Young footballers score in university tournament
Year sevens from across West Sussex competed in a University of Chichester football tournament last week in a bid to win the Sharpie Cup.
This year’s competition was the biggest yet, with 12 girls’ teams and 16 boys’ teams taking part from eight different local secondary schools.
The annual tournament for 11 and 12 year olds is held in memory of former university student and promising football coach Joe Sharpe, who sadly lost his life in January 2016.
Students from the university’s football coaching and performance degree supported the teams, putting their learning into practice by advising the children and talking tactics.
The girls played on 9 May, with St Philip Howard taking the title, while the boys played on 16 May, with the winners OSVA (Ormiston Six Villages Academy) taking the trophy home.
Danny Potter, programme leader for the university’s Football Coaching & Performance course, said: “This is the biggest competition we’ve held, with it being held across two different dates for the first time to accommodate all the children. Our Chichester students are really enjoying themselves and it’s great to see them applying the theory that they’ve learnt in the classroom to real-life coaching situations.”
Joel Campanile, a second-year student said: “It’s been really enjoyable to be involved and it’s great to see the children having so much fun.”
Sam Pearson, also a second-year student, said: “It was interesting to be coaching and my team saw an improvement from the first game to the second, so that was good to see. But really it’s all about raising awareness and helping everyone enjoy themselves.”
Ben Purgarie, head of sport at Great Ballard, said: “It’s been a good challenge, we are a small school so it’s a challenge to play against some of the bigger schools but the girls have stretched themselves and are managing really well. It’s been nice to see the university students keeping the vibe high amongst the teams and working with a range of different standards.”
To find out more about sports courses at the University of Chichester, visit: www.chi.ac.uk/sport.
