Little Kickers UK Blog

What does it take to become a sporting hero?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Lyons) — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:41:00 +0000

What does it take to become a sporting hero?

By Christine Stanschus – CEO Little Kickers, based in Toronto, Canada

My husband, Frank, and I were fortunate to be able to attend a fundraising event in Toronto last week, which was organized by the CAN Fund – Canadian Athletes Now. I have to admit that until I went along to the event, I had little understanding about the lives of athletes who are preparing for the Olympics, and their motivations.

We had the opportunity to see presentations by, and to meet, a number of ex-Olympic medal winners and to hear their stories around their participation in sport.

I had always assumed that athletes who achieve Olympic performance levels are probably born as naturally superior physical beings to the rest of us, and that whilst a certain amount of effort is bound to be involved, they are ultimately “made that way”. It’s possible for the chosen few to become Olympians, but not for most “ordinary” people. I assumed it would be obvious from the first time these talented athletes picked up a hockey stick / kicked a football etc, that their gift would shine through and they would be earmarked as a future Olympian and would be set onto a training conveyor belt which would propel them effortlessly to the Olympic Games.

Whilst many of the athletes who spoke at the event described the buzz they got from competing in their chosen sport right from day one, I was amazed at the way they described their ongoing involvement. The effort involved in forcing themselves to train when they really didn’t feel like it, the physical discomfort which often bordered on pain, the “down” moments, when they felt they were underachieving. There were, however, certain characteristics the athletes shared, and messages which were repeated over and over again throughout the presentations and conversations. The first being the overwhelming sense of pride they feel in representing their country. Also, the respect and admiration they felt for their teammates and their determination to do their best for “the team”, the dedication and hours of training required in order to achieve their dreams…. Many of them had stories of injuries, which should have resulted in an end to their Olympic careers – serious joint injuries, serious accidents incurred while training etc. They all managed to overcome these, and to go on to achieve greatness.

The other thing they all had in common was the huge support they had received from their families. From instilling an early passion for their sport and a drive to do their best, to more mundane things like getting up early to drive them to practice and being a constant source of encouragement when the going got tough. They were unanimous in their views that without the support of their family they would never have achieved their Olympic goals.

So whilst physical attributes obviously contribute to the make-up of great athletes, the support of a strong family is equally as important. So the next time your Little Kicker wakes you up at 7am on a Saturday morning, asking you to take them to football class, remember that all 11 spaces on the 2024 Olympic football squad have yet to be filled…!

Have I gone mad?

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:29:00 +0000

I do think it is about time Santa provided a service whereby his elves came round about 3 days after Christmas and helped tidy up! Our house has just about recovered from the festivities that Christmas brought with it, and as we trundle round the house cleaning up the last bits of wrapping, we begin to see what appears to be a floor, which we haven’t seen for some time! We hope Santa was kind to you and you received lots of nice gifts. Santa, thought he would play a trick on me, now don’t get me wrong – I love socks, but, when eight pairs of socks are wrapped individually in varying shapes you have to start questioning his humour, that crafty little Santa!

I hope you enjoyed your nice break. 2012 looks like it is going to be a good year, the London Olympics, the Euros and of course, the highlight of your year, it is the Little Kickers 10th birthday! We have planned some great little events to celebrate, and we hope you will be involved too.

My prediction for 2012 - England to win the Euros. Yes, you heard me correctly, do not adjust your sets, and not a touch of the naughty juice crossed my lips over Christmas either. Call me an optimist, but there is a method to my madness! Rooney is unavailable; he has always been labelled the glory boy for our England side, and the player who makes us tick. With Rooney being unavailable I am expecting there to be less expectation and not the usual enormous bandwagon that ‘this is our year’ ( I do realise that I am claiming the exact sentiment...but for a different reason!) I think this will have an enormous effect on the team, there is a pressure on the England squad drive

n by the media and our own optimistic minds, with no pressure, and the players can relax and play their normal game. England have some amazing talent, with a good balance of older more experience heads, with the young vigour of players like Ashley Young and Rooney.

