The February Soccer School was a fantastic week of fun, football skills and exciting matches.
The February half term toppled previous records from last year, with a 35% increase in attendance and an average of 40 participants every day.
The participants were lucky enough to watch Crawley Town FC first team train during one of their lunch breaks, at the People’s Pension Stadium. This was a fantastic experience for our budding young footballers, inspiring them for the rest of the Soccer School week.
As a part of this experience, they also had the chance to meet first team players Yusuf Mersin, Matty Willock, and ex-Foundation BTEC goalkeeper Giovanni Porciatti, who has graduated to train with the first team. Head Coach Gabriele Cioffi joined the group after training, to meet the Soccer School participants.
Our energetic, qualified and professional coaches plan each day so all the children experience different parts of the game and socialise with other budding young footballers, giving them an opportunity to play against children close to their age group and put their new skills to use in matches.
Across the week 70 medals, trophies and certificates were awarded to participants because of the hard work they put in each day and in recognition with how well they worked together in a team.
Kayleigh Bowers, Football and Sports Development Co-ordinator said, “We have had a record-breaking number of children attend our Soccer Schools in the February half term.
The children had the opportunity to watch the first team train, as well as meet Gabriele Cioffi and a number of first team players.
They asked questions about life as a footballer, and there were some other interesting questions too!
A grandparent of one of our new participants said, “My grandson loved the soccer school and he will definitely come again.”
We are all now really looking forward to getting back into our school’s programme and to start planning the Easter Soccer Schools.”
Soccer Schools will be back for Easter on Monday 8th April – Thursday 18th April and two jam-packed weeks at Crawley Town, with more opportunities to train, learn new skills, have some fun and make new friends and potentially meeting the first team players again.
There is even the chance our very own Reggie the Red Devil will attend the Soccer School, so be sure to give him a high-five and show him your best skills!
Registration onto the Easter Soccer School will open mid-late March, so be on the lookout to book early before they sell out, with only limited spaces available.
To book for on the Easter Soccer School or other session, visit http://www.ctcommunityfoundation.com/book-online-c11hv
Throughout half term, our Development and Elite Centres have been busy, with fixtures against Chelsea. We had a fantastic turn out across the teams, with 50 participants and their parents / guardians involved.
In the weeks leading up to these fixtures, the teams trained hard to prepare their skills for competitive match situations. The players/teams and coaches deserve praise for all the work and passion they put into each match.
We have more fixtures planned for the rest of the season, so keep an eye out if you are a part of our Development and Elite Centres.
Boys and girls aged 4 – 13 years old are welcome to attend our Soccer Schools, Mini Reds and Saturday Soccer Centre, which offers a pathway into our Development and Elite Centres for those who excel.
Many of our Development and Elite players attend the Soccer Schools in holidays to gain some extra practice, which also gives them the opportunity to play against some different opponents.
To find out more about Development and Elite Centres or Mini Reds and Saturday Soccer Centre sessions, go to our website https://www.ctcommunityfoundation.com/football-development-1
For more up to date information, follow our social media to keep up to date with all our programmes daily:
Facebook: Crawley Town Community Foundation
Twitter: @CrawleyTownCF
Instagram: @CrawleyTownCF
Youtube: Crawley Town Community Foundation.
