Winnall and Highcliffe Half Term Football Tournament
This February Half Term, children were given the opportunity to take part in a series of coaching sessions in the build up to a final tournament event between teams for each of the two areas at the Winchester Sports Stadium. The football sessions took place each afternoon and the final tournament was a huge hit for those young people involved. Around 50 children aged between 7 and 16 took part in the sessions at KAYAC and the Winchester Sports Stadium and all enjoyed the benefits of free coaching and fun games. The partnership project, to provide a free half term activity to residents in the local areas was run by Winchester City Council’s Sport & Physical Activity Team and Landlord Services in conjunction with A2 Dominion.
The coaching opportunity gave those taking part the chance to practice their skills, learn new techniques and prepare to be ready to strut their stuff at the final tournament event. During the matches some masters of the game were unearthed and found to be showing off their skills and finishing goals to a high standard. With the football season in its final third, starting to wind down and local teams looking at their own promotion prospects, the half term football event proved to be a great opportunity to engage local young people in a sport that will hopefully see more local successes. Due to the success of this event, further sessions will be planned for these and other areas in April with more football opportunities being offered to local young people in the coming months.
Alex Trumble, Sports Facilities Development Manager at the University of Winchester said ‘We’ve got brilliant facilities here at the Sports Stadium and to be able to offer these to local youngsters from areas close by is great. It’s superb to see the large numbers of young people coming down and using the Sports Stadium and we’re looking forward to getting more involved in April.’
Cllr Dominic Hiscock, Portfolio Holder at Winchester City Council said ‘The coaching sessions and tournament event have been a massive success and it has been fantastic to see children from both areas coming along to play against each other and enjoying themselves! This partnership between A2 Housing, Winchester City Council and the University is a good example of what can be achieved when different organisations work together to make peoples lives better.’