2014 Chelsea Training & Annual Presentation Day

A great day was had by all on Saturday at the annual Chelsea Training and Forest Glade presentation event. The kids all turned up early and excited ready for what was due to be a long day of football. The weather forecast wasn't great and sure enough 10 minutes into the Chelsea training and the heavens opened up with some quite dramatic thunder and lightning which brought all the training to a grinding halt - not too dissimilar from England Vs Honduras on Friday night!

 

During the bad weather interval the kids all seeked shelter under the gazebos where the Chelsea coaches taught the children the "YaYa Toure" chant. This is one of those really annoying chants that just sticks in your head and repeats over and over again all day long. By Sunday I thought I had heard the last of it until I then heard some of our boys chanting it at the Rayleigh tournament (aaaargh!).

 

Anyway once the rain storm blew over the training commenced and the boys spent about an hour and a half predominantly on dribbling drills. After a short lunch break the World Cup was on as the Under 6's were split into Italy, Spain, Holland, England, Argentina and Brazil for a round robin of matches. With the games all concluded the boys were marched over to the presentation tent ready to receive their annual awards. The under 6's have been so committed and dedicated throughout the last year. They have trained and played in all kinds of extreme weather conditions and have given up multiple weekends with training on Saturday and matches on Sunday. The progress over the last year has been unbelievable and it is a pleasure to watch the teams playing. These annual trophies are very well deserved for such a hard years work.

 

George leads out the Lions for their annual trophy presentation.

 

Gaffa Stuart presents Samuel his trophy.

Lenny gets his award as coach Steve directs the photo opportunity.

Goal keeper Ellis who has really stepped up to the plate in the Lions.

 

The Lions with proud coaches Stuart and Steve.

 

Next up is the Tigers led out by Joshua.

Coach Jason presents Joshua with his annual trophy.

Ryan was next....

Then Alfie.....

Then Ethan.....

Then coach Lee presents the trophy to his boy, Max.

Next was Lorne.....

And last but not least our little pocket rocket centre forward, Alex.

 

Coach Lee and Jason with the Tigers.

Finally it was time for the Leopards led out by Riley.

Next up was Charlie......

Followed by the other Charlie.....

Next up Mantos.....

Then Ben....

Next was Jamie (arguably one of the most improved players of the year)....

And last but not least Mick's son Owen.

Proud coach Mick getting his bald head sun burnt as he poses with the Leopards.

 

A great picture of the coaches with all of the Under 6's. Well done boys, you make us all proud.

Tigers playing up to the camera.

 

The pictures in this blog are a bit back to front as I have started with the presentation day and then shown the Chelsea training. Anyway here are some action pictures for your enjoyment from the Chelsea training event (pictures courtesy of our very own Tigers Paparazzi - Nikola Webb.

 

 

Seeking shelter under the gazebos during thunder and lightning.

Joshua and Ethan preferred to take some risks with the lightning bolts!!!

Evan taking on Jamie.

Ryan under pressure from George.

Ryan shoots at goal.

Chelsea coaches giving feedback after each round robin game.

Charlie makes a great save.

Ryan on one of his runs down the wing.

Jamie in action.

Charlie trying to muscle in on Joshua.

George takes a long shot past Lorne.

Joe and Evan have a tangle.

Alfie tries to get a ball through.

Mantos and Charlie watch on as Italy put one in the back of the net.

Ryan showing the Chelsea coaches his footwork.

Owen, Jamie and Josh try and stop Alex from scoring.

Alex gets his break as Lorne goes down.

Lorne and Owen trying to close down on a very fast Mason.

ENGLAND Dress-Up Day - Sat June 14th.

Saturday June the 14th is the much anticipated big day for ENGLAND - our 1st World Cup 2014 match-up against Italy. In order to get into the spirit of the World Cup we thought it would be great if everyone (kids and parents) could dress up in England clothing for training on this day. We are not proposing everyone goes out and buys an official 2014 England kit as we appreciate these are ludicrously priced. Any England, St George's or simply red, white and blue clothing will suffice. Just make sure it is safe enough to still play football in, and also please still wear football socks with shin pads. 

And feel free to push the boat out further and go beyond just England kit. Would be great to see some face paint and maybe some hair colouring / hats going on as well. Maybe we can arrange a prize for the best effort!!! It would also be great for the blog to get a picture of all the kids and parents getting behind our national team for the World Cup 2014. So get your thinking caps on - its only 1 week away!

FG5's pictures

A few pictures from the Forest Glade 5's, Thanks to Kieran Headley.

