The progress continues for Thames FC
Thames Football Club in Riverlea has been in existence since the 70’s but has been re-established about 8 years ago.
Thames Football Club in Riverlea has been in existence since the 70’s but has been re-established about 8 years ago. Up-to-date, the club has five different age groups namely: U9, U11, U13, U15 and newly formed U19 team.
Michael Phillips is the coach for all the teams along-side chairman of the club Craig van Doorsen. Phillips told us that he even played for Thames FC in his younger days.
“It takes a lot of dedication and a passion to work with children,” replied Phillips when asked what does it that to be a coach.
“I do it because I’m passionate about the game and the young ones,” he added.
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According to Phillips each player has to show their academic results, if the player has dropped in their academics then the coach said that they speak to the parents and the player will be relieved from the game until they pick up their grades.
The club participates in the Steven Pienaar Tournament, the Build It Tournament and the Annual Thames Tournament.
“We had a girls’ team last season who played one game got to the quarterfinals in the Steven Pienaar tournament and after that, we never saw our girls again. We have a girl that’s playing U11 division with the boys,” said coach Phillips.
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“We would like to have an academy with an aftercare as well. The aftercare will be for the children who come from school and have homework, so we will help children with their homework and then they can practice afterwards,” said Phillips.
The youngest player in the club is five-year-old Nicholas Daniels, and the reason why the club decided to form a U19 team was that many sixteen-year-olds on the team do not want to move to other clubs to continue with the soccer.
Below are the results of last seasons’ performances:
– U9 team came in 2nd place
– U11 team won the league and the Steven Pienaar Tournament
– U13 team won the league
– U15 team came 5th place in the league.
Practice is on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5 pm to 6 pm at the Riverlea Cricket Grounds. Thames FC has full teams except for the newly formed U19 team where the club is still having registrations.
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