay, 2 x high jump, 2 x long jump, 2 x shot putt and  2 x javelin.  No one in our group had thrown a javelin prior to the event.  Communication was obviously a problem.  Again our team performed exceptionally well and gained a fantastic haul of medals.