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SCHOOLS NEWS
 
 

NEW VIC COLLEGE HOSTS NEW GIRLS' TEAM
 
A brand new Girls Under 15s team has been created thanks to the successful climax of Newham Sixth Form College's latest School-Club Link initiative during the months of March and April.

Female Level Two coaches carried out 'Taster Sessions' in two secondary schools which then advanced to a weekly schedule held at the college. Up to fifteen girls attended the sessions, which were also supported by the E.C.F.A.'s female coaches as well as New Vic College's Karen Daly. The weekly training sessions are set to continue throughout the summer and it is hoped the team, set to be called Daly Free Kicks F.C., will be able to enter a local girls' league in the near future.

Sharon Brownlie, E.C.F.A. Girls' & Women's Football Development Officer for the London Boroughs, is pleased the area designated as a priority for an increase in involvement is now beginning to bear fruit: "The London Borough of Newham is an area which has reported low participation rates for physical activity within females so for this project to be such a success was a pleasant surprise. The hard work within the schools, as well as at the weekly sessions, have ensured local females can be engaged in regular activity which is also free of charge. We hope this continues to flourish."

For further information on the work the E.C.F.A. is doing in Newham, as well as advice on how to develop girls' teams, can be obtained by contacting Sharon on (01245) 393074 or via E-Mail at sharon.brownlie@essexfa.com.
 
  
 

SNARESBROOK GIRLS SCHOOL-CLUB LINK

ENDS ON A HIGH !
 
Girls' football in the London Borough of Redbridge continues to go from strength to strength this summer as the Essex County F.A.'s eight-week School-Club Link programme came to an end at Snaresbrook F.C.

The club, based in Wanstead, were assisted by the E.C.F.A. in setting-up a girls section which included in-school 'Taster Sessions' as well as a further eight weeks of coaching support at the club's Nutter Lane facility. The sessions were delivered by an all-female team of coaches from the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation who also helped with the first eight weeks of sessions run at the club.

Tasters were delivered in four local schools and the response at the club's Saturday training mornings was extremely positive, with over twenty-five girls in attendance. As a result of the bumper turnout, Snaresbrook will be entering two new girls' teams into the newly-formed Girls Under 10s Division of the Essex County Girls' League, which is open to clubs based in the London Boroughs of Havering, Newham, Barking & Dagenham, Waltham Forest and Redbridge.

Reflecting on the accomplishment, E.C.F.A. Girls' & Women's Football Development Officer for the London Boroughs, Sharon Brownlie, explained: "In the short time we have been delivering work within the Boroughs this has by far been our most successful School-Club Link. The delivery of the Taster Sessions received great feedback and the fact that Snaresbrook are now able to affiliate two new teams is a testament to the hard work undertaken by the club and the female coaches who have supported them."

Further information on how to get involved in the F.A. School-Club Link Programme or how to develop a girls section can be obtained from Sharon Brownlie on (01245) 393074 or via E-Mail at sharon.brownlie@essexfa.com
 
 

TIGERS SCHOOL-CLUB LINK IS A ROARING SUCCESS

 
Tigers J.F.C. and Havering's Benhurst Primary School are celebrating a blossoming relationship thanks to the latest success of the F.A. School-Club Link, pairing local Charter Standard clubs with active footballing schools to create a bridge of participation for the County's young children.
 
 
"A School-Club Link is where a quality pathway is created to allow children to pass from an educational setting into a club scenario where they can play football in a safe and fun environment," explained Lana Bond, Essex County F.A. Education & Schools Development Officer. "In this case it's in the form of an after school club."

Lana attended the club recently to give the children their certificates and goody bags as the initial nine-week guidance period supported by the E.C.F.A. was completed, with further support supplied by Mark Keeley, F.A. Level Two Lead Coach at Tigers, and Chris Hobson, Deputy Headteacher at the School.

Early progress on the link began in Spring 2007, when Mark had a short discussion with Chris regarding the development of football activities and opportunities for children at the school. The pair came-up with the idea of running an after school summer term football club for Years Three and Four children as a trial project. A club was set-up and the response received was remarkable, with over forty boys and girls taking part.

Following the Summer holidays, Chris informed Mark of a large number of enquiries from both children and parents to ask if the club was going to continue. Further research was therefore undertaken to examine how they could take it forward on a more permanent basis through the winter months.

"I went away and got in touch with Lana who was able to provide me with all the advice and information I needed," recalled Mark, who found it relatively simple to progress the idea once the initial work had been laid down. "It was then that the School-Club Link Programme was identified as a project I could start to develop for Benhurst Primary School."

