Aycliffe Monthly #2 | Page 27

@AycliffeToday SPORT A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR GIRLS FOOTY AYCLIFFE CRICKET Newton Aycliffe Youth FC Secretary BERNI BORSBERRY brings us some latest news on girls football on the town… The exceptional growth in girls football in Newton Aycliffe and in County Durham has now provided the area with two professional teams for the exceptional players. This season, Durham Ladies and Sunderland Ladies will be competing in the Women’s Super League. Ladies football is one of the fastestgrowing sports in the country, and we’re proud to say we have a strong girls section under the NAYFC umbrella. Perhaps, one day, players from Newton Aycliffe Youth FC girls will be representing one of these teams in the near future. That would certainly be great to see. Our Under-12s Girls are travelling to Blackpool to compete in a National Football Tournament in June this year. While the girls have been hard at work fundraising to cover the cost of travel and accommodation. They have had several bag packs at local superstores, sponsored runs and social evenings. They were therefore delighted to receive a donation of £250 from Walker’s Crisps to help them on their way. Shaun Wilson, our team goalkeeper’s dad, applied to their Give ’n’ Win Fund, outlining the tremendous work that the girls had been doing, and the funding committee agreed. We still have a little way to go to reach our target but this has certainly moved us closer. Every little helps, as one well-known supermarket is famous for saying. We now have an under 10 girls team preparing for the start of the new Summer Season in June and are inviting Yr 4/5/6 girls to come and join us at training in Greenfield Sports Hall every Wednesday until the end of March before we move outdoors to the Oakleaf. If you are interested contact Berni 07939 045242. EXCELLENT START FOR WOODHAM GYMNASTS Woodham Gymnastics Academy has made an excellent start to the year with its performance at the Regional Milano Competition at the University of Cumbria, Carlisle. Woodham had two teams of four gymnasts compete in the competition, which was a qualifier for the national finals. The gymnasts were required to perform a floor routine, two vaults and a group routine, where they had to perform complex group balances. Both teams certainly represented their school incredibly well, putting on an engaging performance, especially in the group section. One of the two teams came in first place, which secured them a place in the national finals in March. With Newton Aycliffe Cricket Club Secretary LEE WELDON… Newton Aycliffe Cricket Club start their preparations for the new season with a series of indoor training sessions in the sports hall at Woodham Academy very soon. The junior practice nights are held every Friday, 6-7.30pm, and all youngsters of any ability from the ages of 7 to 17 are welcome. The cost per session is £3. The senior nets begin on Wednesday 5th March, 6.307.30pm, and the cost is again £3 per session. An indication of the progress that the club has made in recent years is clearly evident as the club was chosen to host the prestigious “Chance to Shine Initiative” for the next three years. This scheme has a number of objectives, namely to bring cricket back to primary schools where it is now the single biggest sports initiative in the UK. The qualified cricket coaches deliver quality sessions in Chance to Shine schools to help them forge strong bonds with their local club and gives the children a chance to play organised and competitive hard ball cricket. Anyone interested in playing cricket or has any queries regarding the club’s activities can contact me on 07759 754959 for more details.