Rovers are on ball for big day
EMMA CURRY
HUNDREDS of youngsters attended a football tournament in which 70 teams battled it out over an entire day.
A tournament for 700 boys and girls aged six to 13 was staged at Great Harwood Rovers Football Club’s new ground at Heymoor Farm, Great Harwood, on Saturday.
Teams travelled from as far afield as Manchester, Cheshire and The Wirral to take part in a total of 149 games, organised by the Great Harwood club.
The morning session featured matches for the under-seven, under-nine and under-11 age groups, while the under-eights, under-10s and under-12s played in the afternoon.
Groups under the age of nine played non-competi
tive games, with each child receiving a memento of the occasion, while the under-10s, 11s and 12s took part in competitions in which winners and runners-up were announced.
In the under-12 group, Great Harwood Rovers took top place ahead of Juno United Lions.
Andy Counsell, trustee of Great Harwood Rovers FC, said: “Since the weekend we have been inundated with emails congratulating the club on how the day went, how successful and well organised the tournament was and most importantly how the kids enjoyed themselves.”
Also on the day, a defibrillator was presented to Great Harwood Rovers, to be installed in the new changing rooms at the club.
The defibrillator was funded by Andy, after he suffered a heart attack last August. He managed to raise enough money for two defibrillators, plus a further £1,000 which was donated to the British Heart Foundation.
The other defibrillator has been installed at the Body One gym on Meadow Street, Great Harwood, where Andy had his heart attack.
Andy said: “I would like to give a massive thank you to Stuart Maher at the Phil Maher Foundation for helping me in obtaining both defibrillators and making all the arrangements for getting them installed and registered with the North West Ambulance Service.”