"It wasn't really difficult to get it up and running at the very start as there was already plenty of interest and support from everyone which gave me enthusiasm to take the project forward. The only thing we struggled with was identifying a suitable indoor facility throughout the winter months. However, Chris' connections with the P.E. Department at a local Secondary School were able to secure facilities for us."
 
 
Tigers J.F.C. are based in Hornchurch and were formed in 1987. The Club has now grown to become one of the largest youth football setups in the area, with over 250 children playing in twenty junior sides, including two newly-developed girls' teams who actively play in the London Borough of Havering. Most importantly, Tigers are a club that promotes and ensures everyone enjoys the game at all levels.

Benhurst, meanwhile, had a strong football background of their own as a Charter Standard Development School. Chris proudly claimed: "We are always looking for ways to improve football experiences and provision. Initially the logistics of running such a scheme needed to be thrashed out, however positive and mutually beneficial outcomes for all parties helped the process. The Essex County F.A. were particularly helpful and were keen to help kick-start the scheme. This provided the impetus for other partners in the link to drive the project forward and make it a reality."

"Feedback from all parties has been really positive so far, so the main aim is to make the club link sustainable. The idea of pursuing a Football Foundation grant is now being investigated, whilst the plan of extending the project to other local schools is another aim. Eventually other local schools will be approached in order to share the provision, an opportunity the link provides. This will hopefully allow even more children to have access to quality grassroots coaching and the chance to play local football whilst raising participation."

Lana is now hoping the initial springboard provided to Tigers and Benhurst will lead to greater things, concluding: "The aim is to continue into this summer term and beyond to strengthen the link between the two parties and ensure the children have the opportunity to take part in well-structured, fun football sessions with the option to continue into the club equivalent if they wish. Chris Hobson deserves credit for his involvement, as do Ray Few, Keith DiPalma and Mark Keeley for running the club. Tom Spooner, one of our Young Leaders, also receives our praise." 		 
 
 
 

FOOTBALL FUN AT THRILLED ESSEX SCHOOLS!

 
Four local schools had reason to rejoice after the Essex County Football Association watched over a brand-new F.A. 3 Lions F.C. School-Club Link at Wickford Town Y.F.C. while elsewhere issuing F.A. Charter Standard status to delighted youngsters at Maldon's St. Francis' R.C. Primary.
 

Children conclude the first step of their involvement by accepting their Certificates and Goody Bags
 
Hilltop Infants, The Grange and North Crescent benefited from three weeks' worth of football sessions from Wickford's coaching team including Level Two qualified Colin Bennett, who headed-up the project. "Each year we run development training sessions for Under 6s," he explained. "These always start very slowly and grow via word of mouth which takes too long. The 3 Lions scheme gave us an instant start-up and credible entry, with E.C.F.A. backing, to get into these local schools."
 
3 Lions F.C. Clubs are designed for young people aged five to eleven years old, with a slightly more flexible age range for those with disabilities. They offer regular fun football sessions throughout the year for all abilities who are keen to 'Get Into Football' and meet new friends, learning skills with the emphasis on the fun aspect.

Steve Howard (F.A. Level One Coach)
Reggie Disley (Level One) and
Colin Bennett (Level Two) from Wickford Town F.C
 
Town themselves have also benefited from the scheme as their work in the community is now much better understood within local schools and residents of Wickford. "In terms of direct benefits we have been asked by a couple of schools to bring our coaching to them," continued Colin. "We now have a small core of young coaches who we work with to help them with their university and college qualifications. They, in turn, coach for several of our teams in their own time."
 
Although the formal first stage of their relationship with the schools is now complete, there have been several noteworthy memories already for Bennett, who recalls: "Meeting the same children who we coached in school time who then attended the Development Sessions and also seeing their faces when they reached the end of the 3 Lions and realised they had achieved something special was very worthwhile."
 
"The sessions for this scheme are already continuing and we plan to carry on through the spring and into the summer when any teams built will start by entering Under 7s Exhibition Leagues. We are already looking at ways to get parents involved in their own children's football development and we'll examine how we can use the 3 Lions "model" to carry on next season," he continued.
 

St. Francis' School celebrate their new status with E.C.F.A. Coach Andy Edmunds
Wickford Town Y.F.C. were grateful for the assistance of the E.C.F.A.'s Education & Schools Officer, Lana Bond, who maintained regular contact and assisted in the continuity of equipment, helping to give the children a visual recognition they were doing something special. Colin concluded: "If we can offer a similar type of session for schools again then it is definitely beneficial to the club to start this way."
 
Meanwhile, St. Francis' in Maldon were awarded Charter Standard School status at a special assembly recently. Andy Edmunds from The F.A.'s Football Development Team attended the presentation at the school in London Road and handed Head Teacher, Susanne Breen. This was followed-up by the arrangement of a coaching session for thirty children from Year Six to celebrate the achievement.

