20th December 2018

U7s win their first ever Trophy Event!

Congratulations to Robins U7 who have have won their first ever Trophy Event! The first round was away to Purton, a good game in which the lads played really well. That was followed by another away game, this tome to Calne who the boys had already played in a tight league fixture a few weeks before. The lads again put in a very good performance and came away deserved winners of their first Trophy Event. Coach Ben Hurwood said "There were many proud parents, some extremely pleased boys and two coaches that couldn’t have been happier for everyone involved and the continued development of the boys!"

The successful U7 team

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