C of E - Latest News

Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence has now concluded for the 2009/2010 season after a superb year of coaching, fixtures, fundraising, England representation and an end of season tour.

Trials for the 2010/2011 season will be held Monday 21st June 2010 - Monday 28th June 2010 at Middlesbrough Football in the Community, Normanby Rd, Middlesbrough, TS6 9AE.

Players wishing to be involved in the trial process must be nominated by a coach/teacher/parent by contacting centre director Craig Nicholson at craig.nicholson@mgcoe.co.uk

A mild Spring morning on Saturday 3rd April saw Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence literally 'run' their second annual fundraiser at Eston Academy. The girls were required to run a target number of laps around the 11-a-side pitch, depending on their age. This was followed by a 'parents v coaches' game.

The girls worked extremely hard to ensure their targets were hit and in a strange turn of events the parents were the victors of the exhibition game, beating the coaches on penalties after the match had ended 3-3.

"It was a super day! The relationship between staff, players and parents is something we work very hard on here at the centre as we know the value and importance in it and today opitimised that rapport. It's great to do things together where everyone can enjoy the day and be involved, especially when the money raised for this event goes to our plans next month.

'I must comment on the game; although the parents team did exceptionally well, I do think there were a few dubious refereeing decisions!!!" said centre director Craig Nicholson.

Saturday 27th March seen the girls take on local rivals Sunderland in what was to be, as always, a feisty encounter!
The U12 & U14 teams stayed at the Eston venue and the the U10 & U16 teams did the journey to Houghton-Le-Spring on what was a very nice day for football.

Andy Cook of the U16's said "The girls showed some of the best football they have played this season! They had a really good week in training. The team and some individuals received some good news and everything just came together. Havind said that, the girls still know as a team the things they can improve on to continue their development".

Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence are continuing their fundraising this coming Saturday (3rd April) with a sponsored 'Lap-a-thon' and 'Coaches v Parents' game at Eston commencing at 10:00am. They play their next game the following Saturday against Leeds United.

Beth Mead was part of the England U15 squad that played in Holland against their Dutch counterparts on Monday 15th and Wednesday 17th March. Things went from good, to better, to excellent for Beth as not only did she start both games but also managed to score a goal in each game which both finished in draws. The full match reports can be found here:

http://www.thefa.com/England/womens-u15s/News/2010/holland-150310

http://www.thefa.com/England/womens-u15s/News/2010/holland-report-170310

The news for Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence got even better on Tuesday 23rd March as U16 midfielder and forward Anna Young was selected for the forthcoming England U15 training camp in Reading on 14th April 2010.
"It's yet more terrific news for us. Anna has worked her socks off here for years and now, like those before her, is finally getting her well deserved rewards. Her goal now is to show England exactly what she can do and solidify her place in the U15 set-up" said Director Craig Nicholson.

Saturday 6th March saw the girls escape the weather at long last again and get their next set of fixtures played against Bradford Centre of Excellence. The U10 and U16 age groups played at home at the Eston venue and the U12 and U14 squads did the travelling South.

U12 coach Jo Bullen reflected on an impressive show by her young girls. "Every single girl contributed to a very strong team performance. They managed to combine smart attacking football when they had the ball with a tight defensive shape and kept yet another clean sheet while being very productive at the other end!".

The girls play their next game on Saturday 13th March, as they make the long haul down to Lincoln to play against the Lincoln and North Yorkshire centres.

The C of E girls played their 2nd game of 2010 on Saturday 13th February when Lincoln brought all 4 age groups to Eston.

Andy Cook of the U16's said, "It was great to be playing at home again after so long. The girls played in a very positive way and that was shown with how well they played the ball forward. Throughout the game though possession was hard to keep but the quality we have going forward proved to be a major strength yet again".

Newcastle are the next opponents for the girls this coming Saturday (20th).

February brought great news for Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence as 4 of their U16 players were selected for some involvement in England's U15 and U17 training and playing camps. Forward Beth Mead has been including in the 18 flying to Holland to play 2 games in March with Anna Young getting her first ever international inclusion as a standby player for those fixtures. Older girls Jess Round and Ellie Christon have also been placed on standby for the England U17 training camp taking place between 14th and 18th of February. Director Craig Nicholson reflected on the good news; "It's magnificent that we have had another girl included in the international set-up. Anna has worked very hard over her years here and is very professional in the way she goes about her training and playing. She obviously made a good impression at the talent ID camp in October. As for the other 3, they are continuing to work very hard both at and away from the centre to continue their involvement with England and try and solidify their places in their respective age groups, and good luck to them because they all thoroughly deserve the reward".

Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence played their first game since the end of November 2009 on Saturday 6th February 2010. With the home venue being in a bit of a state after the horrendous weather of late, all four age groups did the traveling to Hull. Although it's never ideal having everyone travel at the same time, a game for the girls was very long overdue. Nicola Reed of the U14's had this to say after watching her teams' performance;

"Hull was the first game in a long time for the girls which showed. It was a very physical game, both teams struggled to keep possession. The game was not the greastest to watch however there we some real positives to take away. It was nice to see the girls show great strength, character and determination to chase, pressure and put in strong challenges. The girls showed excellent team spirit and there were some exceptional individual performances. Overall it was a hard game with a positive result, not a bad start back but there is still a lot to work to be done.
 
Weather permitting, the girls play their next fixture, again all four age groups, at home to Lincoln this coming Saturday (13th Feb).

Despite having a torrid time with weather and facilities of late, Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence went ahead with their annual fundraising event, organised to raise money for their end of season plans.

The event took place at St. Peter's Social Club, South Bank and was filled with nearly 100 people. Players and parents helped raise funds by partaking in a tombola, raffle and open and blind auctions. With prizes including wines, chocolates, signed Boro shirts & footballs and even a signed England shirt from their very own Jess Round, MGCOE managed to raise just over £1000!

"It is an amazing feat condsidering how little time we have had together over the past 2 months or so. There were far less people there than last year, yet we still managed to raise more or less the same amount. Massive credit must go to the players and parents for making this possible!

'We're also very thankful to the staff at St. Peter's Club for helping out and letting us use the venue again. It's another great step towards making the end of season tour as cost effective for everyone as possible!" said Director Craig Nicholson.

North Yorkshire Girls' Centre of Excellence were the last opposition of 2009 on Saturday 28th November for Middlesbrough on what was a very, very cold and frosty morning. The home venue saw the U10 and U14 squads grace the turf with the U12 and U16 squads making the trip to York College.

Steph Libbey of the U10's said, "There were some great individual performances which made for a good overall team performance in what were very cold conditions. Our focus was on having a good start to the game after some poor recent ones and concentrating on being hard to break down. The girls completed the task exceptionally well!".

The girls now only have 2 weeks of training left until the Christmas break.

On Saturday 21st November 2009, the U12 girls took a break from the football side of things and did a sponsored bag pack at the local Marks and Spencer store to raise money for their end of season tour. Players, parents and staff took part in the fundraising event at the Middlesbrough store from 10am to 4pm. Although it was a long day for some, director Craig Nicholson found it a very worthwhile event and experience for the young girls.

"We did the same last year at a different store with our U16 girls and they conducted themselves very well, but for girls so young to be having a go at it and being as responsible as they were is marvelous. A lot of the girls were really nervous at first but didn't take long to gain confidence and really got into the customer service side of the role. They were exceptionally behaved and very polite. We're all very proud of them and I thank the girls, the staff and the parents for their super contribution".

On Saturday 14th November the girls were up against Leeds United for the second time in two weeks. The U10 and U16 squads made the short trip South to Boston Spa and the U12's and U14's stayed at Eston.  Director Craig Nicholson had the opportunity to watch both home games.

"The younger girls were sluggish again to get started and invited a lot of pressure onto themselves. They did get into their strides though and I seen them produce a marvelous goal, with the ball starting in defence and finishing with a volley from one of the forwards. They are still very much getting to grips with the 9v9 game but I can see their positional understanding developing.

'The U14 girls made the game very difficult for themselves. They too have a hard job, with the transition from 9v9 to 11v11 for the younger ones, but today they were not doing the basics right. They have been excellent in training of late but haven't really being showing that in their games. They didn't communicate with each other at the back today, which is imperative to keep a tight backline and they struggled to win the ball in midfield at times. Having said, all teams have an off day and I'm sure they will work hard to put it right the next time they cross the white line!" said Craig.

The U14's won't get their chance next week as the girls have the Saturday off while the U12's do a sponsored 'bag-pack'. They all play their next games on Saturday 28th November against North Yorkshire before they break for Christmas.

A wet and windy morning on Saturday 24th October seen all age groups travel down to Leeds' Boston Spa venue for a triangular fixture between Middlesbrough, Leeds and Coventry girls' Centres of Excellence. Although it wasn't a great day for football, weather-wise, director Craig Nicholson still felt it was a very worthwhile exercise.