The England manager, Fabio Capello, has got us playing some good attacking football, and with the England squad being blessed with some of the best defenders in the world, it gives us a really good opportunity to break our trophy-less drought of over 40 years!

What do you think?

If all else fails, we will just have to wait another 4 or 5 years, by then some of our original Little Kickers (who are not so Little now) can start breaking into the team...

Garden Games Doc

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:29:00 +0000

Our New Garden Games!

Shooting for the moon!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:49:00 +0000

I hate myself a little bit for jumping aboard the X Factor bandwagon: I do not mind the show itself but I do dislike everything that attaches itself to it!

I cannot think of any plausible reason or time where I would use Louis Walsh as an advisor, and his antics during the latest episode reinforce this. Let me give you a bit of background on Frankie Cocozza (apologies if you haven’t heard of his name before now). He is not the greatest singer in the world and when he applied for the X Factor and he got through based on personality and stage presence - similarly to Jedward and Wagner (previous contestants). His performance skills make up for his lack of singing ability, which is fair enough. Robbie Williams, for example, will be the first person to tell you that he is not a good singer; however he has created a career for himself due to his stage antics, his personality and a VERY good manager!

Back to the point – Frankie Corcozza performed on Saturday night, and let’s just say...it wasn’t the greatest performance the stage has seen (any stage for that matter)! Put this to one side for the minute. Now, I am well aware that each judge is entitled to their opinion, as is everyone - that is their right. What I do not agree with is Louis Walsh stating,
‘you’ve never been a rock star, you will never be a rock star, you will never be good enough to be one either.’

Do you know what? He might be right. Frankie may never become a rock star, he may never be good enough, but nobody has the right to tell somebody else that! It’s fair enough to comment on the here and now, and maybe he could have even added a constructive element to his comments, but I feel very strongly that he should not tell a young guy that he will never become anything or achieve his goal in life.

I remember when I was in school – a lady called Mrs Sowersby (the name being a relative representation of her attitude to life) asking what I wanted to be when I left school – without a flinch I said a Footballer. Which, at the time of my utterance, was not a too distant dream -having been at Reading Academy for the previous 6 years. Without knowing my background, she flippantly replied – “now let’s be realistic, that is not going to happen, so let’s have a think what you could actually be.” Sadly, my reaction earned me a detention that day (the first time ever!). However, I stick by my rant! Nobody has the right to shatter someone else’s dreams. If nobody chased a dream, then as a society we would never move forward. I understand that you should be forward thinking and, of course, be careful that you do not limit your skills so dramatically that your employability is hampered, but we should instill the desire (in children especially) to try and achieve their dreams and to make a success of themselves, whatever meandering path that assumes.

Luckily, I remember telling my Mum ‘I am going to be a Footballer when I am older’ and she replied ‘Do you want me to have a word with Sir Alex?’ I must add here that my mum still believes she is on first name terms with ‘Fergie’ after he apparently waved at her during the 1999 Treble trophy tour. Her reaction was perfect, although I realised it was tongue in cheek. She didn’t quash my dream, in fairness she still claims to have Fergie and Eric (Cantona) on speed dial anytime I tell her I scored at the weekend.

Our Little Kickers obviously are not sure what they will be when they are older. However, if one of them comes to me and says that they want to be the Queen, then I will turn around and state that I will give Buckingham Palace a call to see what I can do.
As cheesy as this statement is, shoot for the moon and at least if you miss you will still be amongst the stars.

Not that I want to give Louis Walsh's comments any air time - but, here you go if you missed it!
http://youtu.be/ag5FpGVir_Q

#HighFive

A weekend to remember..

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:51:00 +0000

Firstly, apologies for not having updated this sooner, as you would expect - September is notoriously a very busy month for Little Kickers HQ and 2011 has been no exception!
Saturday morning started a little differently than most, the early morning alarm went off as normal, but this time, I was accompanied on the journey with a rather large Lion! Fear not, this Lion is incredibly friendly; in fact he is so friendly we have made him our Little Kickers mascot. The Little Kickers Lion Cub was on parade at the Baby and Toddler show in Sussex.