The school gained its new status in recognition of their dedication to football and the high level of its provision provided for children both through the curriculum and via after-school clubs. Both boys and girls enjoy playing the National Game at the school and they will now be given a badge to put on their kit displaying the Charter Mark. A spokesman for St. Francis' said: "MrsBreen was delighted to receive the accolade on behalf of the staff, sports coaches and children."
  
 
 

YOUNGSTERS STAGE EASTWOOD SCHOOLS FESTIVAL
 
Young Eastwood School coaches of the future put their organisational skills to the test two weeks ago when they organised a Football Festival from scratch as part of their F.A. Junior Football Organisers' Course.
 
 
Around one hundred pupils from eight primary schools in the surrounding area arrived to take part in a fun period of participation completely put together by J.F.O.s from a variety of secondaries in Southend, in conjunction with the School Sports Partnership.

In the run-up to the event, the coaches also ran sessions for selected schools to develop their football skills as well as developing their own experiences and David Johnson from Eastwood School's P.E. Department explained: "They approached five local Charter Standard Clubs to create a school-to-club link, giving both the pupils and the J.F.O.'s the opportunity to carry on with football after the event had finished. The groups worked extremely hard on this project for around three months, and needed very little help. They split the primary students into smaller groups to coach them and did all the liaising with the teachers to ensure operations ran smoothly."

Aside from activity on the field, the J.F.O.s sourced sponsorship for the event through local businesses, which made-up the entire budget available for them to spend. Instead of awards for the winning schools, equipment vouchers were obtained and sports coaching paid for by the sponsors was also up for grabs.

Johnson, who was on hand with guidance throughout the planning process, was proud of how the students achieved so much from scratch: "The schools involved benefited as they didn't need to go outside of their own schedules to get involved while it also opened doors for the coaches. They hope to complete their F.A. Level One courses when they're old enough and are already talking about arranging a Futsal Tournament next year. This has to be good news for local sport when such enthusiasm is shown at this age."

David would like to thank David Lloyd Health Club, Essex Premier Soccer Coaching and the Eastwood Sports Academy for their assistance with the funding of the event. 		 
 
 

THREE LIONS AT LITTLE OAKLEY
 
The Three Lions Football Club project has been roaring along this year with Little Oakley in Harwich recently benefiting from the School Club link scheme.
 

Three Lions FC in Harwich
 
The project, which featured eight local primary schools signing up for the Girls Football taster sessions, allows Charter Standard Clubs to set up new teams and Little Oakley are keen to ensure that girls have the opportunity to access football within their local community.

Harwich is a hot bed of talent for Girls Football with five local girls playing at the Colchester Centre of Excellence programme and Little Oakley coach, James Martin, is delighted with the turnout: "Our club already has around 120 youth and adult players and over the last couple of seasons we have been able to add a women's team to our family club. 

"We are hoping to get U12 and U14 teams from the success of this programme as the girls are really enjoying the sessions and looking forward to playing in games against other clubs within the North East of the county."

If you are interested in School Club Link Girls Football sessions in your area please contact Emma Wake at the Essex FA on 01245 393076 or emma.wake@essexfa.com 		 
 
 
 

PLAYER PATHWAYS IN BURNHAM
 
School children in Burnham are reaping the benefits of a brand new FA School Club Link programme that offers more football than ever before in the area.
 

Football fun at Burnham's Three Lions FC project
 
Burnham County Primary have teamed up with Charter Standard outfit Burnham Ramblers to give local children a chance to play football in curriculum time, at after school hour clubs and on weekends as well.

Deputy Head at Burnham County Primary, Nicky Tothill, is delighted with the success of the School Club Link: "I'm a football fanatic so it's great for me to see both boys and girls getting involved and playing the game."

Nicky helps front the Three Lions FC project on Saturday mornings having recently picked up her Level One qualification along with a coach from Burnham Ramblers U15s and two other staff members from Burnham County Primary.

The Three Lions FC project has almost 30 boys and girls attending on a regular basis and Nicky admits it was difficult at first to get the girls playing with confidence: "We have set up a girls only after school club which runs every Tuesday and is supported by the Essex FA's Community Coach, Andy Edmunds. 

"There isn't a girls team at Burnham Ramblers so we're looking to create opportunities for our U7s through to U10s and get them involved with the club next season."

ECFA Education & Schools Development Officer, Lana Bond, added: "The project has been a real success due to the drive and enthusiasm of both the school and the club. The Three Lions FC project acts as a valuable link for introducing football to children for the first time and we hope that this will continue for seasons to come."