Football fun for school holidays
Budding football players of all abilities have honed their skills over the past week of the school holidays.
Fifty children between the ages of 7 and 12 took part in Footie Fix, Palmerston North Marist Football Club’s holiday programme. The programme, lead by six coaches from Marist, was open to all, from first-time players to those who had a few seasons under their belt.
Organiser Rachel Findon said the weather had limited the time the children were able to spend outside, but said they were able to play indoor games and do other activities in Freyberg High School’s gyms.
All activities throughout the week were football-themed, with Simon Says being transformed into Ronaldo Says, and a memory game being played with football pictures. The children were also taught fundamental football skills throughout and learnt about the correct way to warm up before a game.
Findon said Sport Manawatu¯ provided funding so 25 children from low-decile schools could attend the programme for free. Before the programme started, Findon said she collected 23 pairs of donated football boots, so children who didn’t own a pair could join in. ‘‘It’s really cool to see kids just getting involved.’’
Brianna Mabbitt, 10, said she had learnt to ‘‘kick really well’’ and thought each of the coaches had taught something different. She said one of the most helpful tips she had learnt was dragging her foot while taking a throw-in.
North End player Niroj Ghimire, 10, said his time at the programme had been ‘‘awesome’’ and he was looking forward to using the juggling and dribbling skills he had learnt for his next club game.
Findon said there would be a prizegiving today, where all the participants would receive a football to take home. The children would also be allowed to take the donated boots home.
She said this was the second term the programme had been run and she hoped Marist could get more funding for future programmes to get diverse groups of people into football.
‘‘Perhaps we could focus on getting more girls involved next time.’’