Your Norwich: Community
The road to
Wembley OLIVEIRA VISITS CARROW PARK Nelson Oliveira was a surprise guest at the Community Sports Foundation’s Soccer Skill Centre at Carrow Park last week.
It may only be December but Wembley was well and truly in the air for girls from a number of local high schools at a Community Sports Foundation tournament last Friday.
Held at the Football Development Centre in Bowthorpe, the tournament saw over 70 girls from 11 local high schools compete for the special prize of representing Norwich City FC in the Kinder+ Sport EFL Girls Cup 2016-17. The tournament, which is free to enter, gives thousands of schools across the country the opportunity to represent their local Football League club, with the grand final played on Wembley’s famous turf prior to the EFL Trophy Final in April. Competition for Norwich City’s berth is always hotly contested and this year proved to be no exception. The girls, aged between 12 and 13, enjoyed a series of round-robin fixtures, before a knock-out bracket whittled it down to two finalists: Thorpe St Andrew High School and Aylsham High School. It was the latter who eventually
prevailed, pipping their rivals in dramatic fashion via a penalty shoot-out. Aylsham will now represent the Canaries in the Eastern Region Area Finals, where they’ll face teams from the likes of Colchester United, Ipswich Town and Southend United. Should Aylsham progress, only a South Region Final will stand between them and the once-in-a-lifetime thrill of playing at Wembley. CSF Schools Development Officer Joe Harvey said: “The prize of representing the Canaries on a national level is a huge incentive for the teams, and every one of our school battled hard. As ever, the tournament was played in great spirit and we saw some superb football on display.”
He took part in a series of fun, technical drills and some smallsided fixtures with the children, before a question and answer session. Nelson offered the youngsters an insight into his life at his new Club, as well as his international career, which has seen him play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo for his native Portugal. Soccer Skill Centres are weekly sessions run in term-time for children aged 5 to 11. Venues for 2017 include Norwich, Taverham, Dereham, Wymondham and Gorleston and you can book online now at www. communitysportsfoundation. org.uk.
The Kinder+ Sport project is a national initiative from Ferrero UK and the Football League Trust, which aims to get children active and promote healthy lifestyles.
W: communitysportsfoundation.org.uk | E: info@communitysportsfoundation.org.uk | T: 01603 761122 | T: @NorwichCityCSF F: facebook.com/communitysportsfoundation | I: @NorwichCityCSF | Registered charity 1088239 Community Sports Foundation, Norwich City FC, Carrow Road, Norwich, NR1 1JE
OTBC 83