CFS team receive glowing praise from the Football League
AFC Wimbledon’s Community Football Scheme has received special recognition from the Football League for the second successive year after delivering a high quality competition for schools.
Wimbledon’s 15-strong CFS coaching team coordinated an “excellent entry” for its Girls/Kids Cup and they earned selection for the Dons as one of the Football League’s “top-five” clubs in the country.
The Football League, Football League Trust and npower judges selected the clubs that provided evidence of work they have carried out to engage with schools and positively publicise and promote their Kids and Girls Cup local competitions throughout 2012/13.
to view that story. Pictured above are (from left to right) CFS Administrator Michael Cook, CFS manager Paul Foley and CFS Apprentice Charlie Jones).CFS article This award comes at a time when AFC Wimbledon’s CFS are celebrating 10 years since its formation and we yesterday featured their achievements on Dons Player and on the official website. Click on
Paul Foley said: “The CFS has had to become more professional to fit in with the rest of our club because we could not afford to be left behind. I hope that we have managed to achieve that. The work we have done has been emphasised by the numbers of participants we now have and that shows we must be doing something right.
“We are working regularly in 15 schools a week, providing 50 hours of coaching to approximately 600 children a week. On top of that we do Saturday morning and holiday courses, along with the Walking Football sessions for over-50s. We have got a team of very good coaches, it is a small team but one which works very hard. Just like so many people at this football club they are willing to go the extra mile because they know that what we are doing here is slightly different and there is a special feeling. We are in an area with a lot of competition from other big clubs, but our team do a great job and we want to continue to grow.”
AFC Wimbledon will be one of just five clubs to receive a £500 prize for their CFS department with Barnsley, Cardiff City, Preston North End and Southend United also selected.
The Football League judging panel offered high praise for Wimbledon’s entry with the following glowing reference:
“This was an excellent entry that highlighted a number of best practice examples of the club engaging with its local schools in promoting the Girls/Kids Cups. This included extensive use of the club’s websites and matchday programme, along with good level of involvement from first-team players and staff to promote the tournaments and schools along the way. They also made frequent and correct use of the Kids and Girls Cup branding/logos in all communication to schools and within club on and offline content.
“A nice touch was the offer of free match tickets for school players and their parents and promotion of their achievements at the stadium on matchdays. An all-round excellent entry, coupled with some great accompanying evidence, by a club clearly committed to running a high standard of local Kids and Girls Cup tournaments and engaging with schools and its local community.”
.CFS websiteDons Player subscribers can watch an in-depth feature on the work of AFC Wimbledon’s CFS on our premium site. For more about the opportunities that Wimbledon’s Community Football Scheme provide click on