BFCCT Pan Ability Player Selected for U21’s

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Blackpool FC Community Trust ‘Pan-Ability’ player Joe Blockley has been selected to play for the Great Britain U21 Deaf Squad for this coming summers ‘Deaf European Cup Competition’.

Joe who has been playing for the Blackpool FC Pan Ability ‘A team’ for the last year has been selected to represent the International team off the back of his performances and achievements this season, in total Joe has won four trophies in his first spell with the team.joe blockley bfcct 2

The GB Deaf U21 side headed to Wroclaw (Poland) on the 3rd of August to take part in the Deaf U21 European Championships where they will face other International sides such as Germany, Spain, Russia and Italy who are all strong teams that will also stake a claim for the prestigious European trophy.

Since he was 18 months old Joe has had a cochlear implant which was due to Joe suffering from meningitis, as an outcome this has affected Joe’s hearing ever since but hasn’t held Joe back from taking part in football and every other day activities, which has been reflected in his recent success.

Joe plays a variety of positions for the Pan Ability team but mainly operates as a left winger with good technical ability and also is a physical presence in the air due to his height. He is one of the younger players within the first team squad but shows his maturity on and off the field with his contributions.

Owen Coyle (BFCCT Inclusion Officer) said; ‘I have known Joe for four years now and coached him previously at another disability specific centre, it is great to see how he has progressed and developed over the years and it is really pleasing to see that Blackpool FC Community Trust have had a positive impact on Joe’s achievement’.

Community Trust to sponsor Family Stand

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Blackburn Rovers Community Trust have demonstrated their commitment to Rovers’ fans of the future by choosing to sponsor and assist with the matchday running of the new Family Stand at Ewood Park.

As a result of the tie in, the new family-friendly location in the Blackburn End half of the Jack Walker Stand lower tier will now be known as the Blackburn Rovers Community Trust Family Stand.

The exciting move will result in potentially the most lively and active area of supporter/club interaction that the stadium has ever seen, with revamped concourse facilities, dedicated children’s activities, meet and greets, giveaways and much more all coming into play, starting from the first home fixture of the Championship season against Norwich City on Saturday August 6th. The facilities on offer include communal Playstation 4’s which will be available for use throughout the games including during half time.

The area will also carry Community Trust branding to help make fans around the stadium aware of the wide range of great opportunities that the registered charity provides to those in the local area.

Gary Robinson, chief executive officer of Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, is excited for the new matchday offering, explaining: “As soon as we knew that the Family Stand was heading into a new location, we wanted the Community Trust to become a key partner in its long-term success, so immediately we wanted to know if we could put our name to the venture.

“We’ve been working hard throughout the summer to get new partners on board who want to come along and make this part of the stadium as welcoming and exciting as it can be, and we’re sure that supporters will be pleased when they see the calibre of companies that we’re working with to make it happen.

“It’s also a very proud moment for the Community Trust to now enjoy such prominent branding within the stadium, with our details running the entire length of the Family Stand. Hopefully it will get more fans thinking about who we are, what we do and how we make such a valuable contribution to tens of thousands of lives in our area every year.”

Mike Cheston, Director of Blackburn Rovers, added: “We are delighted to welcome the Community Trust on board as the new sponsor of the Family Stand. It strengthens the long-running relationship between the club and the Community Trust, who have some exciting plans for that area on matchdays, which should hopefully improve the atmosphere and supporter experience inside the stadium.

“The Community Trust does a fantastic job of engaging with the local community through a number of different programmes and initiatives, so hopefully this latest move will further enhance its standing and reputation within the Ewood area.”

Read more here.

First Ever Over 30’s Football Festival for Women

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Women from the generation that missed the female football revolution took a trip to Wembley at the weekend to enjoy the first ever EFL Trust Football festival for women aged over 30. The Festival at Lucozade Powerlegue saw over 80 women take part across 8 teams representing 6 clubs: Crawley Town, AFC Wimbledon, Swindon, Brentford, Dagenham and Redbridge and Coventry City. The talented AFC Wimbledon took the winning titles for both the plate and the cup on the day, whilst Sue Keeka from Brentford took the title for top goal scorer.

