On Sunday 29 January 2023 Bootham Futsal Club – York welcomed 6 teams to take part in the first round of the FA Pokemon Futsal Cup. With this being the largest age group in the club we had entered 3 Bootham teams, and we knew team rivalry was going to be high, and boy we were not disappointed!

Bootham Futsal Club Harriers were represented by Keira L (captain), Olivia A, Lacey B, Lexie B, Hattie F, Abbie D, Katie H and Ava G.

Bootham Futsal Club Falcons by Martha P (captain), Molly G, Aria P, Erin E, Heidi J, Amie S, and Anna W.

Bootham Futsal Club Eagles by Eve T (captain), Toni S, Maja M, Grace W, Jessica W, Imogen D, Lena L, Leilah M and Sienna S.

The games in the were 12 minutes long, with everyone playing everyone, below is the final league table:

As expected every game was a very closely fought encounter and any team was capable of beating anyone else. As the day unfolded Bootham Harriers and York Railway Institute u14s were setting the pace, but both had several scares along the way. All the Bootham teams were playing some fantastic futsal with every players giving everything for their respective teams. At the end Bootham Harriers and York RI U14s had a winner takes all game with York RI taking the win with some clinical finishing.

Bootham had so many goalscorer on the day but a special mention to the 3 goalkeepers – Heidi, Jessica and Olivia who all performed heroically throughout the day!

Congratulations to York Railway Institute U14s who progress to the next round and represent NRCFA sometime later this year.

Click here to see page one of the images from the day

Click here to see page two of the images from the day

Player Of The Tournament For Bootham Harriers: Katie H – she was so composed as the back player and made some fantastic tackles and breaks with the ball. She is a player who is desperate to play for the ladies team and on this performance she won’t be that far away! Top job from a top young lady!

Player Of The Tournament For Bootham Eagles: Imogen D – she worked her socks off in every game and boy does she love a tackle. One of the few female players very comfortable with being physical and at times she really did boss the opposition. The future is very bright for this young lady!

Player Of The Tournament For Bootham Falcons: Aria P – she has matured so much in the last 6 months. She watches and reads the game so well, making so many fantastic interceptions. Her passing has greatly improved and she is starting to look a very good futsal player – one definitely to watch!

Final Thoughts Of A Coach – What a fantastic day with so many talented female futsal players. The standard this year was so high, with every game being so close. So many of the games could have gone either way with chances aplenty at both ends. From a clubs point of view, to see so many of this age group playing and showing how good they are was brilliant to watch. I particularly liked the way the goalkeepers were throwing the ball short for players to build the attacks, exactly how futsal should be!

With 3 teams on the day from Bootham – Coaches Chris, Paul and Aide had great fun pitting themselves against each other and every game was so close, nails bitten right down to the end! We saw a few tears after the event, especially from the Harriers team, which goes to show how much it really matters to them. Huge thank you to all the parents, coaches and helpers on the day, we couldn’t have done it without you!

Out of the 23 players on show for Bootham, only 4 were actually U14s, so that is a massive well done to the U13s. I am sure your time will come next year! Honestly all the coaches really can’t wait, thank you for all being so amazing!