 Charlie & Charlie In action v Great Wakering Colts

 Leopards team talk, Coaches Dean & Mick

Players Jamie,Charlie,Darcy,Jake,Reily,Charlie,Owen,Mantas

 Jake and Charlie in action

 Charlie, Darcy and Owen ready for centre kick

 Do the prawn, Do the prawn, Do the prawn Charlie and his prawn goal celebration, Britain certainly does have talent

 Darcy and Charlie take on UBC

 Charlie either on the end of a slide tackle or sending a UBC player flying under a challenge

 Lions Captain Sam deep in concentration

 Lions Joe ready to strike

Lions Mason in a great shot

 Lions Joe in action

Lions Joe taking on a player

Deadline for Chelsea Training Registration + Presentation Day Help

FINAL REMINDER about this weekends Chelsea Training and Presentation Day.

 

If your child is not yet registered on the Chelsea Training and wants to take part then we MUST have confirmation by COB tomorrow (June 4th). Please contact any of the coaches if you are not yet booked in. This really is a valuable opportunity for both players and coaches to learn from some of the top coaches in the country.

 

Also if you can spare some time after the presentation event we desperately need some parents to help out during the day. The youth team coaches and parents will be running the BBQ, drinks stand, car park duty, litter collection etc whilst the mini soccer teams have their presentation. Then we have been asked to reciprocate and provide help whilst the youth teams then have their presentation. Also if anyone can spare an hour at the end of the day we would really appreciate any help to clean up and get everything packed away. Goals need to be taken back, gazebos taken down, BBQ cleaned etc.etc. Similar to the recent FG5's tournament, the event runs much better with plenty of volunteer help,

Coaches Vs Parents Throw-down!

Forget the FA Cup Final, forget the forthcoming World Cup, even forget the FG5's tournament. This weekend Forest Glade hosted a game of truly epic proportions as the Forest Glade Under 6 coaches played a friendly match against the parents. The match was 15 mins each way and was very amusing for both players, spectators and the kids. It was great to see the kids watching the coaches play for once and it was really cool to hear them shouting "come on you blues" rather than cheering on their own parents. 

Obviously in the interest of fair play and to ensure we had no disgruntled parents, the coaches had all agreed to let the parents win before the game had even started (very charitable of us). Also by losing the game we could further develop the children by teaching them how to lose with dignity and respect, and to keep their chins held high even in defeat as you can always learn and improve! Honestly you wouldn't believe the efforts we coaches will go to in order to get an important lesson across to the kids!!!!!

Anyway thanks to Nikola Webb for capturing some stunning actions shots from this momentous occasion. Enjoy the pictures of a group of thoroughbred athletes strutting their stuff on the pitch (or should I say a group of middle aged, over the hill, wannabes almost collapsing with exhaustion after lacing up the boots for the first time in a long time!!!). I fear there needs to be a rematch in the making...............

There will be a sequel................

REMINDER : June 7th Chelsea Training + Presentation Day

Just a quick reminder to everyone that there will be no "normal" training this Saturday as it is the Chelsea Training Event followed by the Annual Presentation Day. If your child is attending the Chelsea training then registration starts at 9:45am, training commences at 10:00am, If your child is not taking part in the Chelsea training then please please arrive by 1:30pm ready for the presentation event to start at 1:45pm.

More details about the Chelsea Training and Presentation Day are shown below. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact one of the coaches. If you child wants to participate in the Chelsea Training but is not yet booking on the course then please notify the coaches asap.

Leopards at Hullbridge Tournament

Hullbridge Charity Tournament

Link for more details behind the tournament - deanbutlermemorial 

Today the Forest Glade Leopards team travelled to Hullbridge to take part in the Dean Butler memorial cup, After a tough weekend in our own Forest Glade 5's tournament which saw us walk away with 3 draws and 2 loses we were looking to better our results and pick up our first tournament win.

This tournament would see us play Hullbridge Sports, Mornington Boys, Prospects United and Essex Comets in games totalling 8 minutes each.

 Coaches Mick and Dean with the team

Left to Right Owen,Darcy,Ben,Jake,Jamie,Charlie,Reily

Our first opponents of the day were Prospects United, we started really well and were dominating the game keeping them in their own half under pressure, almost taking a much deserved early lead. Prospects had some big strong players in their team who eventually managed to break the deadlock and take the lead, after conceding the first goal we struggled to settle and conceded another 2 goals in quick concession Both from long range leaving Reily no chance in goal.

Team talk in the Hullbridge changing room

Jamie explaining tactics and formation discussed with coach Dean