I went down with the Lion, admittedly receiving a few strange looks driving down the motorway with the Lion sat in the passenger seat! It was great to see so many children wanting to take penalties with LKFC and the Lions hand must have been hurting considering how many high fives he had dished out!

It was a great day, and we got to meet some Little Kickers’ too! Thank you to all of you who came down to see us with your kits on. You did us proud :)

Later on in the afternoon, I had a Football match. I play for a team called Hartley Wintney and we had a match against Bashley in the early rounds of the FA Cup. Bashley are 3 tiers above us in the English Football pyramid, and we certainly expecting to be on the receiving end of a bit of a hiding! Luckily for us, we managed to hold them to 0-0 right up until the 85 minute. Now, I am sure you are expecting, (as were we) for this paragraph to finish with unfortunately they scored a late goal...well there was a late goal...but it wasn’t Bashley who scored!

The ball fell to me at the edge of the area, and I fortunately managed to tuck it away neatly in the corner. Needless to say, my celebration was somewhat elaborate, luckily I have watched lots of our own Little Kickers score so many goals – that I sort of knew what to do! Certainly my favourite goal that I have ever scored, as it was such an important match, and such an important time of the match. We won the game 1-0 and to be perfectly honest...I am still buzzing off the feeling!

Sunday also saw me being able to meet some of the Little Kickers over in Portsmouth. I was so incredibly impressed with the attitude of all the coaches, and the excellent sessions they delivered. Not only that, but the children were so incredibly well behaved, and have obtained a very high level of performance! In the afternoon of the same day, I rushed back to watch my beloved Man United, in what is usually a very tight game against our rivals Chelsea – and, well if you do not know the result...then where have you been! A fabulous win for the reds, who look untouchable this season, although slightly concerned at the progress of the noisy neighbours in blue, I cannot mention there name...as I do not feel it is right to use such bad language in a public place!

Lastly, if you have already voted for us to win the Smarta100 award then thank you a million times over. I know we have bombarded you with a lot of information recently, but your vote means the world to us. Gong gathering was never something we set out for, and nor will it ever be, however it is always nice to be recognized for the hard work that goes on, and this award certainly represents that as it is voted by you lovely lot!

Thank you once again! Feel free to leave a comment; I am always interested to hear what you guys have been up too!

High Five.

BBC!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Have a look at this fantastic article written about one of our franchisees Graham Ware.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14274809

LK Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:30:00 +0000

I had the pleasure of going to watch the Little Kickers over at Tower Bridge, London. This class has already produced some excellent Little Kickers, one off which, Jamie, has gone on to sign for Millwall FC. I managed to catch up with Milo Strang, who was taking part in his first ever Mega Kickers session. Milo was excellent throughout the session, and then capped it off with a fantastic goal in the match!

Meet Milo...

Name: Milo Strang

Age: 4

Little Kickers Venue: Tower Bridge, London

Favourite Game: The Cocunut Shy

Favourite Coach: All of them!

Why do you love Little Kickers: I like to play all the games, and do big kicks around the room!

Favourite Food: Bananas

What do you want to be when you are older? A Footballer for Pompey!

Thanks Milo! I think Portsmouth FC could do with your goal-scoring capabilities this season!
High Five!

LKFC teaches KandH a lesson in Football Management!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:19:00 +0000

I entered a Fantasy Football league this season against a group of accountants. Kirkpatrick and Hopes are a company in Theale, in the heart of Berkshire. A lovely, quiet and scenic area of England - however, home to some self proclaimed Fantasy Football gurus who were not so quiet about their chances of winning. So naturally on behalf of Little Kickers, I decided to show them how it was really done!

Well done to Poppy who came a not too distant second.

As I said from the very beginning, you carry on doing your job, and let us do ours! ;)

The first of many trophies for Little Kickers this year!

HIGH FIVE!

LK Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:06:00 +0000

If Little Kickers was a bug, then the Hobley family from Amersham have certainly been bitten by it. Having moved from London, Zara and Andrew Hobley found Little Kickers in the beautiful area of Amersham, Buckinghamshire. No less than four Hobley children have attended Little Kickers, with Charlie (7) Alethea (6) and the newest recruit Stella (2), it was however, a very smiley Zinnia Hobley that we managed to catch up with, who is the grand old age of 4.