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Being the EFL Trust’s first ever football festival for Women aged over 30, morale was high and the day was fun filled. This gave the ladies the opportunity to display the skills they practice in weekly sessions in a competitive but relaxed environment, whilst socialising with ladies of similar ability and background.

Former Millwall Lionesses player, and FFD ambassador Dionne Lennon made an appearance on the day and was thrilled to support the ladies and see the skills on show, she commented: “What an amazing day…. It was great speaking to some of the players and hearing their stories about why they started playing football and what it has done for them was fantastic. The atmosphere was great despite the competitive edge to the games!  It was a real pleasure to attend.”

Last year, The Crawley Cogs developed sessions specifically for older ladies, the generation that missed the female football revolution. These sessions were developed specifically for ladies who have an interest and passion for football but have stood on the side lines for years: mums of grass roots players, season ticket holders, and anyone who may not have had the opportunity to participate before. From there there has been a progression in the development of over 30’s football teams. Evidently, there has been a real boom in participation in the older age range.  With over 500 women aged 30 and above now actively playing football with our clubs, there has been a 346% increase on year 1 of the FFD programme.

Carol Bates, one of the founding members of COGS, added: “It was fantastic to see so many over 30s ladies take part in the first ever tournament of its kind, nationally. After starting with 10 ladies at our first COGS session it was incredible to think that this had led to teams from other EFL Clubs coming together and enjoying football.”

We caught up with some of the COG’s players and they had a chat with us about why they love football:

Rachel Pavlou from the FA commented:

“We are delighted that the EFL Trust provided such a fantastic opportunity for these women to play football and we would like to thank all the clubs that took part… The FA has an ambitious target of doubling female participation and so initiatives like this, to provide opportunities for women over the age of 30, are crucial in helping us achieve these aims… many of these women have barely played football as there haven’t been the chances for them before, so we hope that this encourages them to keep playing the game. We would also like to thank Powerleague for providing the facilities as part of the good work that they are doing to increase the number of women that play football in their centres.”

 

The Joy of Moving!

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Working with our network of EFL Community Trusts we have ‘moved’ over 27,000 kids through the Kinder + Sport Move and Learn project this academic year.

Now in its second year the Kinder + Sport Move and Learn Project has had an increase in delivery hours to 243,000, and more importantly 60% more kids have been moved compared to last year. Over 450 schools have benefited from this programme, knowing that the educating children on nutrition and physical activity is vital from a young age.

By combining six weeks of practical sporting sessions with classroom sessions, the programme encourages physical activity, promotes nutritional education and builds awareness of the importance of a healthy diet and active lifestyle.moveandlearn21

Aiden Couch, Project Manager at the EFL Trust is delighted with the growth of the programme; “Since we launched our partnership with Kinder + Sport in the UK in 2013, we’ve been delighted to see our work grow significantly in scale and impact. In partnership with Ferrero we are tackling pressing issues such as inactivity, obesity and the lack of understanding about nutrition and balanced lifestyles.”

Football is used throughout the programme as a unique way to engage kids, allowing us to project the key messages across to the community. During the football season, schools and pupils are invited to their local professional football club on a match day to take penalties at the club mascot during half time… a memory that kids won’t forget too quickly! As well as that, football players from the clubs take time out to visit schools and talk to pupils about the diet of a professional athlete followed by carrying out a Q&A session.

Chris Baird, Derby County’s Captain, visited Ashgate Primary School alongside Derby defender Ryan Shotton. Baird Comments, “It’s important for any kid growing up to get the guidance from teachers and parents, but we too can have a role to play in assisting kids in making the right choices for themselves.”

Anthony Jones, Ashgate Primary School “The Kinder + Sport Move and Learn project has had huge benefits to our school and pupils, educating them on nutrition and an active lifestyle. It’s great that the kids have enjoyed the physical activity which is so important at that age, they particularly enjoyed the variety of activities on offer such as dodge-ball!  We look forward to delivering more Move and Learn to our students in the future!”

The Kinder + Sport is just another example of how the power of sport can help tackle societies issues.