Young Athlete Helpers' Bowling Night 2023

On Saturday 25th February there was time to celebrate the amazing achievements and contributions the Young Athlete Helpers have made to the club over the last 2 1/2 years since the inception of this scheme in June 2020. The amount of hard work that these young athletes of the club have put into helping the coaches and the under 11 boys & girls must not be under-estimated. Since its start there have been 38 young volunteers, offering a staggering 1,061 hours of their own time to improve the lives of so many young children. We have new leaders Like Zoe & Lilly who have just started out on the road to helping, to the likes of Rueben, Alex and the ever-present Godwinner who have being doing this for some time now. Godwinner, in fact, has contributed over 160 hours himself. Others that have also contributed to this are: Jessica, Miya, Max, Jay, Rennay, Ellen to name but a few.

Therefore the club and committee agreed it was time to truly recognise the achievements of these young people, so a trip to Namco (Romford) Bowling Alley was a perfect way of saying THANK YOU. Along with adult leaders: Joe Everitt, Alistair Fabian, Kaila Raposeiro & Paul Cheal we took along 14 young leaders to see what they were made of in the bowling stakes. There was laughter, frustration, competitiveness (I think among the adults most) and some usual, or should I say unusual, methods of delivering the tenpin bowling ball towards the 10 pins: I think some of the young leaders should stick to athletics. All this led to an enjoyable evening being had by all, rounded off with a small buffet of food to help us refuel during each bowl.

As this scheme continues with some more young talented athletes also now coming on board, they continue to be role models and give back to the under 11s and the club in general. I am truly honoured to be part of this scheme and I am sure the other coaches and parent/s of these under 11's would echo this as well. WELL DONE, YOUNG ATHLETE HELPERS, KEEP IT GOING!