Name: Zinnia Hobley

Age: 4

Photo Pose: Zinnia shows off her balancing skills

Favourite Little Kickers Activity: The big kicks! You can kick it anywhere you like.

Why do you love Little Kickers: I love the Football stamps at the end of the session.

Favourite Healthy Food - Broccoli!

What would you like to be when you are older: The Queen.

Zinnia's Mum Says:

Zinnia has loved Little Kickers, as have all my children. It offers them a great opportunity to play something together when they get home as well, they will all play Football in the garden together and practice the skills they have learnt. Originally, we had the the girls involved with a Ballet class, but they all wanted to play a sport that was more active, Little Kickers certainly provides that. Coach Dave & Nathan have been fantastic and the kids adore them.

On our way to Wembley...

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 31 May 2011 10:27:00 +0000

You know that awkward feeling when you realise you are wearing the same top as someone else...well there were hundreds of people wearing the same Reading FC top as me on Monday afternoon, as I took my Mum to watch Reading FC Vs Swansea.

It is every young persons dream, to walk out on the famous pitch at Wembley, the home of English Football. And the game certainly did the amazing stadium justice. A great game, with a tremendous atmosphere. Reading were 3-0 down at half time and it look destined to be a Swansea victory. Reading, however, had other ideas! They managed to pull it back to 3-2 within 15 minutes of the game restarting, and they had the momentum. Reading went agonisingly close to equalising when Jem Karacan hit the post.
Swansea were then awarded a penalty in the closing minutes of the game which ended all Readings hopes of scoring an equaliser.

It was a fantastic advert for the game. A match played in the right spirit and supported in the same way.

Paul Scholes has also announced his retirement from Man Utd this morning. He has been my favourite player for Man United, he is a master of the ball and will be sorely missed. See below for my favourite Scholes goal EVER!

LK Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Sat, 28 May 2011 11:48:00 +0000

I had the pleasure of going to watch a class in Reading this morning, needless to say I was incredibly impressed with everyone. I managed to chat to one of the Little Kickers - Archie Croft.

Name: Archie Croft

Photo Pose: Archie is being a Little Kickers pirate!

Mighty Kickers

Venue from around the world: Caversham, Reading

Favourite game?
Pirates, we have to run across and dodge the cannon balls. If we get caught we have to go to the dungeon!

Why do you love Little Kickers?
I love Football, and playing all the games with my friends.

What is your favourite healthy food?
Carrots!

Who is your favourite Little Kickers Coach?
*whispers* Coach Darrel but don't tell him!

What would you like to be when you are older?
A train driver

Archie's Dad says:
Archie loves Little Kickers, he simply loves Football. Coach Darrel is fantastic with the kids, and Archie adores him! The sessions are filled with fun activities, and although they are learning skills - it's not completed in a serious nature, its engaging and imaginative for all the children. He really does enjoy it.

Garden Games - May 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:35:00 +0000

Here is our new Garden Games sheet for May! Please feel free to share this with others :)

Match of the day highlights - Little Kickers style!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:54:00 +0000

Would you like to see your child on our website! Why not film a video, join our facebook site and post it on our wall :)

What were your thoughts on this years title deciding game?

Coach Claire for Great Britain's Deaf Womens Football Team!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:12:00 +0000

Playing for your country at a major international football Championship must be every footballer’s dream. And for one of our Little Kickers coaches, in June this will be a reality.

Claire Stancliffe, lead coach at Northampton, has been selected for the Great Britain Deaf Women’s Football team who are competing at the inaugural European Championships in Bulgaria this June. Claire is profoundly deaf, but has worked hard to develop both her playing and coaching skills. She is FA level 2 qualified and has been coaching for Little Kickers for over a year. She is also taking her final exams for her degree course in May.

Claire started playing football at 14, and has been involved with the Great Britain/England Deaf Women’s team since 2007. She scored a hat-trick during the World Championships in Greece in 2008 where the team won Bronze, and again competed for England in the Deaflympics in Taipei on 2009, finishing 4th.

“I feel privileged to be given the opportunity to represent my country at the European Championships, it will be a fantastic experience” explained Claire.

