U13 Girls Tournament Win

Following the recent success for BYFC’s U13 Girls at the Hoo Charity Tournament, manager Gareth Powell described their journey to lifting the trophy.

"Our first season was a tough one and nothing short of a baptism of fire for all the players, the coaches and even the parents. But something clicked last summer, and the girls became a team and more importantly, a bunch of friends.

The girls were equally happy and disappointed for finishing runners-up in the league (Division 3 West - an amazing achievement by the way) and then it was followed by being knocked out in 3 consecutive semi-finals… character building they say! (Or just Spursy perhaps?)

Fast forward then to the Hoo Youth U13 Charity Tournament a few short weeks later… We were (technically) the lowest ranked side in the 11v11 tournament and outsiders to win - But the girls were nothing short of fantastic on the day.

A newly promoted Division 1 side stood in our way, and in the 40 minutes which ensued - we probably played our best and most dynamic passing game ever. The girls came away with the win and progressed in the competition to the final where we faced a well-established Division 1 team who we had failed to beat in 4 attempts.

The match started nervy for us and our passing game from the previous game wasn’t there… We battled hard and had a great team talk with the girls at the interval, sharing tactical ideas on the game before going back out into the second half armed with a great positive approach, and it worked!

With only 5 minutes in, we created a great attack on the right wing, a low driven pass was delivered across the face of the goal and Alice, our top goal scorer and left-winger (30+ goals this season), was on hand to tap it in. Scenes of jubilation from the team!

The last 15 minutes ebbed and flowed, and the girls showed they could battle their way through games, just as much as play and pass through them.

The final whistle was blown, and we have never seen them celebrate like that… amazing joy from them and for them.

This is the completion of only our second season, to see the girls develop so rapidly and amazingly - is nothing short of fantastic and big praise for their collective attitudes and spirit."

Here’s looking forward to 2023/24 Season!