The Lindfield Girls Under 16 team is welcoming new players 2023/24

With women’s football continuing to take the sporting world by storm, Lindfield is looking for to expand its own pride of budding Lionesses.

The Lindfield Girls Under 16 team is welcoming new players for the 2023/24 season. Girls starting Years 10 and 11 in September are eligible. The team plays on Sundays either on the Common or Hickmans Lane with training being planned for the next season on Thursdays at Handcross Park School. There are also occasional training sessions with professional players from Brighton and Lewes women which have been extremely popular.

The team was formed in 2018 when four Year 6 and 7 players turned up for the first training session! Since then, the club has attracted girls of all ages and now has teams from Under 9s through to the Under 16s team which is sponsored by Potential Personal Training and Haywards Heath Landscapes. The Lindfield girls are already making their mark on the local football scene with the Under 12s reaching the County Cup final this season.

“Our focus is to enable girls who start playing football in primary school to keep playing for Lindfield right through to leaving secondary school,” said coach Steve Harris. Off the field, the girls have enjoyed social events including barbeques, paddle boarding, pizza nights and, of course, trips to support Brighton & Hove Albion Women and the England team when they played at the Amex Stadium. “If you love football, have played a bit before and want to play with a lovely bunch of girls with lots of laughs, then come along for a kick around,” Steve added.

The club would be delighted to hear from all age groups. For more information, email: secretarylindfieldjnrs@ hotmail.com. For next season’s Under 16s, Steve can be contacted by phone on 07712 897309 or email: sah@harriskeane.com.

https://lindfieldjuniorsfc.co.uk/

Lindfield Junior coach trains with the best

When Lindfield Junior coach Paul Hicks was invited to join Aston Villa’s winter season training in Dubai, it offered a unique opportunity to pick up some top professional tips to bring back home to the village team. But, perhaps more importantly, it also provided the chance to grant a special Christmas wish for friend and fellow coach Matt Richardson - one of Villa’s biggest fans. The pair travelled to Dubai in December after Paul, who works for CSM Sport and Entertainment, was asked to lead the project team supporting the club’s Winter Season training programme.

The pair travelled to Dubai in December after Paul, who works for CSM Sport and Entertainment, was asked to lead the project team supporting the club’s Winter Season training programme. CSM organises Fan Experiences around sporting events, such as the Six Nations, Autumn Internationals and The Hundred, along with projects which help football clubs to engage with their international fans. “My role was to support my team in Dubai, helping curate, plan and deliver the engagement programme alongside the Winter Training,” said Paul. “This included giving on the ground support during the activations. “It was a great opportunity to watch and learn some teaching tips, for Lindfield Raiders (under 7s), from an elite premier league manager in action on the training pitch, taking the Aston Villa first team through the training session,” he added. “But it was also an opportunity for Matt to join us in Dubai, to hang out meet the players, watch the exclusive training session and get involved in the Brand Experience element on Le Mer beach.” As well as visiting the team’s hotel, JA Resorts - where all the big football teams stay - the pair enjoyed meeting of the players on the golf course and were given exclusive access to the conference room to view the set up and understand how premier league players are treated when overseas. “We were also invited to watch an exclusive training session of the 25 Villa players and manager, Unai Emery and coaches,” added Paul. “Prior to the session, we had exclusive access to all the Villa back of house team, from groundsmen to marketing, chatting to them on the training pitch, learning about the new manager, past managers and the Villa set up. “We then joined 20 other VIPs in the small stand to watch the 2-hour training session, where we were just a few feet away from the action, before meeting the players, getting pictures, videos and autographs and asking questions.”

For Matt, it was the experience of a lifetime, particularly when Ollie Watkins, Villa’s number one striker, sent a personal video message to his son Leo. “Following on from this, we managed to arrange a meet and greet back at Villa Park for Leo with Ollie Watkins, after the game on 15th December, bringing a dream to life,” said Paul. Leo also presented Ollie with a children’s book for his daughter, written and published by his mum Nikki. “It was amazing to join an elite Premier League club training session and to be part of such a fantastic experience for Matt and Leo, who is best friends with my son Teddy,” said Paul. “Being part of the training session has also enabled us to gain further knowledge and skills for set training pieces, positioning, movement, pitch space that we can apply to our very own Lindfield Raiders U7s to help improve our grassroots game.”

Lindfield Juniors FC raise money for Ukraine appeal

Players, coaches and supporters from all Lindfield Junior teams have joined forces to show support for the Ukrainian people and raise much needed funds for Save the Children’s Ukraine appeal. In the first of a series of events between now and the end of the season, the children and coaches wore blue and yellow kit to training, whilst players, parents and supporters of the club have given generously to the club’s Justgiving page.

U11s coach Dominic Roberjot said: “I had the idea for our squad of 14 to wear blue and yellow to training and raise a few pounds for charity. When I shared the idea with the other coaches, everyone immediately started chipping in with great ideas. Within hours we’d managed to raise more than £1,000! It just goes to show what a fantastic club this is and what an incredible community Lindfield is.”

Faye Waters, Community Fundraising Manager at Save the Children said: “Save the Children is extremely grateful for the quick response and support shown by Lindfield Juniors Football Club and their network, raising much needed funds for children and their families affected by the conflict in Ukraine. We’re planning to deliver lifesaving aid to 3.5 million vulnerable children and their families, but we can only achieve this with the generous support of individuals and organisations like Lindfield Juniors FC.”

More events are being planned between now and the end of the season to show the club’s continuing support for Ukraine. The club has already raised more than £4,500 for Save the Children and the donation page remains open for those wishing to show their support: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lindfieldjuniors