Two students from the Midsomer Norton Sixth Form have

recently achieved the unique opportunity to play for Somerset.

Charlie Johnstone currently plays for the U-17 Somerset rugby team, whilst fellow student, Dane Edwards, plays for the U-18 Somerset football team.

Before being selected to play for Somerset, Charlie played with local team, the Bath Youth Rugby Club, and despite his obligations with Somerset, still plays for the team. Charlie had to wow the Somerset coaches during a series of two trials in front of the judging panel. Successfully, Charlie impressed them with his agility and tactical play and was awarded a place in the U-17 Somerset team. However, he's not without his friends, five other fellow teammates from the Bath Youth Rugby Club have also been selected.

Charlie stated: "It's amazing to have been selected. To learn new skills, playing with others who are of the same ability or better will improve my skills even further and push me to perform my absolute best on the pitch."

Not only does Charlie passionately involve himself in his two rugby clubs, but he also has recently taken up running for the University of Bath every Thursday, to improve his fitness further so that he can be as fast and as agile as possible whilst playing rugby.

Dane, too, is a dedicated sportsman of incredible skill. Currently, Dane plays locally for Paulton Rovers U-18s. Not only does he play for Paulton, but, on top of this, he plays for not one, but two Somerset football teams; County FA and Somerset Schoolboys.

Dane explained: "Because Somerset is such a large county, we don't train as a team, instead, we all train and play for our respective clubs, in readiness for our big county games."

Like Charlie, Dane had to successfully complete trials in which he had to prove his sporting abilities to the Somerset coaches. Since being selected, Dane hasn't looked back and enjoys every minute of every football game he plays. If playing football for three teams wasn't enough, Dane also plays for the Midsomer Norton Sixth Form football team, bringing invaluable skills to the team, which have amounted to great success within the B&NES Football League.

The Midsomer Norton Sixth Form wishes the boys every success in their sporting careers.