Teddington U13G Blogger of the year awardee strikes again :-) last masterpiece of the season

Awards Night

Carlos the “heckle” in balloon-bursting drama

Oh what a fantastic season. Top three and a great tour. The great and the good of TAFC Girls Under 13’s gathered at the Bushy Park Big Top on Friday for the Annual Awards ceremony. After their triumphant European campaign, the girls were in celebratory mood, though the planned open top bus parade had to be cancelled because the park gates closed at 20.15. We entered the tent to the strains of “We love you Teddington, we do” much to the chagrin of the boys teams who had earlier endured much more sedate ceremonies. Christelle took to the floor and delivered an impassioned speech to much applause. It has been a great season, it could have been better and next year it will be if we keep our concentration and get fitter in body and in mind (and that is just the parents).

The awards then followed with :

• Players Player of the Year going to Lola;
• Coaches Player of the Year to Sophia; 
• Managers Player of the Year to Charlotje.

All three thoroughly deserved their awards. The whole squad then received their own trophies, which on closer inspection seemed to have the bottom half of a man and the top half of a woman (or maybe just a homage to Andy Carroll). Time to thank Christelle, Ed and Mairead for all of their efforts and once more a song before leaving the marquee. Carlos caught up in the emotion of the moment then encouraged our team to take the balloons home, not realizing that they were needed for a similar, albeit quieter, ceremony planned for the following day. After being chastised by ‘someone important’, the balloons were hastily put back, all except one deflated one - our bubble had at last been burst, but it took a Brazilian to do it. 

Have a great summer 

Tournament 17th May confirmed

Thatcham Town Ladies and Girls F. C.    Six-a-Side Tournament

To be held at Thatcham Town F.C. Waterside Park, Crookham Road,

Thatcham, Berkshire, RG19 4PA

Saturday 17^th May 2014

Meet at 1pm for those that have been asked to attend (you will receive an email to that effect today) - as we can only take 8 players 

There is another tournament for the 14th of June so those not attending the 17th may will attend the 14th of june

some pictures from holland.............and a video link from our Houlten's friends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-G_BfFhhR0

Awards night - details

The awards will start at 6.30pm and each team will have a 30 minute slot, meaning we will complete the awards by 9pm. The U13 are scheduled for 8.30pm

The BBQ will  be serving food from 7.00-9.00pm.(open to all)

See you all there!

“When its spring again we’ll sing again, we won in Amsterdam”

Keith Maple's great attempt at summarizing a wonderful, eventful, memorable, fun and sporty bank holiday week end in Holland  for the "Girls do it better" football tour.

Our first foray into Europe and so much to say. From the funny to the suspicious and the skillful to the downright bizarre this is my take on the events that transpired in some corner of a foreign field. 

The Prologue

Long coach journey, chirpy driver, “glad we flew”, Duingalows, flumes & swimming, roller coasters, early night, early start, back on the coach, drive to the tournament, pictures with the flags “which pitch” “who are we playing? “Are we awake?”

The Tournament

Freezing cold, boiling hot, flags a flying, the Group of Death, Sadie’s goals (2), 4 clean sheets, Lola scores, Elin scores, making friends with Delta girls, the Macarena on the pitch, yellows, blues and black and whites, chips and toasties, gravy scotch eggs, good 5 minutes, poor 10 minutes, wilting in the heat, great goal by Hannah R, Kathryn’s save when 0-0, 3 wins, fifth place play off, penalty shoot out, Net makes a save, Teddington girls out.

The Next day

Proper ground, up in the stand, dressing rooms, national anthems, superb play, Lola’s Cruyff turn, Sadie goal, Sophia at the back, Elin’s miss, Elin’s wonder goal, error at the back, Elin scores again, hurricane winds, win 3-1, photos of the teams, drinks with the ref, Champions of Holland.

The Scandals

Chip gate               Slowing down the food queue so our chips arrived late

Pizza gate              Poisoning Robert with a Dutch pizza

Revenge gate       Diesel jumping out of the coach all over the driver

Penalty gate          The net keeping out our winning goal

The Referees

The Good – the one who shared a beer with us after Sunday’s game

The Bad – the one who believed a net could defy the laws of physics

The Ugly – the one who stopped the game on the other pitch because a coach told him what he thought.

The Lessons

Find out what rules we are playing before we kick off

-Short corners, easier goal kicks, and no back pass rule

Its penalties not a cross bar challenge

Dutch goal nets are made of steel

Chips two minutes before a game may not be the best way forward

When Keith shouts “don’t shoot” always do – Great goal Hannah

When those corners come across run towards them not away

The Memorable

The warmth of the hosts

Mikes luminous tracksuit

Spreading the word that we were Tottenham Hotspur

Ed challenging the girls to try to hit the cross bar (they failed)

The Macarena with the girls from Delta

Sundays “Battle of the near to airports” Heathrow 3 Rotterdam 1

The stadium with our flags flying and parents proud

The girls lining up for the National Anthem

The Dutch girls running across with massive smiles after seeing their grandparents on the sidelines

The girls playing football at the ferry port
The Team Anthem sing-along "we love you teddington we do...."