However, unlike the London Olympics, all of the government funding to UK Deaf Sport has been stopped and the Women’s football team have to recover all costs associated with getting to and participating at the European Championships - each player given a target to raise £700.
To support her fundraising, Little Kickers Northampton recently held a raffle, and raised £193.

In addition, Little Kickers Head Office has generously given a further donation of £200.
Lynne Newbould from Little Kickers Northampton praised Claire, saying “Claire is a fantastic coach, the parents have been very supportive and our ‘kickers’ absolutely love her. One of them, a 2 year old girl from her Junior Kickers class always wears her socks pulled up to her knees - as she wants to be just like Coach Claire.”

If you or your company would like to sponsor Coach Claire, then please donate to this site. Your support would be amazing:
http://www.justgiving.com/Claire-Stancliffe

We will make sure we are up to date with her progress, and we wish her all the very best of luck with the competition!

Further details on how to support the team -
www.britishdeaffootball.com
www.ukdeafsport.org.uk

Little Kickers Film!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:18:00 +0000

Little Kickers - Royally Excited.

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 08:58:00 +0000

Hello everyone,

I hope you have made the most of our bank holiday weekend. If you didn't, you have another opportunity this weekend to make up for it!

The Royal wedding has finally come round. David Cameron has announced last week, that street parties are not just allowed, but encouraged. Are you having a street party? If so, please send us a snap of you and your little one, and we will get the photos on our website! (dbrownlie@littlekickers.co.uk)

I am lucky enough to be attending a street party in Bucklebury, the same little village that Miss Kate Middleton grew up in, and the street that her parents still live in. We live very close to each other, but needless to say, lead quite different lives! She has potential to be the Queen of England, and I have the potential to be crowned king of Table Tennis in a competition with my house-mates (I will obviously keep you updated with my progress!).

There is a lot of focus and attention surrounding our village at the minute. My Mum is claiming it is because they have mistakenly identified her as the Queen. To the extent, she had to ask the newspaper photographers to move so that she could move her car. Rumours flying around that Piers Morgan and Oprah Winfrey are staying in Bucklebury over the next few days to interview villagers has also made her be in her Sunday best at all times!

What ever your opinion on the Royal family. I do not think you can question their ability to create an event that rebuilds true British spirit. I, for one, did not think I would get taken in by the buzz created by it, but there is no doubt I will be joining the masses with a flag with the Union Jack on it waving it frantically at anyone who cares to look!

I hope you have a fantastic week, and enjoy your well deserved time off at the weekend, if unfortunately you have to work, I still hope you enjoy the spectacle.

Enjoy!

Kammy Do It!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:10:00 +0000

The legend that is Chris Kamara was learning a few things off our very own Little Kickers today at the MK Dons stadium! Lynne and Anthony Newbould took an army of Little Kickers to see the game.

Unbelievable Geoff.

Little Kickers

Create your badge

Little Kickers on Channel 5 News!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:59:00 +0000

Wayne Rooney who is currently banned from playing in domestic matches, after swearing down the lens of a live camera during the Manchester United game against West Ham at Upton Park. Channel 5 wanted Little Kickers' view on our roles and responsibilities, and the way in which children look up to us as coaches. Watch the video to see Coach Nick being interviewed by Channel 5 News.

What are your thoughts on the Rooney 'celebration'?

Fridays changing room chat...!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:48:00 +0000

Hello.

Now, most people will have a favourite goal. And lets face it, its difficult to find anyone that ever agrees with you. Needless to say this topic of conversation popped up in my house only a matter of hours ago, and shock horror...we all had a different favourite. We, as a house, managed to narrow it down to two goals -

This gets my vote...

My house mate Matthew Spencer voted...

Although, I am sure one or two of our own Little Kickers have popped up with a screamer, for now, lets base it on professionals!

Can you beat either of these goals? Or do you agree with one of us?

Post your comments below. Let the debate begin...

Lollibop - The Glastonbury for kids!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:40:00 +0000

Little Kickers are going to Lollibop!

