One-Two Magazine November 2013 | Page 5

The club walks in the annual Lostock Hall Carnival to raise money for the various charities that the carnival supports. This year, two of the managers, Tony Livesey and Steve Donaldson, organised a Fun Run for the older teams to take part in, prior to the procession. The younger teams then took part in the procession. This year was the first year that the club decided to have a float and several of the parents joined in and helped decorate the float, loaned kindly by Gables Scaffolding. The float went down really well with everyone at the carnival, as it won the prize for ‘best float’!

Organising its’ 5th annual Festival of Football at the high school is a massive task, taken on by the committee, managers, parents and friends of the club. The festival organiser, James Sheppard said "The tournament has been a great success over the last few years and has grown each year and this year is our largest yet! The tournament has attracted teams from all over Lancashire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Wales.” This year, the

girl’s football has really taken off, with 34 teams entering the 4 age groups. Overall, over 2,000 players will have taken part in the tournament.

LOSTOCK HALL JUNIORS FOOTBALL CLUB

One-Two Magazine - November, 2013

Mal Lee, Director of the ‘Don’t X The Line’ campaign, said of the tournament “Lostock Hall Juniors is probably one of the best organised tournaments in the country. Amazing support, amazing volunteers, a superb barrier layout and amazing children and football!”

This year at the festival, as well as the Lostock Hall girls teams entering, the under 9’s girls (which is only one season old), not only entered the tournament, but won the final against Wigan Athletic. A great end to end final was played between the two teams, but Lostock Hall were deserved winners in the end.

As with most grassroots junior football clubs, the club and its teams have to fundraise all year round to ensure that it can pay overheads, keep the training equipment up-to-date, insurance and buy new kits for over 300 players. The club holds a couple of events through the year to help with this. Darryl stated, "We have the massive tournament over three days (two weekends) and every September, the club have a very successful Sportsman's Dinner. Guest speakers have included Lee Sharpe, Tommy Docherty, Alan Kennedy, Lee Ashcroft and '66 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles". This year, with the involvement of the female teams and two female coaches, the club may be looking to organise a fundraiser that involves the WAGs, female staff and players at the club.

The club is always looking for additional coaching staff, players and sponsorship.

Thanks to McDonalds Restaurants, who have sponsored the club to purchase a sit on mower, to help with keeping the 10 pitches utilised by the club, in perfect condition.

The club not only fundraise for themselves, but assist other charities and organisations in the area, such as the Royal British Legion, St Catherine’s Hospice, Katie Holmes Trust and with the sad loss of their Vice-Chairman, Mike Cuffin, in 2012, the managers at the club hold an annual match against the managers of Walton-le-Dale Juniors, to raise funds for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

Anybody interested in joining the club as a player, manager, coach or sponsor, please go to the club website for further information on contacting the club, training or events.

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