Sea, Sea, Sea Siders

Thank you to everyone who came along to the Southend Vs Torquay game today. The coaches hope you all had a great afternoon out and enjoyed the football match. It would have been nice to have seen a few more goals but a 1-0 win at home is a good result for the Sea Siders. We would appreciate any feedback on today (good and bad) and whether or not you would be interested on more events like this in the future. The coaches all feel that it is a great way for all of us to get together away from Barleylands and just chill out together whilst letting the kids bond together, have some fun and hopefully learn some skills to take back to training next week.

Some of the Forest Glade Under 6's with Southend Team Mascots Eric the Eel and Sammy the Shrimp.

Sammy the Shrimp low fiving the FG Under 6's as he runs past.

Max and Sam concentrating hard on the on field action.

The rowdy little group which were all yelling "Sea, Sea Sea Siders" throughout the second half of the match. Good to see coach Stuart looking so Happy!

Player of the Week 29th March 2015

Very well done to Jake and Mason for winning this weeks Player of the Week award at training today. Apologies but I didn't manage to get a picture of Jake as I was busy giving out the tickets for the Southend game and by the time I had finished he had gone. If you want your picture on the blog get your Dad to send me a picture and I will add it to this post.

 

Player of the Week 29th March 2015 : Mason.

Football in the Sunday Papers!

Coach Lee caught a few of the boys after the matches Sunday going through the papers checking out the football. They can't get enough of it!!!!

 

A Word from the Gaffa following Southminster

Sunday 23 March and we welcomed back Southminster to Forest Glade having played them back in November. As per usual at FG the weather was a mixed bag, with brief spells of sunshine followed by rain and the usual gale force winds.

 

 

As coaches and having played Southminster before it was going to be interesting to see how we had developed as teams and I am pleased to say that on the day both teams managed good victories and played some good football which the parents enjoyed watching. Most pleasing was our passing/movement and communication and it is clear that as an age group we are now moving in the right direction and will be ready when it comes to starting the U7s in September.

 

 

As coaches we are now trying to make the boys understand that it is not just about scoring goals and that everybody in the team has their individual roles and plays a part in making the team a success, and we would encourage the parents to try and reinforce this message to your children.

 

 

Sometimes when they come off the field and we speak with them and ask them how they played, you get back the line “ okay but I did not score today” . It’s a message that we need to keep repeating and I think if you look at the MOM awards over the last couple of weeks this has been reflected, as against Buckhurst Hill the awards went to two goalkeepers and a defender and then this week it went to Ellis and Alex.

 

 

Ellis started in goal and did everything that was asked of him in terms of distributing the ball and then second half he came out on pitch and again he distributed the ball when needed and overall he contributed as much to the game as to our goal scorers.

 

 

Alex stepped up for his team went in goal first half and performed really well and then second half listened and showed some great skill and scored a great goal.

 

 

So well done to you both.

 

 

On another note this weekend having managed to play 4 games I am pleased to say that everybody that has trained with us has now managed to play a training game and big thanks to Mick for sorting out so many of these fixtures.

 

 

Looking forward to September we are definitely looking to enter three teams for next year and I would just ask at this stage for parents to confirm their boy/girls availability for next year as I want to register our teams as soon as possible.

 

Stuart.

Forest Glade Vs Southminster (Home)

After mixed fortunes from last weeks games, this Sunday we had the Nursery team and team Sigma on show.

The first game was the Nursery team led by captain Daltrey. The team started strong putting pressure on the opposition with Lenny, mason and George testing the Southminster Goalkeeper who was stopping all shots being fired at him. We finally got the break through with some great passing through the team. The interplay and passing between the team was great to see with all boys looking up for a pass. A spot of rain did not stop the focus of the nursery team with goals flying in from Mason, Lenny and Jo. Ellis much a bystander at the start but when called into play kept focus and on his toes. The passing from all the team was a pleasure to watch with the team playing well.