"It wasn't a particularly long journey, I was quite surprised at how quick we got there and when we arrived the weather didn't seem to be too bad. When the girls started playing though, the heavens didn't half open and they, the staff and the parents got pretty drenched! I had the opportunity of watching all age groups which a very good thing for me. I thought all of our age groups were sluggish to get going and took a while to get into their strides, but our older girls particularly struggled early on. Once they all got used to the state of the pitches and the conditions though, they began thinking more about their play. The coaches were very pleased with the performances of all the girls on the day. Being able to play in tough conditions is another attribute a good player needs!" said Craig.

The girls now have a week break over half term before returning to training on Monday 2nd November and playing their next fixture against Sunderland girls' C of E on Saturday 7th.

On Saturday 3rd October all 4 age groups from Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence made the long haul to play against Lincoln Girls' C of E. The sun was shining again but the wind proved to be somewhat of a 'game-spoiler' on the day.

Jo Bullen of the U12's had this to say, "The standard of football the girls are playing continues to be extremely high. The individual ability and understanding that the girls work so hard to improve every week was show cased in a game that we controlled for long periods with excellent support play and good pass selection. Lincoln made the game competitive with both their Goal keepers putting in outstanding performances".

The girls now have a free weekend with some of the older girls partaking in the England Talent ID Camp held at Hull University.

U14 nominations:

Leah-Anne French
Samantha McGovern
Emma McDermott
Amy Cowan
Ebony Housam


U16 nominations:

Laura Jenkinson
Ashleigh Coyle
Lauren Johnson
Anna Young
Paige Clarke

Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence played against Hull Girls' Centre of Excellence on Saturday 26th September. It was another lovely morning for football, with the U10 and U16 teams playing at home and the U12 and U14's doing the travelling.

Centre director Craig Nicholson had the pleasure of being U10 team manager for the day. "I thought they were fantastic! I tend to spend more time with the older girls, as they are our centre product, but it was really nice to get to know the U10 girls better and remind myself of where the older girls begin.

'They have so much enthusiasm and energy and they played together as a team very well. They responded superbly to some of the pointers I gave them and ended up being the better team on the day!" said Craig.

The girls come up against Lincoln C of E on Saturday 3rd October.

The girls competed in their 3rd fixture of the season on Saturday 19th September against Sheffield United. A lovely, hot morning seen the U10's & U16's play their games at home while the U12 & U14 squads made the journey to Rotherham.

Amy Westmarland of the U14's put this report together after a thrilling game;

'Our girls dominated all areas of the pitch early on which lead to some immense pressure with Sheffield conceding a number of corners in quick succession. We started to take advantage and we tested their GK who pulled off some fantastic saves. Sheffield did pick up their pace and gave the girls many challenges especially using their lightning quick centre forward but our defence organised quickly and dealt with her skill and quickness. Sheffield came close on occasion and again a mixture of excellent defending and quality goalkeeping kept them out and the closest they got was to hit the cross bar. Our GK was kept busy and showed an outstanding performance throughout. Overall, all agreed it was a quality game of football for their young age with end to end play and an outstanding team effort'.

Next Saturday (26th) will see the girls against Hull Girls' Centre of Excellence.

Middlesbrough Girls' C of E competed against Newcastle United on Saturday 12th September. The U16 and U12 age groups made the trip to Northumbria University as the U10 and U14 groups played at home.

U10 coach Steph Libbey was very proud of her players after an epic game at Eston. "We were very slow to get going and conceeded quite early on, which is always a worry for players as young as our's. Slowly but surely though we managed to regain some confidence and really got a hold of the game, scoring a few good goals. It is still very early but the girls are showing me good understanding of their roles at times and some great determination!"

The girls play next on Saturday 19th September against Sheffield United.

Saturday 5th September 2009 saw the girls play their first competitive match of the season against North Yorkshire Girls' C of E. All 4 age groups did the travelling down to York and got the season going with some stylish performances!

Mark Dick of the U16's said, "The girls were sluggish to get going and conceeded the first goal early. Once they found their feet and started playing fluently they really took the game to North Yorkshire. There was some very good forward play but the fitness of the girls stood out most".

The girls play next against Newcastle United Girls' C of E next Saturday.

Three of Middlesbrough Girls' Centre of Excellence U16 players were involved with England over the last week.
Jess Round and Beth Mead had a very exciting trip to Germany with England U15's to play in competitive games while Ellie Christon participated in the England U17 training camp.

Craig Nicholson said "It's fantastic that the girls are regularly involved with England, particulary playing in competitive games. It goes to show that our players are reaping the benefits of the programme we have in place and fingers crossed we can get more girls involved in the coming season".

Read about the games the girls participated in here:

http://www.thefa.com/England/WomensUnder15s/NewsAndFeatures/2009/Germany_down_England.aspx

http://www.thefa.com/England/WomensUnder15s/NewsAndFeatures/2009/germany_report_210809.aspx