Burgess Hill Town Junior FC Girls U12 continue to set records

On the 3rd May Burgess Hill Town FC Juniors Girls Under 12’s Blacks made the 289 mile Journey to Rhyl North Wales to compete in the SCI football tournament. This has been something the team has been looking forward to since their historical trip to St Ives last year where they made club history by being the first girls’ team to compete in Cornwall and Win the tournament.

This year the team wanted to play their part in helping this to happen so over the last 6 months they have been taking part in multiple fund-raising activities such as running stalls at Christmas fairs, competing in a Santa Dash around Tilgate park and holding a quiz night. After all their hard work and commitment, they managed to raise enough funds to help support their trip to compete in North Wales.

In the months leading up to the trip we held additional training sessions and team meetings to help prepare ourselves for what will be a tournament that we wanted to showcase what Burgess Hill Town girls are all about. These consisted of extra strength and condition sessions as well as well as focusing on game plans and tactics. The team took every opportunity to make this event a success. The decision was made that we wanted to give as much game time as possible to all the players in the squad so the brave decision to create two teams out of our squad was made, this way everyone got to play as much football as possible.

Roll on Saturday 4th May when the event started, and we found out that we will be taking part in a league comprised of 11 teams from Wales and Liverpool. Our very first game of the day saw our squad having to face each other which was perfect in a way as this settled any nerves that the girls may have had and got them into their rhythm. The game ended up a draw as both teams were very evenly matched with great chances created by both teams.

Throughout the day both Coaches Martyn Box and Glen Marlow rotated themselves around to coach each team providing encouragement and guidance throughout the day. Each game provided the girls with new challenges to overcome but they all put in 110% every match and we could not fault their determination and desire. The day ended with win, loses, and draws as the league was very evenly matched. Both Burgess Hill teams were in a great position with only a point separating them leading into the Sunday, so they headed back to base camp to analyse the days performance and to enjoy some much needed down time.

Sunday was soon here, and we were ready to go again. The day was full of incredible moments and the girls really showed their heart and in what was a day full of emotion. Both teams had to battle hard to earn every point they got, some even battled through injury not only for themselves but for their team mates as well. Much like the day before all the matches were very close and competitive and by the end of the day there was nothing to separate our two Burgess Hill teams who finished on exactly the same amount of points and joint 5th in the league. To say these girls had done us proud is an understatement and they all had learnt so much from this experience. Each and everyone of them dug deep down and found something they did not know they had before the weekend started which was the heart and courage to keep going no matter what came their way.

Later on, the squad attended the presentation evening where they each were awarded medals from former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey. But that was not the end of our story, in a sudden unexpected event after the last player received her medal it was announced that Burgess Hill had won the fair play award. This would be the second year in a row where this group of girls representing Burgess Hill has travelled to both Cornwall and Wales and have won two years on the bounce the fair play award. To us this means far more then winning the tournament as this shows the values, professionalism, and sportsmanship this group of young ladies have and to win this back-to-back just shows how important this is to them. We could not be any prouder of this group for representing Burgess Hill Juniors with pride and distinction where they continue to inspire others to do the same.

Burgess Hill Town Juniors U12 Blacks are Lissa Marlow, Isla Heasman, Eriko Emura, Isla O’Conner, Ami Camera, Leyla Jukes, Erin Klutsey, Maisie Bartholomew, Nicole Drencheva, Faith Crowhurst, Annie Gregory, Esmee Dallinger, Mae Boardman and Rihanna Soudani. Managed by Head Coach Martyn Box and assistant coach Glen Marlow.