Winning four, drawing two and only losing one game.

4 clean sheets, 8 scored 5 conceded (3 due to chips)

Above all we had a fantastic time, the locals could not have been friendlier and seeing the girls line up for the national anthem brought a lump to the throat (even to those Irish amongst us). The girls played brilliantly and the way they embraced the whole experience was exemplary.

Ed and Christelle should be both pleased and congratulated.  Without them none of this would have been possible. Third in the League  this year and Champions of Holland.

The motto of the trip

The only chips in football should be those over the goalkeeper

Polish your clogs.. Water your tulips.. We're coming to get ya

Artfully stylish headphones, pristine sportswear and chuckling banter are nothing new on a football coach travelling to face opponents on their patch. What's different on this coach - a modern double-decker replete with onboard "facilities" (no number twos please) - is that the players are 11, 12 and 13-year-old girls. Teddington Athletic's two well-regarded female teams are headed for the continent, and the continent had better beware.

The midnight meet in a swimming pool car park was a nervous affair. Would everyone turn up? Was there the requisite paperwork? And where was the coach? Turned out it was marooned outside, but players, staff and family trooped on and set off for Europe.

Nobody knows how well the girls will do. But they are fine players and just as importantly fine people. This will be a learning experience, and a bonding one. Good luck to all concerned: the girls comparing smartphones, the parents pooling lagers, the coaches plotting victory on foreign fields.  May they all do Teddington proud.

Holland - Game plan

HAPPY TRAVELS ALL!!!
Early start on saturday so enjoy the pool on friday and have an early night ! Below is the program for saturday - in the local lingo

Wedstrijdprogramma, Wedstrijden  1 X 15 minuten

Aanv.

Thuis

Gasten

09.20

ESTO D12M

Hercules MD1

09.20

Vliegdorp MD1

_

Houten MD1

1

10.00

Teddington Atl FC U13

_

Delta Sports D10M

1

10.00

Houten MD1

_

ESTO D12M

2

10.40

Delta Sports D10M

_

Vliegdorp MD1

2

10.40

Hercules MD1

_

Teddington Atl FC U13

1

11.20

ESTO D12M

_

Delta Sports D10M

1

11.20

Vliegdorp MD1

_

Teddington Atl FC U13

2

12.00

Houten MD1

_

Hercules MD1

2

12.00

Teddington Atl FC U13

_

ESTO D12M

1

12.40

Vliegdorp MD1

_

Hercules MD1

5

12.40

Delta Sports D10M

_

Houten MD1

2

13.20

ESTO D12M

_

Vliegdorp MD1

2

13.20

Houten MD1

_

Teddington Atl FC U13

5

13.40

Hercules MD1

_

Delta Sports D10M

2

Holland Tour - Must know

Hi all

I don't know about you but I am getting very excited about our tour in Holland!!  not looking forward to the 10h bus journey but it will be (in hindsight at least) a good team bonding moment - yes the girls will be tired and grumpy but a swim in the waterpark in the afternoon will fix that I am sure! and we get a chance to beat bank holiday traffic.

Check out the pool www.duinrell.com/
‎

To all parents, thank you for coming along but please remember it is above all a FOOTBALL tour for the girls and so if we want to make the trip worthwhile on that front - early nights will be required! we want to showcase good football 

Remember to bring passport and passport photo with you, 

PICK UP POINT: 18th April is Teddington Swimming Pool car park,  Vicarage Road. The coach will depart at 00.10. Please be there for 23h45 so that we can all get onto the coach smoothly.

Itinerary:

Travel Type	Date	From	To	Supplier	Depart	Arrive
Coach	18/04/2014	Teddington, Middx	Dover	Ausden Clark Coaches	00:10	03:00
Ferry	18/04/2014	Dover	Calais	Dfds Seaways Ltd	04:00	06:30
Coach	18/04/2014	Calais	Duinrell	Ausden Clark Coaches	06:30	12:15
Coach	21/04/2014	Duinrell	Calais	Ausden Clark Coaches	11:15	17:00
Ferry	21/04/2014	Calais	Dover	Dfds Seaways Ltd	18:00	18:30
Coach	21/04/2014	Dover	Teddington, Middx	Ausden Clark Coaches	18:30	21:20

Fixture List

Date	Team	Team Name	Fixture Type	Fixture
19/04/2014	B	Teddington Athletic U13	Tournament	Sv Houten
20/04/2014	B	Teddington Athletic U13	Friendly	Berkel Cvv
19/04/2014	A	Teddington Athletic U12	Tournament	Sv Houten
20/04/2014	A	Teddington Athletic U12	Friendly	Berkel Cvv

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Award night : 25th April at TCC

There will BBQ on the night and as we get to present the awards quite late (9.30)there should be enough time to enjoy some food :-)

Any questions please ask Simon Attoe who is our organiser :-)

I will need to know the vote from your daughter for player's player asap - email me

thanks

date for your diary: Keep the 31st of may FREE!

