Mevagissey Youth Football Club have become the first team in Cornwall to join The Greater Game programme, a health and wellbeing initiative formed by The Football Association.
The Cornish side, which was formed in 2024, have signed up as a Flagship Club to support the initiative, which uses the power of football to generate positive change on and off the field for 12 to 16-year-olds.
The Greater Game’s mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of young people across the country under four key elements: move well, think well, eat well and sleep well.
Mevagissey’s involvement came about after Rob Hurrell, football development officer at the club, attended a conference about the initiative at St George’s Park, the FA’s national football centre.
Rob explained: “I got chatting to someone at the conference, who just happened to have family living in Truro, and he said that they we’re looking for a team in Cornwall to be a Flagship Club. Fortunately, I was the only coach from Cornwall in attendance, and I jumped at the chance as it was a no-brainer for me.
“We are chuffed to be the first team in Cornwall to be a Flagship Club, but we are also encouraging all local clubs to get involved with the The Greater Game programme because of what benefits it can bring.
“The initiative is about making small changes to people’s lives, it’s about getting kids away from their games, away from having energy drinks, and that transcends into every other sport and in any walk of life. It’s a programme that we hope will grow and grow and we want to get people talking about it.”
As Cornwall’s first Flagship Club, Mevagissey are leading the way in creating a meaningful impact for youngsters in the local area.
The club runs four different teams at U10, 12, 13 and 14 level. They play at the Mevagissey Active Centre, which has floodlights and a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), an artificial pitch that allows players to train all year round.
Thanks to their involvement with the programme, Rob and his team have been equipped with numerous resources to support players, helping them to build positive and healthy lifestyles.
Rob added: “If we can get kids to make small changes, no matter what they are, it will benefit them in the long-term. The resources we have received will help us educate our players to improve their health, wellbeing and lifestyle.
“We’ve been given all to tools to make that happen, we’ve been given loads of information, hand-outs, and things we can drop into training sessions, and you can tailor it all to how you want to deliver it. We can have a big influence on people just by coaching them for an hour a week and what they can get out of that can be very beneficial.”
For more information about Mevagissey Youth Football Club, visit: www.facebook.com/mevayouthfc
Source: www.cornish-times.co.uk — Read the original article
Local youth team becomes first Cornish club to join health and wellbeing initiative