: 'Park Life'

“Whenever we went to the park to play football my mum would make me take my brother Michael, who was eight years younger than me, in the pushchair, but that stopped when he was hit in the face by the ball, we were using his pushchair, with Mike inside it, as one of the goalposts at the time.”
Kevin Keegan

With summer here it is time to get down the park for a game of footie.
You only need a ball and whatever you can think of for goals. It may not be wise to take Kevin Keegan’s creative goal post ideas on board, but the usual jumpers will suffice.
Get the kids down there today, they can phone a friend and get some serious action going. There are also usually a number of kids wandering around the park desperate to join in with anything involving fun.
If parents or coaches could give up an hour a week, which on a rotation basis would only be about once a month, to supervise a kick about down the park.
The essential kit would be a comfortable chair and a good book or newspaper and please don’t worry as the kids can do the rest.

I was contacted recently by Claire Chapman at the Marble Hill Playcentre in Marble Hill Park, Twickenham.
It is a brilliant adventure playground for kids and just outside the centre in the main park they put up a pair of goalposts so that the kids can play football on their own terms.
In the same park are expensive after school football clubs with OAF’s as Claire calls them, Over Aggressive Father’s.
I stopped for ten minutes to watch one session with children no older than six. For the whole of that time the coach was giving them a lecture. The children were desperate to get started; hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation, meanwhile in the children led, all day session the score was finely balanced at 53 - 49.

So get phoning or texting…..John and his dad will be down the park from 6.00-7.00 if you fancy a game!