Club Doncaster Foundation do the club proud at another football tournament where they thrive on and off the pitch.
Hackney Marshes, the feted venue of grassroots football in England and the heartbeat of the national game, recently provided the backdrop for the 2014 Premier League Kicks Cup.In attendance, over 600 young people from 47 professional football clubs from Plymouth to Newcastle, Norwich to Swansea and, more importantly, Doncaster Rovers.
Accompanied by Club Doncaster Foundation coaches; Mark Cooper and Jamie Cotton, the team of Ethan Slater, Rhys Lilley, Joe Colclough, Adam Wall, Joe Vaughan, Adam Holbrey, Morgan Finney, Reece Cotter from Balby had a marvellous day in the capital and after a valiant effort where they finished second only to Millwall.
Community Manager Marie Hepburn said: “For the Club Doncaster Foundation to be represented in a tournament of this size at an iconic London venue in Hackney Marshes speaks volumes about what we’ve achieved. These occasions are about the participants and they excelled themselves to only heighten the reputation of the club.”
Premier League Kicks originated from the Kickz programme, a partnership between the Premier League and the Metropolitan Police that started in 2006 to use the power of football to build safer, stronger communities. In the past year, the programme which is funded by the Premier League and Sport England, engaged 40,854 young people, who attended in total more than 600,000 times.
Of the 780 venues used for Kicks, more than 25% were located in the top 10% most deprived areas in the country and 73% were in the top 30% most deprived areas.