"A KEEN sportsman and a great role model for younger children." That was how tragic Joe Lister was described today.

Joe, 14, died after becoming trapped in a cave in Upper Nidderdale on Monday, and tributes to the youngster were today being paid by the people who knew him well.

Derek Angood is head teacher at Appleton Reobuck Primary School, where Joe was a pupil for seven years before moving to Tadcaster Grammar School.

Mr Angood described Joe as "lovely, able, active, caring and thoughtful" and said everyone at the school had been devastated by news of his death.

"Joe was a very keen sportsman and he was academically able, and he was a very good role model for younger children."

Joe was a keen swimmer and captain of the school's football and cricket teams. "He would have been captain of any other teams we had as well," said Mr Angood.

Joe spent time at the York City Academy as a youngster, and until his death he played for Tadcaster Albion Juniors FC under-16 team.

His manager, Eamonn Murphy, said Joe was good enough to pursue a career in the game.

Joe, whose younger brother Ben still attends the school, was also a keen musician. Mr Angood said: "He had a lovely singing voice, and did solos. He also played the cornet in the school band and was a very skilled musician."

The day before he died, Joe, usually a central midfielder, had played at centre-half against Heworth.

Mr Murphy said: "He was the kind of guy who you could play out of position and he would get on with the game. He always played to the best of his ability. We got beaten

2-0 but Joe was probably the best player out there. The last thing I remember was rubbing his head after the game and telling him that next Sunday he would be back in centre-midfield, and his face lit up.

"He was one of our star players. I am sure he could have made a career out of it if he wanted. It is a huge shock and it hasn't sunk in yet."

Alex Hepton, coach for York City Boys Under-11s said: "Joe was always smiling and was always very keen and just loved football. He would have had a great career ahead of him. It is so tragic."

Chris Coates, York City's under-16s centre of excellence coach, worked with Joe when he played with the club's under-12s team.

"He was a smashing lad and really good to work with," he said. "Joe was very popular with the other lads. I'm absolutely gutted by what's happened and feel for all the family."

Tadcaster Grammar School head teacher Geoff Mitchell said the school had lost someone "very special" and described him as "a larger than life character with an infectious smile".

"He was the sort of young lad who had a glint in his eye. He was the sort of young lad who lived for life," he said.

"He was a slightly larger than life character who would bounce along into your room, talk to you about things and he'd actually do something that was incredibly refreshing for young people, he would tell you the truth.

"The sort of frequency and heartbeat at the moment is much much lower than it ever has been and we are just living every moment thinking of that family but most importantly thinking of everything already that Joe has given us.

"He lived for the game of football. He took his work more and more seriously as he moved through the school and he got a sense of purpose that he was going to be successful and tragically that's been taken away from him."

Mr Mitchell said books of condolences were being opened at the school, and counsellors were being made available in the library.

Outbound trips should continue say parents

PARENTS and education chiefs today called for

outbound trips to continue in the wake of Joe Lister's death.

Today it was revealed that one York school had already cancelled a planned trip

following the incident as about a hundred pupils from Archbishop Holgate School in Badger Hill were due go.

Headmaster John Harris said the Year Seven youngsters had been due to spend next week at Bewerley, but it had emerged that the outdoor pursuits centre would be closed while a full investigation was conducted into the caving accident.

He said he hoped the pupils would be able to spend a day at a centre in the spring term, but it was unlikely the school would be able to find anywhere available for a full week.

Seon Scott, of Copmanthorpe, whose son and daughter have previously been on the trip Joe was on said the activities were well run.

He said: "Both my son Jack and daughter Charlotte have been on that trip with Tadcaster Grammar School and they really enjoyed it. The organisation is superb and parents are always given a really detailed briefing before the kids go.

"I think the trips should continue, you cannot wrap your children up in cotton wool and I it is important for them to have experiences like these activities."

Education boss at City of York Council, Carol Runciman, said: "I hope children will still go on trips because it gives them experiences they would never have in schools."

Bewerley Park Centre is owned and run by North Yorkshire County Council, and is used by schools in the area as well as scout and cub groups.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "Children from York schools have been using the centre since it was established. Many York children have visited in the past to take part in caving, abseiling, canoeing and other activities."

The incident came less than two weeks after ministers published plans to encourage more school trips, which included a guarantee for every pupil to have the chance to attend at least one residential trip during their time at school.

In 2002 council bosses in North Yorkshire were ordered to appoint "safety supremos" to avoid tragic accidents on school trips.

City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council received new guidelines which included the appointment of a specialist outdoor education advisor to oversee school trips and warn of potential hazards.

Every school also had to name a member of staff to undertake the role of "educational visits co-ordinator".

The guidelines were produced after a spate of tragedies on school trips.

These included the deaths of Rochelle Cauvet, 14, and Hannah Black, 13, from Leeds, who lost their footing and were washed down Stainforth Beck, near Settle, North Yorkshire, on October 10, 2000. The "river walk" was part of a residential week planned by their school - Royds School, at Oulton, near Leeds.

Cynthia Welbourn, North Yorkshire County Council's corporate director of education, said: "What we can't lose sight of is the fact that, providing activities are really well researched by school and the centre, and both have a record of doing that, they do add real value to what youngsters have."

Updated: 10:30 Wednesday, November 16, 2005