Pupils meet first-team squad and staff
Young footballers aiming to reach Wembley received an invite to meet AFC Wimbledon first-team players and staff at the training ground recently.
Following their success at the AFC Wimbledon Girls and Kids Cup, hosted by our Foundation, pupils from Cheam High and Cleves Primary School watched Neal Ardley coaching the squad and queued up for autographs with Bayo Akinfenwa.
Our picture gallery above shows children from both schools having fun at the training ground, ahead of their bids to reach Wembley.
Lifting silverware could be just the start for Cheam High School (Girls Cup) and Cleves Primary School in Weybridge (Kids Cup) as they will now go onto represent AFC Wimbledon at the Southern Regional Finals of the Football League Trust event.
Both schools have won the AFC Wimbledon competition for two out of the last three years.
Craig Smith, a teacher at Cleves School, fully appreciates the support his team has received from the club.
“It all started when a parent who is a Wimbledon fan told us about it and we have entered the competition for the last four years, winning it twice,” he said. “We have a lot of kids at our school, but to offer opportunities like this to the more able footballers is critical. Other clubs at a higher level do not come knocking at our door.”
Michelle O’Connor, of Cheam High School’s PE department, added: “One of our teachers at the school went to the meeting (about the new stadium) and the club needs to get back home. It will be great when they do. I am hoping that the club will come down and do some coaching at the school in the future.”
This year’s AFC Wimbledon Girls and Kids Cup was a great event for the club’s ever-growing Foundation with over 250 school children taking part at Southfields Academy.