At half time the Gaffa changed the team around bringing the Cat Ellis on pitch, with Charlie Headley jumping between the sticks. The second half started as the first left off with George showing his sublime passing and putting Lenny, Mason and Jo through on goal to carry on the shots at the Southminster goalkeeper. Daltrey at the back being strong as ever sweeping up and putting some great passes through. Ellis got stuck in on pitch and got put through by George with Ellis just about to wind up a shot he was tackled but kept on trying.

Southminster not really getting a look in but towards the end of the match but eventually got a break and with Jo chasing back and in the box and taking out the Southminster player from behind. Well done Jo for chasing back though. With Charlie in goal and a spectator for most if the game he did his best to put off the penalty taker   by sticking his tongue out. However this didn't work and Southminster got a goal back.

The move of the game came from a pass from Jo to Lenny on the left wing who sprinted to the touch line and looked up saw George in the box and put over a low hard pass. George first time with his side of his foot struck the ball perfectly and the ball hitting the top right upright. Although the ball did not go in the move was great to watch.

With so many players doing well it was hard to pick a man of the match. It was decided that Ellis had played well consistently in goal and did well on the pitch so the award went to him.

Out second game today was Team Sigma led by captain Alex.

As Team Sigma do not have a weekly goalkeeper and to keep it fair for all players Alex took his turn between the sticks. With his first question to Coach Steve "When we get a corner can I go and score". Team sigma snatched an early goal and from there a hard ten minutes took place with the game being battled out in the middle of the park. At this point I will just mention that refereeing this match was coach Michael.

In the middle of the park there was some great challenges going in from Ryan, Max, Alfie, Charlie and Ethan. With Captain Alex telling his team what to do from the sticks. At this stage of the match the ref seemed to disappear and a challenge from team Sigma resulted in a foul on the left hand side of the box for Southminster. The ref failed to see this! A good free kick for Southminster resulted in a goal line clearance from Charlie Headley. Team Sigma then got themselves a break and another goal scored. With the Southminster goalkeeper kicking the ball out it came to Ethan on the volley and from the half way line struck the ball well and narrowly missed the goal.

Second half and a change of goalkeepers with Max going in and Alex on the pitch. The game re-started and team Sigma put the pressure back on with Alex showing great skill and scoring a great individual goal. Team Sigma played well together and showed some great plays with the game ending with a good win.

A great day for both teams.

Forest Glade Nursery team on the attack against Southminster.

Mason launches a corner.

George and Lenny are quick to close down the opposition.

Sam holding strong at the back as Lenny launches in for support.

Once again Sam doing what he does best in defence.

Lenny celebrates a goal.

Joe on a run.

Nice to see the boys spread out on the field and holding positions.

Joe in action looking for a pass.

The pass comes and he cracks a shot at goal.

Mason and Samuel getting ready to defend again.

Mason sweeps down the wing as Joe breaks off to his right.

MOTM Ellis doing his goal keeping duties.

Lenny looking for Sam as the Gaffa watches on from the sidelines.

Team Nursery L-R : Joe, Ellis, George, Lenny, Charlie and Sam.

The Gaffa with MOTM Ellis.

Ellis proudly displays his MOTM medal.

 

Thanks to Steve and Zoe Cross for this write up and sending through the pictures from Sunday.

A few pictures from the weekend.

 Charlie after his MOTM debut v UBC

 Team Sigma and Southminster 

 Coach Lee with team Sigma, L/R Ryan,Alex,Ethan,Max,Alfie, Charlie's hiding

 Three cheers from the Southminster Boys

 Handshakes and Charlies back

 Coach Lee and Southminster coach Tony 

 Coach Lee and MOTM Alex

Alex giving the thumbs up after receiving his MOTM medal, Well played Alex you stepped up for Goalkeeping Duties and listened to all the instructions coaches Lee and Stuart were giving you.

