Congratulations to all our Accies Girls in the Cambridge United Girls Development Structure, who have either been retained in their Girls Development Centre (GDC), have been retained or advanced into their Elite Centre (GEC), or who have been selected to join the new FA Girls Emerging Talent Centre (ETC) for the coming 22/23 season.
All of these girls started their football with the Accies, and are all still playing for the Accies in either mixed teams or girls teams. They have all worked so hard over the last few seasons to develop their match skills, and it is a fantastic achievement to be playing under the Cambridge United Development Scheme.
They should all be very proud of their accomplishments to date.
Izzy (U14’s) has retained her position in the Girls Development Centre
Ella-Jane (U12’s) has advance into the Girls Elite Centre
Amelie (U12’s) has retained her position in the Girls Elite Centre
Ailsa (U14’s) has advance into the Girls Elite Centre
Billie (U14’s) has retained her position in the Girls Elite Centre, and also been selected for the new FA National Girls Emerging Talent Centre
Some of our Accies were lucky enough to be part of history at the weekend when they travelled to see England Women win the UEFA Women’s Euros 2022.
It was a fantastic experience, and a day we will all remember for a very long time. The impact this tournament & the lionesses will have on the next generation of players, and women in general, cannot be underestimated.
Great to see some of your photos from the day, and I understand some of our Accies even featured on the BBC coverage on the TV.
Congratulations to all of the England Women’s Team, and we are looking forward to seeing our inspired Accie Girls continuing the growth of girls football this coming season, and who knows, there may well be some future England players in our ranks.
What an exciting time to be part of the Women’s game!
It was amazing to see the club come together for our 2021/22 Trophy Night at the Ashwell Rec last night …the first time in three years following all the disruption due to COVID.
We welcomed lots of new faces, and caught up with some old friends. All the players (nearly 150 children from Ashwell and the surrounding area) loved receiving their Trophies, and a massive amount of fun was had by all.
Thank you to all the committee members who worked so hard to make the event special, to all the coaches for their hard work and support throughout the year and on the night, to all the parents and guardians who support us so well throughout the season, and especially to all the players for making all the hard work worthwhile.
Have a great summer break everyone, enjoy the Women’s Euros over the next few weeks, and we look forward to seeing you all at the start of next season.
The Ashwell Academicals youth football club provides a safe and welcoming environment for children of all abilities to express themselves through sport. We encourage young people to try their hardest, have fun and enjoy themselves.
8 teams ranging from under 7 ‘s to under 14’s are registered to play competitive matches as members of Royston Crow Youth Football League, often with more than one team per age group. An Under 6’s team also trains each week having great fun in preparation to enter the league when they reach the Under 7’s age bracket.
If you drive past Ashwell Rec on a Saturday morning you will see that it is a hive of activity, the two pitches there are almost always in constant use hosting matches from 10am to 12pm, and you’ll see the fun and excitement that the children gain from participating in this wonderful sport. The older age groups play at SmallGains Lane which is similarly at full capacity most Saturday and Sunday mornings on the bigger pitches. The Accies cater for all abilities, we take Lionel Messis and My Messys, it’s all about participation.
As we start the new football season can look back on the successes of the 2020/21 season:
The under 12 ‘s had an almost unbeaten record gaining promotion to a higher division.
The under 18’s season culminated in a thrilling Cup Semi-Final which they lost in the very last minute to deny them a fitting finale in a Cup Final.
Under 13’s reached the final of the Tri-Counties Cup competition and met Letchworth Garden City in the Final. There was a great atmosphere down at the Small Gains ground as the Accies took a 2-1 lead with 10–minutes to play and the large home crowd was getting very excited…..Letchworth eventually got an equaliser with less than 5-minutes left and then showed their strength to score a last minute winner (it’s a recurring theme!) to thwart the Accies It was a great occasion ensuring that a tough season of interruptions, finished on a high.
A new addition this year is the Accies Girls team which covers Under 10’s and 11’s who will participate in the Hertfordshire Girls League. The team is looking for new players to join the squad, so come on girls….give it a go!
Many of the teams are mixed with boys and girls playing together. There are also girls specific training sessions from Under 7’s through Under 12’s. These have included occasional visits from professional Ladies football players.
