Club to host a third Grassroots Festival
THE Suffolk FA Grassroots Festival will be staged at Whitton United FC for a third time.
The two-day festival will take place at the club’s King George Vth ground in Ipswich on Saturday May 21st and Sunday May 22nd 2022.
The festival which will mark the return of the end-of-season festival after being cancelled due to Covid-19 in both 2020 and 2021.
This year’s festival is being supported by David Goldsmith and Sam Murray, who are both Conservative County Councillors for Whitehouse and Whitton, who have each contributed £1,500 through the county council’s locality budget.
The festival will once again be open to teams aged from U7 to U16, with some provision for the U6 age group, disability and refugee football.
Teams will be able to sign up for this year’s festival from Thursday, March 24th 2022 at 5pm, with entries closing at 9am Monday, April 25th 2022.
Suffolk FA Football Development Officer (Retention) James Morley said: “There will be a £25 deposit for each team entered into this season’s festival which will be refunded upon participating in the festival.
“If a team withdraws from the festival anytime up to the closing of the entry window they will receive their deposit back. But if they withdraw after April 25th they won’t be refunded, so please make sure you can attend before signing up.
“We are really looking forward to planning and delivering the Suffolk FA Grassroots Festival 2022 following the success of the Pre-Season Festivals which were run across August and September.
“The Suffolk FA Grassroots Festival is the largest event we run in this county and being able to welcome teams to Whitton United following a long break due to Covid is exciting to celebrate the end of the season once again.
“We will once again be offering all age groups for boys and girls with further provision for disability and refugees. We have the aim to deliver the festival once again for as many teams as we can and to break the 200-team barrier.
“Please be ready for March 24th when the entries go live to sign up, it will be first come, first served and clubs will be able to sign up online. “We will remind clubs in the lead up to the entries opening, so make sure you are ready to go.”
Councillors David Goldsmith and Sam Murray said: “We are delighted to be able to support this event in our division at Whitton United FC and look forward to the children enjoying the weekend, especially after what they have had to endure with the pandemic in the past couple of years.”
Whitton United Youth Secretary Maxine Barnes said: “We are looking forward to the Suffolk FA Grassroots Festival returning to Whitton United at the end of this season.
“We are particularly excited about the prospect of welcoming all the clubs, their players and spectators, the match officials and Suffolk FA staff back to the King George Vth after a two-year break due to Covid-19.
“It will be the third time we have hosted the festival here and we are hoping it will be as good, if not better, than the previous two.”
Pictured above at the launch (left to right) are Whitton United Youth Secretary Maxine Barnes, Suffolk County Councillors David Goldsmith and Sam Murray and Suffolk FA Football Development Officer (Retention) James Morley.
The schedule for the festival is as follows:
Saturday
Girls' U7/U8/U9/U10 (5v5) – 10am-12noon
Girls’ U11 (7v7) – 10am-12noon
Mixed U9 (7v7) – 10am-12noon
Mixed U11 (9v9) – 10am-12noon
Mixed U14 (11v11) – 1pm-3pm
Mixed U15 (11v11) – 1pm-3pm
Girls’ U12 (9v9) – 1pm-3pm
Wot’s Up Disability League Showcase (7v7) – 3.30pm-5.30pm
Wot’s Up Disability League Youth Showcase – 3.30pm-5.30pm
Sunday
Mixed U7 (5v5) – 10am-12noon
Mixed U8 (7v7) – 10am-12noon
Mixed U12 (9v9) – 10am-12noon
Mixed U13 (11v11) – 1pm-3pm
Mixed U16 (11v11) – 1pm-3pm
Girls’ U13 (9v9) – 1pm-3pm
Mixed U10 (9v9) – 3.30pm-5.30pm
Girls’ U14 (11v11) – 3.30pm-5.30pm
Girls’ U15 (11v11) – 3.30pm-5.30pm
Girls’ U16 (11v11) – 3.30pm-5.30pm