We are going Camping!!!

Details to follow but expect to spend a night (sleepless if your sleep pattern is anything like mine!) on a field somewhere not so far for the end of season get together....

Games, BBQ, tents, portable toilet HAPPY DAYS  (sun...?)

the final whistle....

Desolation Abbey – The final game - Keith Maple

In January 2013, Ray “Butch” Wilkins, MBE (84 caps for England , a star midfielder for Chelsea, Man Utd, AC Milan  and the first England player to be sent off in a World Cup finals game) officially unveiled £50,000 worth of equipment including mowers to Abbey Rangers as part of the Olympic legacy fund. On the evidence of the near knee high grass liberally spread with spring daises, there was no money left over for fuel to power the aforementioned mowers.

Our second visit of the year to the Thames water flood meadows was accompanied by strong winds and fields of desolation, usually only seen in documentaries about the impoverished North West of Britain.

Ten girls and Ed took to the field for our last game of the season with a strong wind in their faces and defending “the scrap yard end”.

Would our run of four games without a win continue or would there be one last flourish?

The girls quickly settled back into their familiar positions after last weeks’ flawed experiments.. The first quarter saw an even game with a much improved Rangers trying to break through the defence and Sophia providing a master class in how to prick the bubble of opposition supporters enthusiasm. A great run by the opposition winger is stopped by a whistle from another pitch……..maybe our luck is in.  Bella wins the ball, runs and forces the opposition into retreat. Ciara’s mazy dribble down the wing results in a corner which is whipped in by Elin, the ball is cleared, another corner and Lola is on hand to hit the ball into net.  GGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL “Left foot Lola, Left foot Lola “ fills the terraces.

Abbey step up a gear and attack after attack is thwarted by Hannah, Sarah, and Sophia. Kathryn commands her area, but the strong wind makes it difficult to kick the ball any distance. Finally, the pressure tells and from a corner the ball is not cleared and a wicked deflection spins the ball past our goalie. Tough luck, but “at least the wind is with us in the second half.

The sun peeps it’s head out and takes the wind with it.

The game is tight. We are on the attack and nearly getting caught on the counter. It is a difficult one to call, but then a quick throw from Kathryn and Issy nutmegs two players (I didn’t think there was that much of a gap between her legs , she was later to say), she then plays a great ball to Elin who runs through and forces the goalie to save. This inspires our team to change gear.  Alice, who has just come on in an unfamiliar midfield role, then does a beautiful weighted pass to Ciara who beats her girl and buries the ball into the net GGGOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL “Crafty Ciara”, the alliterative people sing. That’s our 50th league goal of the season.

We then really go for it, as corner after corner is swung in by Elin. We need an Andy Carroll, or even his brother Lewis, to put the corners away . The move of the match from a through ball to Elin who crosses and a galloping Lola just misses.  An inspired Alice misses with a half volley, Issy makes diverting runs , Sophia thwarts a three on one, Sarah is majestic, Ciara makes more runs and Kathryn makes a magnificent save and then kicks the ball three quarters of the way down the field. Everyone is getting on in the act.

The whistle blows before we can score more goals.  We have win number ten. A great performance by the team. Lola is girl of the match, Mick once again the linesperson of the match, Nick is still beaming and Abbey Rangers chips are voted best in the League.

It is now time to test ourselves in Europe. Ten wins, 33 points, fifty goals, games we should have won, getting better all of the time and a great team spirit.

Beware tulip people, we are coming!!!

Last game of the season let's go out with a BANG!

We are playing Abbey Rangers this sunday

kick off time is 11.15 a.m. pitch 4, 

MEET AT 10.15am

Addlestone Moor, Surrey, KT15 2QH

for directions to the club please go to www.abbeyrangers.co.uk

Last game against Barnes ....

Let's put this down to experience...CP

From a dissappointed Keith Maple

A lovely spring day in the park. The sun was out. The rabbits playfully poked their heads out to  sniff the March air. The girls lapped up the sun’s rays  and a man, the absolute spitting image of Carlos, sat at the side of the pitch observing the scene. Toddlers skipped along, kicking stones and yelling at squirrels. The waft of bacon from the clubhouse enticed in the hungry , Nicks beaming face told the story of Crystal Palace’s wonderful victory against Chelsea the day before. Ed and Christelle’s trip away together was the talk of the touchline. Birds sang in the trees and the promise of lighter evenings brought joy to even the most cantankerous. Everything was beautiful in England’s green and pleasant land.

Oh And we lost 8-0