Young Guns Continue Pre-season With Good Performance

Thursday 24th July 2015 @ Jaffray Road

Erdington and Saltley Under 10s/11s Mixed 2 – 1 Kings Heath Warriors Gold Under 11s

Team: Harvey, Brad, Shaun, Kye, Ilani, Taylor, Tiarno, Danny, Bradley, Resharne, Rio, Cameron, Samim and Blessing

Goals: Cameron x 2

With most of the Under 11s absent for a number of reasons, it was left to the young guns to step up to the plate, accompanied by a few wise old heads and one or two returning stars!

The first fifteen minutes didn’t exactly start as we had hoped, with our opponents taking the lead after 90 seconds thanks to a thunderous free kick. However we refused to be down heartened by this blow and pushed on, controlling the remainder of the first quarter. Within minutes of falling behind, we equalised through Cameron, who expertly fired home at the far post following Kings Heath’s attempts to clear the ball. It was no less than we deserved.

The second quarter saw Cameron drop into the centre of midfield and Blessing slot in up front. The Court Farm sharp-shooter (Blessing) showed that his first couple of months with Blues have had a big impact on his game, as he ran the line with growing understanding, finding pockets of space and playing others in when they were in a better position.

Much of the game saw players asked to occupy unfamiliar positions, all in the name of development. Tiarno and Danny were asked to curb their attacking instincts and slot in at right and left back, whilst Rio came in off the wing to pull the strings in the centre of the park, with Cameron doing likewise. Everyone should be incredibly proud of how they performed, many of whom were against older opposition and playing 9-a-side football for the first time. None more so than Resharne. The Brookvale Year 3 star had a cracking game, often coming up against a much bigger and stronger opponent in their right back. Nonetheless he squared up to him and battled away like a trooper, using his body and strength equally as well as the Kings Heath defender. His vision, bravery and ability to pick a pass meant he looked far from out of place against the older boys.

With the scores still level as the game entered the fourth and final quarter, we knew we had to find the goal that our possession warranted. However Kings Heath had other ideas and started to control the game. Fortunately Cameron also had other ideas! Now back up front, the Gunter finisher slotted home to give The Ton a 2-1 lead, although the drama was far from over! Kings Heath thought they’d snatched a draw in the closing seconds of the game, only for their linesman to disallow it. Relief all round for the Ton boys!

Overall a very pleasing evening. With a largely under 10s team on the field, it was great to get a victory but more pleasing was the manner in which we tried to play attacking football on the ground, whilst also working hard to regain possession throughout the game.

Thank you to Kings Heath and all involved. They had a long journey to get to Jaffray and looked a cracking team. I’m sure they’ll have a great first season as a team and we look forward to crossing paths again, hopefully before the end of the season.

Also a big thanks to Lloyd and the Phoenix family for allowing us to use Jaffray Road. We owe you one. Another one!

Man of the Match – Rio: He was here, there and everywhere. It was great to hear him demanding the ball and wanting to take responsibility. An all round brilliant game!

Up The Ton!

Our Vision, Mission and Values have been updated

Our Vision

To develop well disciplined student-athletes who strive for educational and footballing excellence.

Our Mission

We aim to create an atmosphere that allows the players to grow as young people, as well as improving as footballers.

As teachers who voluntarily run the district football teams, we wish to spread the message  through sport, that learning is about the process of personal experience; that the opportunity to experience is the key to developing understanding. We wish to provide the opportunities to raise expectation and aspirations, nurture personality and encourage an awareness of common responsibility so that knowledge and skills can be used in all areas of life.

In short, our mission is to:

  • Develop student/athletes who are committed to personal excellence and team success.
  • Provide an inspirational and motivational environment where preparation, practice and hard work generate legitimate opportunities for success.
  • Emphasize the importance and development of fundamentals and techniques necessary for positive experiences in football and in life.
  • Create a consistently exciting and entertaining program that generates huge levels of support, pride and tradition for all our community to share

Our Core Values

Hard-work

We give everything that we have, in everything that we do.

When playing football, we ‘leave everything on the pitch’. After a game has finished, we can    honestly say that we couldn’t try any harder. We’re exhausted through the effort that we put in during the game. No opponent runs further than we do, tackles harder or jumps higher.

If we win, it’s due to the effort that we put in during the game. If we lose, it’s because we came up against an opponent of superior ability, rather than a team who worked harder. Losing to a better opponent is fine. It’s a fact of life. However losing to a team because they tried harder than we did is not something that we will accept.

In school we will transfer this value to our work. We will strive for academic  excellence by ensuring that we try our best in every lesson, regardless of whether it’s our favourite lesson or not. We understand that education has the power to transform our lives and that we must make the most of the opportunities provided to us by our teachers and school.

Integrity

We always do what is right. We are always  honest and never lie. We show loyalty and respect to our parents, coaches, teammates, opponents and officials. This is something that we replicate in school-life.

When we arrive on match-day, we approach all of our coaches and greet them by saying  hello and shaking them by the hand. We do the same for our teammates.

During a game we accept the officials’ decisions, even if we disagree with them. We do not question them, answer them back or question their integrity. The officials’ decisions are final.

