With head coach Chris away with the teams in Leeds for the West Riding Girls Futsal League, Coaches Paul and Aide took charge of the much-reduced numbers. There may not have been many there, but boy did they work hard, an amazing attitude from all present!

The session revolved around shooting and finishing in the D. Coach Paul discussed with the girls Saturday’s ladies’ game and the importance of travelling toward the goal before shooting and supporting your teammate for a second post finish. He set up noughts and crosses game on the whiteboard, with various finishing options. There were nine futsal-based ideas – 1 touch finish etc, for the girls to consider whilst playing a regular game but with the emphasis on shooting inside the D and second post finishes.

Notable Player of the Session

With so many away playing in Leeds the coaches picked only one notable player this week – Connie W – she has only been coming for a few weeks, but today she did not look out of place and was on the ball more times than not. She has a great attitude, and we can’t wait to see how she progresses over the coming weeks – top job Connie!

Final thoughts of a coach – I’m not going to talk about the session this week, or the girls’ games in Leeds but the women’s league. At the time of writing this, we have just learnt that Loughborough have pulled out of the Tier 2 league with immediate effect. This is the second side that has withdrawn from the Tiers 1 and 2 league in our region, following Sunderland, and is a worrying sign. I have no knowledge of why either side removed themselves from the league, I can guess, not that this would help. The sport is growing around the world, but for whatever reason the female game in the UK, at the highest level is really struggling.

We at Bootham seem to be bucking the trend. Our ladies’ team has doubled in size since the start of the year, and potentially we will have three new graduates signing on after the New Year. The girl’s academy is staying strong with enquiries coming pretty much every week. We have three teams competing in the brand-new West Riding Girls Futsal League monthly. We have friendly matches arranged against York University Ladies and a local grassroots team, in front of the York Futsal crowd, courtesy of Junior Roberti.

I guess all we can do is continue to believe in what we are doing and provide as many opportunities as possible for players in this area….fingers crossed the rest of the country does the same….

Coach Chris