A few words from Billie who plays for the mixed under 13’s team: “My favourite part of playing for the Accies is that it is like playing with family. I grew up with most of my team through pre-school and school. It is a gift to be able to meet up twice a week to play a game we all love. I am grateful for the support from the coaches who give up their free time to support us.”
“My overall best moment of the season was being brought back together after lockdown, not just to play football but to see each other and start to return to some sort of normality.”
For more information about our youth football teams contact us via this website, or email info@ashwellacademicals.com
The Ashwell Accies are back for the 21-22 season !!
This weekend all of our age groups were back on the pitch …nearly 150 children from Ashwell and surrounding villages and towns, outside in the fresh air with all their friends, getting some exercise, and having lots of fun.
We are delighted to see all the boys and girls back on the pitch, and we are looking forward to the season ahead.
Our under 10 girls performed amazingly well at their first ever competition at the weekend. The tournament hosted by Hitchin Belles saw 12 teams from all over Hertfordshire compete against each other over the course of the afternoon. The Accies showed brilliant teamwork and some excellent skills playing 5 matches, scoring 7 goals and finishing the event unbeaten. More importantly they all had a lot of fun!
It is a great beginning for the new team made up of U9 and U10 players who will begin playing in the Hertfordshire Girls Partnership League at the start of the next season. We are always looking for new players to join the team, if you know any girls in year 4 or 5 that might like to give football a go then please get in touch and we can get them along to give it a go.
This weekend we held our first ever all girls session. Accies girls from all of our age groups …including Under 6’s up to Under 12’s, got together to train and have some fun.
We were also extremely lucky to have a visit from Charlotte Crisp who is currently a first team player for Cambridge United Women, and is also Head of Youth Development at Cambridge Utd, as well as being the driving force and head coach behind their fast growing Girls development and elite centres.
Charlotte ran some drills for the girls, and then the girls had an opportunity to ask her some quite probing question.
We ended the morning with an enormous water fight …some of us are still drying off.
Thank you to the Under 12’s who helped set-up this session, run some of their own drills, and helped encourage some of our younger players.
Thank you to all the team coaches who were so enthusiastic about helping us promote and run this session, and all their help in the background over the last few weeks.
And thank you to Charlotte for giving her time and making the session so much fun.
The Accies football year was somewhat curtailed, as with all things in the annus horribilis of 2020, but one look at the faces of children and parents alike when football finally returned in late September told you everything that you need to know about the importance of our wonderful sport to the wellbeing of all.
The children were like coiled springs, finally released having been scrunched up compressed in a package for months and the feel-good factor really was a joy to witness. The results of the matches didn’t even matter. Nobody cared whether they’d won or lost. They were playing football with their friends and having a fantastic time in the process, something they had been deprived of for so long.
The effort that went in from our coaches and committee to prepare for the return of football is not be underestimated. They did some great work on top of their usual efforts to ensure that football could continue and the Accies remains a safe place for the children to be. So, a massive thank you has to go to them. A special thank you to our new secretary, Vicki Prowle, who joined us at the start of the year and has taken on the extra role of Covid officer. She has done a fantastic job ensuring we are in a great place to continue playing football.
Even during the down time, the Accies were keeping busy; three bin bags of kit has been collected and donated to KitAid to support people in some of the world’s poorest countries, so soon we may have an Accies team in another part of the world!
Off the pitch the battle goes on to improve facilities. With now over 150 children participating under the Accies banner, nine teams and just four pitches in the village, resources are stretched to the maximum. The few pitches that we do have are showing the strains of accommodating so much football, so if any kind landowners are reading this….please contact me on email or via the website!
As always, the club couldn’t run without the fantastic support and help from the parents. Thank you to all who help out on match days or with training. I know it is massively appreciated. We look forward to seeing you in 2021. Up The Accies! Andy Hayes, Chairman- chairman@ashwellacademicals.com
The Ashwell Academicals website was recently selected for a surprise ‘Desktop Safeguarding Compliance’ visit, carried out by a member of the Hertfordshire FA Team. Information about how the visits are being conducted can be found here.
We are delighted to say our website passed with flying colours, and feedback included “Fantastic website! The club website clearly shows your club ethos, Committee Members & how to contact, Codes & Conduct & Policies. Your Safeguarding Policy clearly outlines the club’s commitment & provides information on how to report a concern or seek assistance.”
Thank you to everyone involved in our website, and the hard work & support from everyone at the club to ensure that football is safe & enjoyable for all involved.
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