Well I guess England’s 4-1 drubbing by Germany has been uppermost in the thoughts of many today but, for some local people, the gloom created by the country’s finest coming up well short was relieved by happy memories of both the Leicester-Shire and Rutland Youth Games and Inclusive Youth Games held by Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport and Competition Managers.

The Inclusive event took place on Friday at Loughborough University and saw hundreds of local young people with disabilities competing in a range of sports. I had the pleasure of acting as MC which included introducing a great dance troupe from Ellesmere College who had been practicing a dance under the watchful eye of Sue Rosenbloom. They did really well and got the whole crowd moving in a mass warm up before everybody went off to the events that included swimming, football, boccia, seated volleyball, wheelchair basketball and new age kurling.

The sun shone, spirits were high and all competitors, teachers and coaches seemed to have a great day, as did local civic and district leaders who visited the events and awarded medals and trophies. Over the lunchtime there was a reception for the VIPs and I conducted interviews with some great people who volunteer huge amounts of time working with people with disabilities.

The whole thing was really uplifting, especially to hear people saying that no matter how much time they put in, they get so much more back when they see the worth of what they are doing in the smiles of those they support.

Sunday was even sunnier with over a thousand young people taking part once again at Loughborough University. The team from Leicester-Shire and Rutland’s Sports partnership had done a great job in preparing for the events and they were ably supported by staff and volunteers from across the city, county and Rutland. Again, they foolishly gave me the microphone for the opening ceremony where I had the honour of inviting Leicester sporting legends Karl Brown and Rendall Munroe (pictured below) onto the stage. Both did a great job of inspiring the young athletes and Rendall could hardly move for autograph hunters after officially declaring the 12th Youth Games open.

Over much of its life, the Youth Games has been sponsored by East Midlands Airport but this is the last year of their fantastic support so the Games are now actively seeking a new sponsor. With well over a thousand competitors and their families in attendance I would hope that it might look an attractive proposition to a potential sponsor.

From the sunshine of Loughborough it was a quick race home to try to catch as much as possible of the England game. I heard much of the first half on the radio. I was spared the sight of England stuttering for the first 35 minutes and going two behind, thanks primarily to woeful central defending by Terry and Upson. How did we ever manage to win so many qualifying games with them paired in the middle?

I got home to see Upson part redeem himself with a great header and then Lampard score a cracking goal that somehow the ref and his assistant contrived to miss. Appalling. Much was made at half time of Sepp Blatter’s comments regarding video technology and the more you heard the reasons against, the more stupid they seemed. Surely for matters of fact – was or was not the ball over the line – video replays could be used, as they are in both rugby codes. The game is about continuity, but even more it is about credibility and that decision was incredible.

Had it been allowed, there is a chance that at 2-2 the momentum might have swung England’s way. As it was, chasing the game at 1-2 the side always looked vulnerable on the counter attack and so it proved. Should Capello now go? I don’t know. It must be hard for him to get his real thoughts across as he struggles with the language. It should have been obvious that Terry and Upson would naturally want to occupy the same central space and that we needed 5 in midfield with Gerrard up behind Rooney so each might play to his strengths.

Having said that, it is the players who must shoulder most of the blame, as well as every Premier League club that for years has bought foreign stars and failed to nurture home grown talent. Maybe the pigeons of the last dozen years have well and truly come to roost.

Losing to Germany may prove a blessing in disguise having watched Argentina beat a good Mexico side 3-1 with Carlos Tevez scoring a superb goal. Again, Messi drew a blank but I think he will break his duck in the quarter-final against Germany and I would expect Argentina to win.

Back with my own sport, hockey, and nine players from Leicester Ladies are hoping to have made the England squad for next month’s Champions Trophy at Nottingham. Defenders Crista Cullen, Gemma Darrington and Laura Unsworth join midfielder Chloe Rogers, goalkeeper Maddie Fince and strikers Kerry Williams, Katie Long, Hannah MacLeod and Beckie Herbert are all in contention.

Any players that don’t make the cut will still have time to convince coach, Danny Kerry that they should feature in the World Cup in August in Argentina. Leicester could provide up to half of the England party which would be an amazing proportion. The nine could also be joined by Anne Panter who is making a good recovery after the best part of two seasons out with injury.

Amongst the up and coming players is 20 year old Lauren Turner who is part of the England U21 side preparing for the European Championships this summer. At the weekend she featured in a 0-0 draw and a 1-0 win over Scotland in Edinburgh.

So, with all this talent plus U18 stars Caitlin Jeffries and Jess Hickman, you could say that Leicester’s future is bright… the future is orange.