Twelve much sought-after prizes were handed out at the fifth annual Wiltshire Sports Awards on Wednesday evening (October 22) – and one of them went to Marlborough Youth Football Club (MYFC) as the county’s sports club of the year.
MYFC Chairman Jon Davidson told Marlborough News Online: “The whole club is thrilled with this award. Over the past five years our volunteers have worked extremely hard to provide opportunities for children to play football and our growth has been testament to their effort and our
policy of football for everyone. “
“Our volunteers are critical to what we have managed to achieve and we are increasingly reliant on the support of Marlborough College, Marlborough Rugby Club and Marlborough Town Council for
helping supply pitches and facilities so we can play week in, week out. “
“A big thanks to everyone – volunteers, parents, players, sponsors and partners for helping us on the journey so far!”
Alex Muse, the Wiltshire Council sports development officer who has been helping MYFC, sent the Club his congratulations on winning the award: “I’m absolutely thrilled to bits for you! Totally deserved and hopefully will help to illustrate the success of the club locally and inspire more participants and volunteers.”
The ceremony in Trowbridge was hosted by former England rugby captain Phil de Glanville and the guest of honour was heptathlete Kelly Sotherton. The awards are sponsored by Landmarc.
During the 2013-2014 season MYFC increased its registered players by 150 per cent to 240 players – despite the lack of dedicated facilities for youth football in Marlborough.
One of their recent highlights has been the introduction of girls teams. Despite the fact that all the girls were new to football, MYFC’s first girls team (the Under-11 Angels) came top in a tournament hosted by Swindon Town FC.
Following that tournament, four of the girls were chosen to attend Wiltshire FA’s Advanced Coaching Centre and two girls were then selected for the South West Centre of Excellence.
The club has made a point of creating partnerships in the Marlborough area. And volunteers have helped with the team organisation – including the annual five-aside Christmas party.
Innovation comes high on MYFC’s agenda: they have created an online coaching resource using Dropbox to share coaching materials.
This season the Club plans to develop its relationship with Marlborough Town FC and to support their plans to expand the number of pitches so MYFC can base its Under-12-to-Under-18 age groups at Elcot Lane. 10-12 MTFC players will join MYFC’s new girls section and MYFC will enter its first league team in the Wiltshire FA’s girls league (Under-13s).
“This is a positive step,” says Club Chairman Jon Davidson, “and will help us in the first steps of finding a successful way to integrate the clubs again. In future we are hoping to create a permanent link with Marlborough Town Football Club’s senior teams so the town benefits from the talent we are developing in our youth club and then watching what they can achieve for the town.”
These and many other advances MYFC has made led to its nomination and winning against the other two nominees – Salisbury Triathlon Club and Trowbridge Rugby Club. Jon Davidson sums up: “It will be difficult to surpass what we achieved last season, so I’m hoping we can have as much fun as possible!”
Apart from the twelve major awards handed out at the Trowbridge ceremony, ten young sports stars aged between eight and sixteen and from many parts of the county received Funding Future Olympians and Paralympians Sports Scholarship grants of £500.
And Norman Mussell of Marlborough Cricket Club won the Long Service to Sport Award for over 50 years of service to the club.
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