Story added: 2nd November 2020

October Half-Term Recap

The half-term holidays are traditionally a busy time for the Foundation and its participants, and while the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic meant a stripped back programme of events for our participants, there was still plenty going on, with the charity reaching 2,500 people over the five days:

Football

Gales, sun and driving rain – with weather conditions changing at the drop of the hat across the week, one thing was for sure: participants in our football programme certainly got their fix of fresh air and football.

For the boys, there were fixtures aplenty:

A split home and away fixture day for our Elite Player Development Centre (EPDC) against equivalent sides from Luton Town saw the ‘even’ numbered age groups travel to Bedfordshire, while our ‘odd’ numbered age groups hosted the Hatters at The Nest.

On Wednesday, teams from MK Dons’ Trust journeyed to The Nest for fixtures against our U7-12 Player Development Centre age groups.

Alongside the fixtures, which gave our participants some invaluable match experience representing Norwich City FC, there was a goalkeeper-specific training day plus a series of internal match sessions.

The girls took to the A11 for two days of fixtures against Cambridge United Women’s FC; our Advanced Development Programme on the Wednesday, followed by our Girls EPDC on the Thursday.

At home, the girls enjoyed a day of internal fixtures on the Thursday.

Community

Fifteen teenagers from Hellesdon High joined Foundation coaches for a day of unwinding and relaxing at Carrow Road.

Funded by the Broadland Youth Advisory Board, the selected students enjoyed a workshop on maintaining a positive mindset, with accompanying activities including drumming and guitar, sport and yoga, and a breakfast and a two-course lunch cooked by Delia’s Canary Catering.

Meanwhile, our Onside programme continued to engage with families over half-term with a series of face-to-face family cohesive sessions at The Nest, exploring leadership, communication, life skills, confidence and wellbeing.

The Onside programme, funded by the Premier League, is designed to help increase positive behaviours and act as an early intervention to break the cycle of youth violence.

Soccer Schools

After an 8-month hiatus, our Soccer Schools returned at our regular locations in Norwich, Gorleston, Wymondham and Beccles, plus an additional Soccer School run with Heacham Football Club, near Hunstanton.

Close to 500 youngsters enjoyed fun drills and matches, all run in line with government and FA guidelines on social distancing.