19th December 2015

Robins U9 Red and U10 White win their Winter Trophy Events

The successful U9 Red team

Congratulations to Robins U9 Reds and Robins U10 Whites, both of whom have won their groups in the N Wilts League Winter Trophy Event, the second of the 2015-16 season. It's the second Trophy Event win of the season for U9 Reds, giving them a clean sweep in the Trophy Events so far this season, while it marks the first silverware for U10 Whites, a new team this season so a real achievement for them.

U10 White celebrate their Trophy Event victory

U9 Reds have had a phenomenal season so far, playing 10 games, of which they've won all 10, scoring 79 goals along the way while conceding just 9. Let's hope the second half of the season goes as well!

The idea of the "Trophy Events" is an FA initiative to allow younger age groups to gradually get used to playing competitive football. Previously, teams would go from playing two years of development/friendly games where no results or League tables were published, straight into a 20+ week season-long league competition. The aim of the Trophy Events is to introduce the competitive element gradually and intersperse competitive fixtures with development league fixtures.

So this season the U11s will play 3 Trophy Events of approx 6 weeks each, making around 18 weeks of competitive football across the whole season; the U10s and U9s age groups will play 3 Trophy Events each consisting of 3-4 weeks of competitive football, making between 9-12 weeks of competitive football in total; while the U7s and U8s will also take part in 3 Trophy Events, but shorter in duration. The aim is to give the younger age groups a taste of competitive football, but without the pressure a full season-long competition can somtimes exert on what are still very young players and then gradually increase the length of the competitions year on year until finally the players take on a full season-long league at U12.

Further information on the FA's Youth Development review is available on the FA's main Youth Development Review page and locally on the Wilts FA website