After a game we thank the referee for his/her effort and shake their hand. We then offer three cheers for our opponents, before shaking each of their team by the hand, even those with whom we might have had a disagreement with during the course of the match.

We always offer to set-up equipment for a match, as well as offering to help tidying up after a game. We do not look to avoid helping out with chores and jobs.

We know the value of manners and always use them. We always show respect to our coaches, even if we disagree with a decision that they’ve made. We know that being a  substitute before and during a game is simply part of the sport and accept it without sulking.

Fun

We realise that playing for the district is a huge honour and one that is only bestowed upon a lucky few each season. Therefore we will approach each session and game with a smile on our face. We know that we play our best football when we’re relaxed and enjoying ourselves.

School days are the happiest days of our life and we intend to make the very most of them!

Silky Skills on Show, Despite defeat

Thursday 16th July 2015 @ Heartlands Academy

Erdington and Saltley Under 11s 1  – 3 Bromford Lions Under 12s

Team: Brad, Daniel, Igor, Matty, Ilani, Kane, Shaun, Diago, Samim, Oakley, Kye, Harvey, Bradley and Sam

Scorer: Kye

Weddings, holidays, training, illness and proms had meant the squad was down to the bare bones for this pre-season encounter against long time friends, Bromford Lions. This, coupled with the fact that Bromford are a year older than us, meant the lads had no choice but to step up their game if they were going to get anything out of the match. A 3-1 scoreline suggests we were comfortably beaten by Bromford, although that couldn’t be any further from the truth. If it wasn’t for a couple of late pieces of Gio magic, we would have got something from the game, something that we fully deserved.

Starting the game as the better of the two teams, we passed the ball around with confidence and it was pleasing to see the lads playing as a unit and a team. It was clear that the boys were prepared to work hard and support each other and also that they trusted one another to look after the ball. The ball was constantly given to the player in the best position rather than being held on to for personal glory. For me this was perhaps the most pleasing thing to take away from the game.

After falling a goal behind, we bounced back in quick style, scoring through the lively Kye, who was called into midfield duty following the late withdrawal of several players. In fact, the St. Barnabas’ whiz, had a cracking game down the right hand side, swinging in a number of dangerous balls.

At the back, Diago (like Igor, Matty and Daniel) who was playing as a trialist, showed glimpses of his strength and composure, matching up to the physical threat posed by Bromford Lions. However it was Ilani (two years the junior of Bromford Lions) who stood out at the back, particularly when it came to a 1 on 1 scrap with the intimidating Giovani. The young Yenton rock should be incredibly proud of his performance and the way that he matched up to his older opponent.

As the game wore on and changes disrupted the shape and balance of the team, Bromford capitalised through their talisman Gio. His two goals illustrating the talent that we all know he has, but still coming as a difficult pill to swallow, following our sterling efforts.

As mentioned above, the manner in which we played the ball around on the floor was the most pleasing thing about the game and something that we should be very happy about. If we can continue to play in this manner during the remainder of pre-season, it’ll only be a matter of time until everything falls into place.

Well done lads and thank you, as ever, to Wayne and his Bromford boys. It’s always a pleasure and we wish you the very best for the 2015/16 season.

Man of the Match: Ilani

Up The Ton!

Bath International Cup – The Finer Details

  • We’ll travel down on Saturday 29th August in cars, rather than a bus like last time, due to the fact that we’ll be staying over night.
  • The aim is to arrive at Odd Down playing fields, Bath, for approximately 9:00am
  • The squad will mainly consist of those boys who will make up the under 11s for the 2015/16 season
  • They’ll be a number of games for the lads on the Saturday, with some of them against professional teams from Europe and Britain.
  • We will then stay the night, with Bath University providing our accommodation
  • The accommodation consists of 13 bedrooms, with a shared kitchen and communal area. This will provide a great setting for the boys and those families that attend to socialise with each other
  • The Saturday night will provide us with an opportunity to socialise with the other teams and their families, as the boys relax and enjoy a BBQ and party
  • They’ll be some more games on the Sunday morning, before we head home on the Sunday.
  • Some families might wish to spend another night/day in Bath and make the most of the bank holiday!
  • The following teams have confirmed their participation: Southampton, Swansea, Everton, Chelsea, Rayo Vallecano (Spain), Mashtugget (Sweden), Skjold (Denmark), B93 (Denmark), Vilnius (Lithuania), Bath Schools, North Somerset Schools and Barnet Schools.

#wecanplay – Our First Ever Girls’ Team!

Taija – St. Clement’s
Melia – Colebourne
Remi – St. Mary and St. John
Amy and Macie – Brookvale
Latesha, Kiera, Callie and Fahima – Gunter
Anaya, Isobel, Lauren and Lois – Abbey
Sasha and Natalya – St. Wilfred’s
Jema – Hodge Hill
Grace – St. Barnabas
Tiah – Featherstone

As a district, we’ve had boys’ teams for over 50 years but this is our first team to showcase the talents of our girls! It’s been a long time coming but my word, it’s going to be worth the wait! What talent!