Football Stories


Chippenham Cluster Primary Schools Football: Stanley Park


Chippenham Sports Partnership ran 2 very successful festivals of primary schools football recently for its cluster schools, which this year total nearly 20.


 A Footie For Fun, skill based, fun event aimed at year 3 /4 girls which developed the techniques of the youngsters in a friendly and encouraging environment.


 A fun event for boys and girls at KS 1 which attracted over 200 children.


 A district competition for year 5/6 children which incorporated a mixed event, and a girls’ only event and served to see which schools qualified for the Mid Wilts play-offs round.


The successful schools which qualified were:


 Mixed schools, Derry Hill and Monkton Park


 Small school: St Mary’s  Girls only: Redland and Monkton Park


The new Your School Games initiative is to #ReframeCompetition


Young People see value of winning and losing, however a lot of young people are turned off by competition when it is ‘overly competitive’.


Variations can be used as a method to motivate, engage and challenge young people and if used appropriately, may help recruit some new participants and retain others.


MR POTTER – THE MEAD ““The penalties definitely worked in regards to taking the pressure off of the children before the match and I think they saw it as a bit of fun and was also a good chance for some different children to get a chance of scoring a goal”


MR SLATER – BITHAM BROOK “Great innovation. Takes the pressure and responsibility of being the one who misses that vital penalty out of the frame. We won one shoot out and lost one … Didn’t affect the team’s desire to win the subsequent matches one bit”


Once such variation was trialled at the recent West Wilts Y5/6 Girls Football Tournament.


Before each semi-final was played a penalty shootout was completed. By doing this, 5 girls got to take a penalty for their school and had an opportunity to score, they also get to practise a skill under pressure and also while they were fresh.


Penalty shoot outs are determined by someone failing/missing – by doing this a player get the opportunity to redeem themselves straight away. The semi-final match then took place as normal, however if the match finished in a draw the result had already been determined by the shoot out.


The intensity of the semi-final matches was very high and great to watch.


The same format was completed before the final/ 3rd v 4th playoff.


The events were superbly organised by Jess Pierce, Selina Porter and Nicky Place from the Chippenham


Partnership and they were supported by the young leaders from Abbeyfield, Sheldon.


From First Girl at the Football Club to Elite Football Star!


For footballer Katie Doig from Abbeyfield School, sport was always a big part of afterschool and weekend life. She started playing football aged 5 and when she was the only Girl at Chippenham FC when she joined. 9 years later and she now plays for Chippenham Girls, the Wiltshire Schools and plays a year up in the Swindon Town U15s, where she has experienced playing abroad in Barcelona against other female teams across Europe.


Recently she was offered a place on the Wiltshire County FA programme. To achieve her place Katie had to perform well in sessions focusing on fitness and technical abilities and in a match against Gloucester County. Katie and her team won 7-2, a fantastic achievement as this was the first time in a number of years Wiltshire had beaten Gloucester.


The programme supports the long- term development of players and supports them in achieving their goals as they progress through the FAs England Talent Pathway. Being part of the programme involved


attending weekly training sessions, matches against other counties across the country and a number of footballing camps that are run throughout the year.


Katie said ‘’it is an honour and an amazing feeling to be part of the team and I am enjoying every minute of it.’’


Congratulations and we look forward to hearing about more of Katie’s success in the future!


Wiltshire and Swindon Relay 15


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