College helps youngsters kick start their football talent

Hopwood Hall College’s community football under-8 players with Pennines Juniors FC.

Hopwood Hall College has given a group of young budding footballers the chance to play against a club team for the first time.

The children, who are all aged under eight years old, train at the College every week as part of the College’s community football programme. These sessions help to introduce them to the game.

However, the College’s football development manager, Tom Conroy, felt that they were such a talented bunch that they should have the chance to play against an established football team.
With that in mind, this week the youngsters got to play against Pennine Juniors FC. The morning was filled with a series of games so that all the children could take part – and they loved it.

As Tom explains: “The event was a huge success. This was a first for the children. They got to play together as a team against other players. It really helped to build their confidence and their social skills too as they didn’t know the other players before the event. They were all telling me how much they enjoyed it. We’ll be doing it again."