LolliBop is back and it’s bigger and better than ever. Join Little Kickers and many other fun and exciting organisations in our magical land of endless fun for the under 10s. It’s the best day out for families this summer with all the thrills of a festival vibe but without the hassle of camping or long car journeys. Plus once you have paid your ticket price everything is FREE inside (apart from food, drinks and markets).

This 3 day event is the UK’s only festival where all the entertainment is for children. We want to keep our pint sized festival goers busy all day so have created an action packed programme that will delight your little ones.

Little Kickers will be there in force, so why not come and join us down there and have a ball (excuse the weak pun!)

Regents Park
5-7th August
Bring a smile.

See you there!!!

A wise man once said....

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:12:00 +0000

A wise man once said 'to be better than someone else, you must do two things'

1) Never give away too much advice.

Luckily for us, we have a slightly different angle! With over 600 coaches around the UK alone, we, as a company, are constantly coming up with new ideas and ways in which we can engage our children. Our excellent creative coaches who work tirelessly to make the sessions as fun as possible come up with new games and ways of delivering a message in a fun and exciting way. The beauty of having the company working on a franchise basis is that each coach, franchisee and customer, is wanting everyones area to be just as successful. Which is why, when a new game or idea is dreamed up, we can distribute it to everyone across the UK (and worldwide) with ease. Some of our best games have been created by the kids themselves; we encourage that confidence and creativity and we nurture it with the imaginative games we play.

I hope by now the penny has dropped with the opening quote...!

Have you got any ideas on how we can improve our services? Do you fancy yourself as a coach and have an idea for a game? We are constantly coming up with new activities, but we would love to hear about your ideas as well!

If you do have any ideas, or thoughts on how we can improve (if it's possible!), then either leave a comment underneath, or send me an email directly to, dbrownlie@littlekickers.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you!

Enjoy the sun

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:04:00 +0000

Congratulations to one of our Franchisee's Nick Sullivan and his wife on their wedding day earlier last month!

Cool Runnings

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:45:00 +0000

I was 9. Sat in my primary school hall, legs crossed – arms folded, eagerly awaiting the Christmas video. The Christmas video was simply an annual event whereby one child in the school was selected to bring in a video of their choice for the whole school to watch on the final day before the Christmas holidays. That year, one of the boys in the older class had brought in ‘Cool Runnings.’ Now, this film was a 15, and all over the video, and the adverts before hand, it highlighted that it was a 15. The school hall however was full of 50 children aged between 8 and 11! So needless to say, football stickers were stuck over the video where the 15 certificate symbol used to be, and the video was fast-forwarded until the start of the film! Good times.

Now to the reason I mention this - there is a link I promise! I was sat yesterday, reliving my childhood as “Cool Runnings” was shown on BBC1. And it was still as funny as I remember it all those years ago. Admittedly it was funny for different reasons, I actually got the jokes this time round whereas back then, I thought it was funny that they were using naughty words! Despite being a comedy, it is quite an inspiring film. A film about a group of men that wanted to be the best that they could be. A Jamaican bobsleigh team, against all odds and in spite of negative comments from all the people that laughed at them, they continued to work hard and they achieved their goals. Despite all the odds stacked against them, they tried their hardest, practiced come rain or shine, and got what they deserved.

Much alike the newly crowned Barcelona of English non-league football – Crawley Town. Pitched up against Manchester United, in front of nearly 70,000 fans, they did themselves proud; everything they had worked for during the season was repaid in a moment.

I think about people who have dedicated their lives to achieving exactly what they want. I look forward to watching the ‘on your marks, get set, where the hell did he go race’ involving Usain Bolt. However, we only get to watch that 10 seconds, win or lose. He has spent his whole life working hard to be at the top of his game. It’s amazing when you think about it. Usain Bolt will tell you that it is achievable. OK, I realise that he is a slightly different specimen; I can’t see myself doing 100m in less than 10 seconds in a car, let alone running it! But the idea holds a lot of truth. If we work at something for long enough and hard enough, it can be achievable.

OK, enough of my sermon. Lecture over! I have only ever had two comments on here, so I feel I should say something that is likely to urge a discussion…

Manchester United treble winners 2011!? Definitely.