Forest Glade Away @ Upminster Baptist Church

After last weeks great training games the Forest Glade Under 6's had a turn of fortunes today with a disappointing performance away at Upminster Baptist Church FC. The weather changed from sun, to wind, to rain to sleet thus pretty much giving us all four seasons during the two matches that we played. The pitches themselves were a fraction bigger than a postage stamp and it really didn't help when people walk straight across the pitch or multiple balls end up on the pitch mid way during the game. All of this seemed to really phase the kids and all that was good in last weekends games seemed to go completely out of the window. As a result the 1st match ended with FG getting an 8-0 thrashing of a team which in all honesty we should have given much tougher competition against and arguable could have beaten. Maybe last weeks games boosted their confidence too much, who knows? One thing for sure is that we have a lot to work on in next weeks training.

 

The story of the 1st game, all our players standing around watching UBC run with the ball and no one getting stuck in there to tackle.

Last week the team spread out nicely and played good positions. This week we consistently had 3 players grouped around the ball.

Jake getting a rare tackle on the UBC No.10 who was on a mission to wipe out most of our team with some pretty rough play.

Reily gets a goal kick out to Mantos who probably played the best out of Team GMB with some good defending again.

Normally Joshua gets plenty of strong runs up the field, today I think we saw only one charge up field from him. Owen looks very interested in the action!

With such a poor performance in the first game we decided for the first time ever not to award a MOTM medal for Team GMB. However lets get a rematch arranged at home against UBC on a good size pitch and show them what we are really made of next time.

 

The second game started about 45 mins later due to the organisation over UBC. So sorry to the kids and parents who were made to wait around for the first game to finish. Anyway the good news here is that our second team had a much more competitive game and whilst they lost 1-0, they held their own and we can draw a few more positives from this match. 

Charlie getting stuck in their and going after the ball.

This pictures gives you a good idea just how narrow the pitch was. Proper mini soccer!

Ryan was a strong performer as always and made some good runs with the ball.

Great pose from Ryan after launching a throw-in out to new boy Fraser.

Team Sigma Broking L-R : Charlie, Fraser, Charlie, Ryan, Alfie and Alex.

Man of the Match medal for Team Sigma Broking went to Charlie who played his first match for the FG U6's today and played in goal for the second half. For his first game he did a great job and made a some good saves. 

MOTM medal went to Charlie for some good goal keeping skills.

Southend Vs Torquay Update

The good news is that I now have in my hands all of the tickets for the Southend Vs Torquay game on March 29th. It should be a great day out with over 40 parents and kids going along. The bad news is that this game coincides with a community day for the club and as such I have been unable to arrange anything special for the kids in terms of getting them on the pitch or meeting the players. What Southend United have said though is that if we arrange another visit in the future then they will make sure our Forest Glade Uner 6's can perform the guard of honour for the Southend players as they come onto the pitch.

 

Anyway for those of you that have never been to Roots Hall before there is quite a good pdf file on the Southend United website which I would encourage you to read. See link below:

 

http://www.southendunited.co.uk/tickets/first-visit-roots-hall/

 

Finally please give some thought as to how you plan to travel to Southend on the day and ensure you leave sufficient time to get to the grounds. I would propose that we all meet outside Roots Hall entrance at 2:30pm (half an hour before kick-off). There is car parking available at Roots Hall but I have no idea how much this costs or how full up the car park gets. So if you are driving you might want to plan an alternative parking arrangement. I plan on parking in Hampton Gardens as I have a relative who lives there and they have some off street parking available. From Hampton Gardens it is a very straight forward 10-15 min walk straight up Victoria Avenue where you will see Roots Hall on your right.

Coaches Profile : Jason King

Name : Jason King

Age : 41 (the old boy of the team!)

Birth town :  Romford

Profession : Program Manager for Automotive Supplier

Family : Married to Tina King with three children Joshua (6), Brandon (5) and Holly (3 months!)

What football team do you support?: Never really been a hardened football supporter of a specific team, if I had to pick one I would say Arsenal in the Premiership or Southend United as my local team.

