Dubai: A Dubai boy is set to realise his dream of donning a rugby strip at the highest level this October when he delivers the official match ball at a 2015 Rugby World Cup game.
Twelve-year-old Leon Ferry, from Carmarthen, Wales, will walk players and officials out on to the hallowed turf of Cardiff’s Millennium stadium in the Wales-Fiji game on October 1 after he won a gruelling local rugby contest.
“It’s an incredible once-in-a-life-time affair and certainly a dream come true for me,” says Ferry, who’s been playing rugby as a full back at the Dubai Hurricanes Rugby Football Club (RFC) at The Sevens Stadium since moving with his parents to the UAE from the UK around two years back.
In March, Ferry saw off competition from as many as 40 shortlisted candidates competing for an all-expense paid trip to the Welsh capital to deliver the official match ball in the World Cup Pool A contest.
The contest, organised by Ferry’s club, initially attracted as many as 600 players – all aged between eight and 15. “It’s a massive feeling because it doesn’t get any better than the fact that it will be in Wales and that it will feature the team I have always loved and followed,” adds Ferry, a grade eight student at the Dubai English Speaking College.
As a “massive” fan of Toulon fullback Leigh Halfpenny, Ferry now fancies a second meeting with the star when he is in Wales.
Starstruck
“I have been lucky enough to meet some of the current national team players like George North, Alex Cuthbert and Scott Williams, but the real star of them all is (Leigh) Halfpenny. I am hoping to see him again when I go to the World Cup and probably shake his hand and say good luck,” says Ferry who one day aspires to put on the famous red jersey of the Welsh national team. “This trip means so much to me. Seeing my heroes in flesh and blood, I am sure I will be further motivated to work towards my dream of representing Wales one day.”
Mum Julie Ferry, 43, who will accompany Leon as the prize extends to a parent or a guardian, says the entire family is excited at the prospect of watching a live World cup game at home. “We are a rugby family and we love the sport. This is the biggest setting ever and we are trying to book two more tickets – one for my husband Justin and one for my elder daughter Caitlin so we all can go together and enjoy the atmosphere,” said Julie, who’s currently taking a break from her career in the UK as a holistic therapist and reflexologist to set up their home in Dubai.
Elliott Santon, head of regional marketing for DHL, one of the official partners of the Rugby World Cup and the ones sponsoring Ferry and his mum’s trip to Wales, said: “Just to experience the atmosphere running out on to the pitch in front of 80,000 people and meeting legends will inspire him greatly. He has already proven that he is a fantastic rugby player and what he gains from this once-in-a-lifetime trip will definitely mould him into a finer player.”