American Foot(hand)ball

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Picture this… an early start on a Saturday morning for the monthly Little Kickers Masterclass at the Fulham Brunswick club, followed by a frantic rush to make kick off for what proved to be a tiring Football match in the swirling wind. To then be woken up on Sunday morning bright and early by the alarm so I could travel to South Wales to see our new franchisees in Pontypridd. Needless to say, it was a long and tiring weekend!

The only reason I even mention my busy weekend was purely because I had planned to keep my eyes open for a rare viewing of American Football - to watch the final of the Superbowl. I tried my best, and managed to stay up until half time. In what proved to be a thrilling game, it was interesting to see the intensity of the sport. With my last blog in mind, it was interesting to see the way in which the players were glamorised as super-stars, there almost seemed no link between a “typical” American and these highly paid American Football ‘gods.’ – I am still trying to find the reason it’s called Football, as there doesn’t seem a lot of foot action at all!

American Football is a million miles away from English Football. For example, the ‘coin toss ceremony’ took over 10 minutes to complete, I still remember the days when the ref would forget his coin and you’d have to pick the hand with the blade of grass in! I was watching the Superbowl match with a few friends, and at times we were laughing about how over the top we thought some of the commentary and displays were. It was quite funny; however, this is what I love about Sport. It’s so diverse, and yet it brings so many people together. I have never seen an American Football match before last years’ Superbowl, but I have a feeling it is going to become an annual event for me now.

Sport as a whole has always brought people together, rivalry has sometimes driven people apart, but the positives clearly outweigh the negatives. Sport gives elite players a route into professionalism, it gives regular players a chance to keep fit and meet new people, and for fans, sport gives a social identity and a level of escapism.

I love it, and by the fact that you are even reading this blog, I can say with some confidence that you do too. What ever your reason for being involved in sport, being a player or a fan, I hope you enjoy Little Kickers.

Super players are fantastic but their wages are atrocious!

noreply@blogger.com (Little Kickers) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 10:40:00 +0000

Sitting in my office in my new house, I found myself tuning into Sky Sports to find out the latest on the Premier League’s notoriously busy transfer deadline day. Fernando Torres is reportedly worth £50 million. Yes. £50 million!!

I understand that the money isn’t “real” within football, as outrageous sums of money change hands within the game and it stays in the industry. However there’s no denying that a lot of money graces the palms of the players, and greases the palms of the agents. Some of the figures that come out of the sport are laughable. I can barely imagine someone paying £50 for my services as a footballer, let alone £50 million!

I can’t help feeing that sometimes the real passion for the game runs the risk of being usurped by the money, glamour and publicity which nowadays seem to go hand-in-in hand with the professional sport. Are we risking losing the true passion of the game, thanks to elevated salaries and negative publicity surrounding footballers’ “lifestyles”? Remember, football is a game, a pastime, a hobby, a form of escapism for some: it was even reportedly played between enemy soldiers to celebrate Christmas. Football has long been a significant characteristic of the English nation, which has produced many great players and consistently delivers one of the best and most competitive leagues in the world.

With all this money within the game, and the business that goes on behind the scenes, it does worry me that the heart and soul of football runs the risk of being lost. The glamorous lifestyles and scandalous antics of players and teams is fast becoming more important than the game itself. I remember the way my Mum used to talk about Bobby Charlton – she made him seem so down-to-earth that you could imagine walking into a pub and sitting down and having a chat with him. The sport always used to have an image of accessibility, which was encouraged by people in the industry. Now it appears that there’s been a dramatic shift in the other direction, and that the players and teams are portrayed as heroes, and given almost God-like status, thus rendering all the players quite inaccessible to us mere mortals. In my opinion, this can only have a negative effect on young kids entering the sport - why would a young boy or girl be enthusiastic about getting involved in a sport where they cannot relate to anybody that plays it?

I hope we at Little Kickers can go some way in changing the face of football, and keeping the enjoyment and motivation within our own classes. With the FA now promising a great shift in terms of grass roots football, which we’re proud to have been asked to get involved in, we can assure you we will be doing everything we can to keep planting, and nurturing, the seeds.