Football background: I was regretfully never really given the opportunity to play much football as a child other than at school. My Dad was not really a sporty sort of person and never encouraged / supported us much. Post school I tried playing 5-a-side for a while but having been doing karate for over 25 years I found it difficult to control the elbows and the sweeps!!! Figured best I stop before someone gets hurt.

Most memorable football moment:  Oddly enough I would say my most memorable moment was watching my youngest son Brandon watching his first ever football match at Southend United. He is usually so quiet and reserved but was yelling “common you shrimpers” and “ses, sea, seasiders” at the top of his voice. He was getting looks from spectators on the adjacent side of the stadium as he was so loud!

Who will win in Rio? Holland (I have to say them as they are always my Plan B team for when England get knocked out). Shows my age as it stems back to watching the dream team with the likes of Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullet etc.

Sporting Achievements: In 2006 I was the UK Octathlon team champion (gym based fitness competitions and ranked number 2 in the country). Over the years I have competed in many karate tournaments, ToughGuys, marathons and even ultra-marathons including last years Saltmarsh 75 miler which I finished 9^th place in. In 2011 I placed 3rd in the 24 hour Adidas Thunder Run. I have also achieved my 1^st dan black belt in Ishinryu karate and currently hold a 3^rd dan black belt in Ni-Sen karate.  

Hobbies / Interests:  my children, karate, running, cycling, gym / fitness, UFC Mixed Martial Arts, golf, metal music, cooking, archery, Gran Turismo 6 (see I am still a big kid) and watching just about any sport on TV (except cricket).

Favourite food: Always used to be simply tuna and pasta as I was very strict on my diet, however every now and then I like to treat myself to a dinner of liver, bacon, mash, fired oonions and gravy. I also love all stodgy traditional English puddings like jam roly poly, spotted dick, syrup pudding, apple crumble etc (all with nice thick custard!).

Favourite drink: Guinness (as Schwarzenegger once famously said – milk is for babies, men drink beer!).

Favourite Movie / TV Program:  Movies - I was brought up in the Stallone era and love the old Rambo’s and Rocky’s (I know its sad). I enjoy films from my youth such as “The Goonies”, “ET”, “Back To The Future” etc. Also a good war film such as “Full Metal Jacket” or “Platoon”. TV Program – used to like “Friends”, the new “Hawaii 5-0”, “Strikeback” series and the “Spartacus” Series.

Favourite music / group / song: easy going I like all types of music but my clear favourite (much to the wife’s dislike) is metal. Good old “ACDC”, “Metallica” etc.. Probably say that “Korn” is one of my all-time favourite bands. Favourite song would have to be either “Stargazer” – by Rainbow, or“Teenage Wasteland” by The Who, or “We Salute You” by ACDC.

One piece of advice you would give the Under 6’s: I would actually give two bits of advice which I live by, 1) Train hard – win easy! And 2) If a job is worth doing then it is worth doing properly.

One thing about you that no-one would know:  I can juggle and also started to learn to ride a unicycle!

Forest Glade Vets Semi Final This Weekend

If anyone is at a loss for something to do this weekend then why not spend Saturday afternoon down at Forest Glade and support the Vets team who have their Cup Semi-Final match against Ford Basildon. A couple of the coaches are in the vets team so its a good chance for the kids to shout back at the coaches from the sidelines!!! Kick-off is at 1.30pm at Barleylands.

More Pictures Team Sigma Broking V Buckhurst Hill FC

Thanks to Nikola for providing some great action shots from the Forest Glade Team Sigma Broking Vs Buckhurst Hill game last weekend. 

Team picture with the opposition (visitors wearing bibs as both teams had blue kits).

Ryan launches a corner.

Alfie getting stuck in there with a tackle.

Alfie at full sprint on the attack.

Team work! Alfie poking the ball through the legs to Ryan waiting on the other side.

This is either going to be a great kick, if not its a pretty good Superman pose.

MOTM Charlie in action.

Ryan and Alex make a break. Great to see them spreading out as they run up field and not bunching around the ball anymore.