News

Team training / Saturday Club / Goalkeeper training will be back this Saturday (7th January) across all pitches (including Bexleyheath Academy, Townley Grammar and Welling School) following the winter break.

Hope to see you all there

Junior Reds

There will be no team training / Saturday Club / Goalkeeper training this Saturday – 17th December.

The pitches at Bexleyheath Academy, Townley Grammar and Welling School are all covered with snow and with the forecast of continued low temperatures the venues have decided to cancel their bookings for this weekend.

Thank you for your understanding

Junior Reds

Our Jack Petchey Scheme special achiever for October is Wisdom Anyanwu – a member of our Under 16 Sabres team.

Assistant Manager, Warren, said in his nomination “Wisdom has been with us for almost two seasons. He is always the first at training helping to set up for the session. He shows a great appetite for learning and developing his football skills. He is a credit to himself and a great team member and he deserves recognition for his hard work”.

It is with great pleasure that we can announce our second recipient in 2022 under the Jack Petchey Foundation: Suky Khosa.

Suky has been very active in the Club over the last three years, forming additional teams and supporting new volunteer Coaches. This role is important to Junior Reds and through Suky’s hard work several additional teams have been formed in the mini soccer and 9-a-side categories. The task to form a new team requires considerable time and effort. Suky’s contribution to the Club in team formation and in supporting new Coaches is greatly valued.

In addition to these roles, Suky also Coaches the youngest 4/5 age group as part of the “Saturday Soccer Club”. In midweek over two evenings he also leads Futsal sessions in the Bexleyheath Academy Sports Hall.

Pictured with Suky are some of the players prior to Saturday morning training.

Our Jack Petchey special achiever for November is Aoife Onraet.

Aoife is the captain of the Womens team for season 2022/23. She has been a reliable and constant contributor both on and off the field for the last three seasons. Aoife exemplifies the high sporting standard and fair play within the team. A great asset readily grasping the leadership captain role and a deserved recipient of the award for this season.

Well done Aoife!

We are pleased to announce Lee Stewart – Team Manager and Coach for our Under 12 Knights and Warriors teams – has been recognised by the Jack Petchey Foundation for his special contribution as a “Leader” in Junior Reds.

Lee manages two Under 12s teams and makes other contributions at the Club. This Summer he formed an additional team in response to the large number of children in School Year 7 wishing to play football in order to widen their playing opportunities. Lee did not wish to disappoint interested children and was prepared to devote considerable time and effort to make an additional team possible.

Outside of his dual team responsibilities Lee helps within the Club. One example was to improve the internal maintenance of our storage container at Bexleyheath Academy which required much attention after some neglect.

Well done Lee – we are proud of you.

This weekend, the 5th and 6th November, is the first of two FA Silent Support Weekends that are to take place across the season.

Why a Silent Support Weekend?

The FA have decided to introduce a National Silent Support Weekend to promote positive behaviour on touchlines across grassroots youth football. The landmark National Silent Support Weekend has been introduced to encourage spectators and coaches to show their support during the match through applause only, with an aim of reducing the pressure on youth players at grassroots level and to give them a better opportunity and environment to find their own voice, improve their on-pitch communications skills, develop their own game, and most importantly have fun.

What does a Silent Support Weekend mean for coaches and parents/carers/spectators?

Across the National Silent Support Weekend, coaches and parents, carers and spectators are encouraged to show their support by applauding good play from both teams, but refraining from talking or shouting. This is to create an enjoyable, safe and developmental experience for all youth players, so that they can play the game with freedom, without pressure, and without an over-emphasis on winning at all costs.

One of our deserved Jack Petchey Special Achievers for the Autumn period is Manuella Aghogho.

Ella is the lead Coach at our casually based weekly Saturday Girls Soccer Club. Ella volunteered to lead hourly sessions each week as a Club initiative to “give girls a chance to play football in an all-girls group not always provided in Primary Schools”. Ella is enthusiastic; keen to expand her Coaching knowledge and importantly has a great rapport with the girls.

If your daughter would like to come along to develop some football skills in a supportive / fun environment, under the guidance of Ella, this group are to be found at Bexleyheath Academy from 11.00am to midday on a Saturday morning.

Please contact Club Secretary Clive Chivers for more information on 07504 264 157 or clive@juniorredsfc.co.uk.

• Nationwide Building Society awards 50 £1,000 grants to grassroots football clubs
• Awards given out to UK clubs who best demonstrated what mutual respect means
• Junior Reds has been awarded a grant to help the club in any way they see fit
• Over 300 applications received with clubs explaining what respect means to them

Nationwide Building Society has awarded £1,000 to South East London area based Junior Reds football club after it impressed judges in a UK-wide competition built around mutual respect within the grassroots game.

Britain’s biggest building society have partnered with Football Associations across the UK in landmark three-year deals to help foster positivity and respect across grassroots football. The simple aim is to create a society that’s built on mutual respect.

In August, Nationwide committed to donating £50,000 to their newly formed Mutual Respect Grants fund to help support grassroots football. Clubs and teams could apply for one of the 50 grants by explaining why respect is important to their club to be in the chance with being awarded £1,000.

There were more than 300 applications from across the UK, with Junior Reds, who train in South East London chosen as one of the lucky deserving winners.

What does respect mean to Junior Reds Football Club?

In their application they highlighted the continued importance placed in setting the highest standards by their actions and in communication with Club members; with Referees and external Opposition teams. All new members and parents are required to commit to a written “Code of Conduct”. The importance of fair play and self-control is regularly emphasised at training sessions and in meetings. Team Managers are all volunteers and for many years have been welcomed into the Club with regard to their skills in both communicating the “respect” message and adhering to the principals by their actions.

Clive Chivers, Club Chairperson said: “We are really delighted to be recognised by the Nationwide Building Society – a valued supporter of grassroots football – for our continuous work in relation to respect for all in the football community. We work hard in regularly communicating our standards to all.

Emily Barker, Brand Partnership Manager at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Mutual respect is something that we value at the core of Nationwide in everything we do, so to be able to give these grants to the clubs that need them the most and those that themselves have demonstrated respect on and off the pitch is really exciting. We are looking forward to seeing how grassroots clubs put the money to use and the difference it makes.”

The whole of football at every level will join forces on Saturday and Sunday 1st / 2nd October to promote Play
Safe. Play Safe is football’s national campaign to focus attention on the vital importance of safeguarding in our national game.

This is the second Play Safe weekend, the first of which launched the ongoing campaign in November 2021. The campaign is officially supported by the NSPCC as well as the Premier League, EFL, Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship. It’s also being backed by every other level of the game across England.

This year’s focus remains on the key role of parents/carers in safeguarding, with two main messages being
conveyed:
• Are you aware of the vital safeguarding role you play in football?
• Please take the new, short and free safeguarding course specifically developed for parents/carers, which can
be accessed here.

For more information, please refer to: www.TheFA.com/PlaySafe