Irish Under 19 international visits Blarney Soccer Sisters

The players on Blarney Soccer Sisters programme received a visit from Irish Under 19 international Amanda Parkes last Friday evening. See photo album for pictures.

Parkes had just returned from Spain where she had scored for Ireland for the third time and accepted an invitation from the FAI to attend the training in Blarney. She spoke to all the players and answered their questions before signing autographs for her new fan base.

Parkes was impressed with what she saw...  “I think it’s really great that girls as young as this are getting regular training. By the time they are my age they will have over ten years experience of playing which is fantastic. Most of the players I play with didn’t start until they were 12 or 13, so these girls will have a major advantage if they stick with soccer.” She said.

Cork senior captain Barbara O’Connell is a regular coach at the Blarney soccer sisters and she feels he players are learning a lot. “Soccer sisters provides girls with a chance to learn and develop skills as well as their confidence. A lot of our drills are partner based which encourages team work so the girls thoroughly enjoy it. It’s great to see players improving week after week” said O’Connell.

If your club or community is interested in starting a soccer sisters programme please contact the Cork Women’s and Schoolgirl’s Soccer league, 087 6750873

Soccer Sisters Programme finishes on Fri, May 23rd

Dear Parent / Guardian

Over the past several weeks your daughter has been enjoying the Soccer Sisters Programme in O’Shea Park every Friday night. This programme comes to an end on Friday, May 30^th. At this stage we are looking at how we can harness the girls’ enthusiasm.

Blarney United would very much like to continue to develop the girls’ skills, continue to make friends and help them to improve their overall fitness levels in a safe, fun environment.

As parents you can see that Blarney has created and excellent facility in which the girls are virtually guaranteed consistent training and match – playing opportunities. Blarney United is very happy to provide this facility for the girls into the future however we need your help.

The next logical step for the girls would be to form Blarney United girls’ team(s). At this stage we simply do not have the people to look after a girls’ team(s). As such we desperately need people who are willing to run / support a girls’ team(s). We have enough girls to form an U12s team, an U10s team and an U8s team.

Each team will need three people to help out: a manager, a coach and a team secretary…

• The secretary needs to be able to contact kids, clubs, etc re fixtures / training; surely anybody can do that!

• The coach will look after the football side of things developing the girls’ football skills. You may have some football background or you may not. Frankly, at this level, that is a ‘nice to have’. Blarney will provide the training if you will provide the commitment. There are numerous courses, books, videos and in - house people around who will help to bring your coaching skills up to the appropriate level.

• The manager will look after liaising with parents, the club and providing backup for the secretary and coach; surely most people could do this.

So let’s cut to the chase….

• Are you willing to help our girls in the season 2008 / 2009? ….. Y   /   N

• As team secretary? ………………………………………………....Y  /  N

• As team manager? ………………………………………………… .Y  /  N

• As team coach? ……………………………………………………. Y  /  N

• Which age group would suit you best? …………………………   Y  /  N

Please return to Don Walshe at the above address or return at the next training session.

Thanks

Don