One Wednesday 19^th December 2007 19:00  there was a BIG cheer from the players of the Falcons when they accepted a FUN filled challenge from their coaches and parents.

 

 

The emphases was on fun and  a chance for the coaches and parents to show the players how to play football  ( or was it the other way around?)

 

Anyway  the two teams  began to eye each other up ,  which consisted of

 

Falcons:

 

Jamie Smith

Caleb Collins

Toby

Harvey

Josh

Ed

Joe Lindsay

Leeburn

 

 

They took on :

 

Andy smith

Paul Collins

Clive Read

Toby,s Dad

 

Half time  arrivals to the team :

 

Rob  Harvey’s Dad

Nigel  Ed,s Dad

 

 

The game started  with the falcons  passing the ball around well , and saw the coaches  struggling to keep up with play ,  while Andy Smith  was heard to mutter the words, “ I only got one good leg “  slow down !!!!

 

It wasn’t long before the Falcons  broke down the Coaches rock solid defence and scored their 1^st goal  ,  Toby’s Dad  made a great effort but couldn’t keep it out

 

But then  from the centre Clive Read made a inch perfect pass to Paul  , who showed his Ronaldo skills by going around a falcon player to slot home .  1-1 .

 

As the game went on , it was noticeable that  the coaches were beginning to gasp for air more often , especially Paul  as  his constant  forward runs and missed shots were taking  its toll on him ,  and was heard to ask for a “ oxygen mask” on occasions ,  so he returned to defence for a rest , only   to release  Andy “ the smasher ” Smith  up front ,to let loose  his devastating right foot , however  his foot  was slightly off target  and  the ball ended up in the hockey nets  as opposed to the falcons net, oops !!!! 

 

The falcons could see that the coaches were beginning to slow down and took advantage of this by  scoring yet again, after some neat passes, and not even the offside trap that Paul & Clive tried to spring on them worked !!! 

 

It was now clear that the falcons fitness levels were  far superior than the coaches .

 

 Andy was now re-called to defensive duties.  Paul and  Clive were partnered upfront  but  the partnership was not working as the ball never found its way back to Paul from Clive’s foot , and found a falcons foot  instead.

 

The falcons  yet again  scored .

 

But then we had super subs Rob ( Harvey’s Dad )  and  Nigel  ( Eds Dad) arrive , this turned the game around for the coaches, Rob,s super speed on the wing  and Nigel  fantastic man to man marking techniques  made the game  more even.

 

It was now close  with   Coaches beginning to get goals , and even the score up.

 

 

With  5 minutes to go  it was very  tight ,  and  in the last 10 seconds of the game , the falcons put some neat passes together ,  that the coaches and parents just couldn’t contend with ,  as the ball was  passed , the Coaches defence was  suddenly ripped apart ,  and the falcons scored !!!!

 

 

The final Whistle blew  it was all over !!!     

 

Falcons  4  Coaches/parents  3

 

The falcons won

 

So well played  boys and  think you all  agree it was a lot of fun too … and  you beat your coaches ,  and some parents too ,  but  next year we will be back  !! 

 

Andy & Paul  wish  you all  a  very  HAPPY XMAS   and a fantastic  new year you all deserve it well done

See you all next year !!!

 

International England by Matt Slater - BBC Sport 18 December 2007

For a man with so many great memories from football, Sir Trevor Brooking has surprisingly little in the way of memorabilia on his office walls at the FA’s Soho Square HQ. But there are two items that do catch the eye.

The first is a tribute to his two spells as caretaker manager of his beloved West Ham – one defeat in 14 games – and the second is a framed newspaper article, “Brooking’s mission to find the English Fabregas”.

At the end of our interview with him - about Burton and the challenges facing the English game - we asked Brooking about his search for an Englishman who can play like Arsenal’s midfield matador. His response was so illuminating, so heart-felt, I am going to quote him verbatim. 

Read more »

The Westbury coach contacted me today to explain that our game scheduled for 16 December has to be postponed, because Westbury have to play a cup game that day; a match already postponed from a previous weekend.

Steve and I will try to arrange a friendly for 16 December, or see if another League match can be brought forward.

Cheers, Tony U15’s Coach

At the weekend the falcons played warminster highbury in a cup game.The falcons won 13 - 2 which was a really good result ,not because they won 13 -2 but the way they played.Well done to all who played and keep it up boys, no game this week but hopefully a game next week

Here’s an interesting radio feature about children’s football clubs, which raises the issue of whether ambitious, football-mad parents sometimes take the fun out of a kick around the park? Interesting food for thought and a useful reminder of the appropriate and inappropriate attitudes towards supporting children’s football. Please click on this link to listen to the discussion.

Guests in the discussion are:
Paul Cooper, from "Give Us Back our Game" and
Leroy Rosenior, football manager and former player 

One of the people interviewed is Jim White, a sports journalist, who has written a book about managing his son’s team. "You’ll Win Nothing with Kids: Fathers, Sons and Football" .  This is a book which a Larkhall parent has suggested to me should be required reading for all football coaches (and perhaps parents too?!). You can read reviews of the book at Amazon by clicking on the book cover image below.

 

the current fixtures/results can be found by clicking on this link www.layfc.org.uk//wp-content/uploads/file/under 12 fixtures(1).pdf

Larkhall Kestrels 6 Chippenham Town Youth 3

Sunday December 2nd

Venue home (Royal High School) 

With a 100% record in the league and a good recent victory against the Bath schools side, the Kestrels went into their cup 2nd round match against a strong Chippenham side knowing that this was likely to be their biggest test of the season so far.

Read more »

Our fantastic Larkhall U12 Girls’ team is currently called just that  - "Larkhall U12 Girls", while each of our other teams has a name, with most of the established teams at each Year Group being called "The Falcons" and most development teams being called "The Eagles".

I think it would be nice if our Girls’ team also had a suitable name, so if any of our girl players agree, please let me have any ideas (either by email: tony@day1426.freeserve.co.uk, or by using the Contact Us facility on the web site). In case it helps fire anyone’s imagination, the sorts of names I have seen for girls’  teams in other leagues include: Belles, Vixens, Sensations, Bees, Lions, Tigers, etc.

I’ll let all the girls know of any suggested names I receive and then the girls can pick which name they wish to go by!

Best wishes, Tony Day Co-chairman LAYFC

As parents/carers may have seen from an earlier post I put on the club website, I raised concerns with Ralph Allen School last week about the gaps between the guard rails on the balcony in the sportshall, as it seemed to me that a young child could easily fall through them, causing serious injury.

The school’s initial reaction was that they would lock the door leading to the balcony to prevent access and so avoid the possible risks. I argued that it would be better to just make safe the guard rails as the balcony was a very useful facility and shutting it off would create other difficulties with more young children in the sportshall during training.

The school agreed to look into things and get back to me.They have now done that and have decided that, initially at least, the balcony will be closed off. They do intend to look further into making the guard rails safer for young children (they were apparently designed to be safe for children of 11+) , but this will have to be done in such a way that properly meets relevant health and safety regulations. Denial of access to the balcony and to the boys toilet there is a nuisance, but I really think it is a case of better safe than sorry. (There is still a toilet available for use in the Girls’ changing room downstairs. However, as this will now need to be used by males and females on training nights, would everyone please do so with discretion!)

If or when the school decides to reopen the balcony to us, parents/carers will be advised. In the meantime, if the siblings of U8s and U9s players are brought to the sportshall while training is going on, would parents/carers please ensure that they are closely supervised, so as to avoid any accidents and also avoid any disruption to training. Thank you for your assistance.

Best wishes, Tony Day Co-chairman LAYFC