YORK City have received £30,000 from the Premier League Charitable Fund to help establish new teams in the region’s schools.

The club’s Foundation are delivering a two-year project that will also provide coaching for a teacher, parent or community volunteer to run the team.

Only 40 professional clubs were successful in their bid for grants from the fund and it is already making a difference, with new girls’ teams having been launched at Clifton with Rawcliffe and St Wilfrid’s primary schools.

Programmes are being run at St Oswald’s, Hemplands, St Paul’s and Poppleton Road too and the football club would welcome interest from schools in the Selby, Tadcaster and Harrogate areas.

The fun and engaging sessions are being aimed at Key Stage 2 girls and boys, and involve six weeks of in-school coaching following the national curriculum framework.

That is followed by four weeks of enrichment sessions covering healthy living and respect in sport and including question-and-answer sessions with City players, along with possible stadium visits.

Ten weeks of extra-curriculum football sessions, meanwhile, will develop the youngsters’ full potential while also training a member of the school teaching staff, parent or community volunteer to be confident and knowledgeable enough to run the team.

On the aims of the project, York City community manager Danial Parker said: “Rather than just going in there and putting on sessions, we are hoping to leave legacies at schools. We can also hold sessions at a time that is convenient for the schools, including lunchtimes or after school.”

Any school interested in participating in the scheme, should phone Danial Parker on 01904 559508 or email danial.ycfc@live.co.uk

Meanwhile, the Foundation will be holding holiday fun camps at three venues during the February half-term holiday.

York Press:

They will be staged at Huntington Secondary School and Acomb’s Energise centre from Tuesday, February 17 to Friday, February 20 (10am to 3pm daily) and at Tadcaster Manor Field in Station Road from Wednesday, February 18 to Friday, February 20 (10.30am to 3.30pm daily).

The cost is £16 per day with the camps open to boys and girls aged between four and 12.

On completion of a full course, children will receive a York City gift bag including a matchday ticket.

Booking forms are online at www.yorkcityfootballclub.co.uk/community/. For information, phone 01904 559508.

York Press:
Mike Revill, from York City Foundation, and Yorkie the Lion, left, team up with pupils at St Wilfrid’s Primary School in Monkgate, York