Sun soaked Bridgemary Feasts on a Fabulous Football Frenzy of Fun Fun Fun 

On a glorious hot June day, 50 Bridgemary youngsters joined 4 coaches from Pompey FC, for a whole day of free coaching and competition.

Saturday 17th June saw the start of the summer's big sporting event, the Bridgemary Football Frenzy. By complete coincidence, the FIFA World Cup is being staged in Germany at the same time, but that did not stop the youngsters turning up for their day of free fun.

Head Coach, Mick Conway, aided by coaches Sam, James and Ian, put the boys and girls through their paces. There were individual sessions on heading, dribbling and penalty taking, as well as a team event as Bridgemary's own version of the World Cup was staged.

Every player also took part in the hardest shot competition; using a special radar gun which measures the ball speed in mph, everyone had several goes at taking penalties, with the device placed just behind the goal. The winning speed was an impressive 62 mph! Local Police Officer Mandy Stanswood started the competition off with the first shot, which resulted in only 35 mph - this was easily beaten by all the other more serious players !

Throughout the day, 5-a-side matches were played on a round robin basis, and points were not just given for goals and wins; good attitude and sporting behaviour impressed the coaches too.

Football of a very high standard graced the pitches at Bridgemary School all day, and certainly impressed the Pompey coaches. It was particularly good to see girls taking part - although it would be even nicer to see more turn up in the weeks to come.

After 6 hours in glorious sunshine, the day of coaching and competition came to an end. Mick presented prizes to those players who had improved most in the day, as well as prizes for best attitude shown on the day, and Best Player in each age group. There were medals for the World Cup winners, followed by a hearty round of applause for the coaches as well as the organiser, Sam Mitchell from Gosport Borough Council.

The football frenzy has got off to a fabulous start. Further sessions will take place throughout the summer, at Bridgemary School every Tuesday evening, and at Holbrook Rec on every Friday evening. There will another mini World Cup on Friday 25th August at Holbrook Rec, 10am to 4pm. For further details contact Sam Mitchell on 07985 234367 or Sgt David Knowles of the Bridgemary Neighbourhood Policing Team on 07896 130393.

This event is provided free, thanks to a grant provided by Hampshire Police Authority.