The News from the Balham Blazers F.C.

News

A Nutty Quiz Night The Nutters
The Nuts team, so called in honour of Chestnut Grove, where the club trains, won a keenly contested fifth annual Balham Blazers quiz night on Saturday February 27th, by one point from the Universally Challenged team, who had led the twelve team contest for most of the evening.

Many thanks to Matthew Taylor and Claire Holland for compiling, compering and scoring a brilliant, fun packed quiz, to everyone who helped on the night and particularly to our quiz night supremo, Diana Luchford, who organised the whole event. Once again, the evening, sold out in advance, was incredibly well supported and raised a superb, much needed £1,666 for the club.

Sponsored Marathon Total
Congratulations, well done and thank you to everyone who raised or donated money for the 2009 Sponsored Marathon. The total raised is a staggering £2,800, well beyond our expectations and the previous record total raised in 2008.

Season so Far (September to December)
The weather has clearly disrupted fixtures recently however we go into the New Year with all our teams challenging for League and Cup honours. Both Under 9 and Under 11 teams are challenging at the top of their respective age groups in the LSYFL. Our U9 Colts and Eagles have both got through to the League Cup Final, which will therefore be an all Balham Blazers final. Our U14s are currently top of the LSYFL and in the semi finals of the League Cup. They are also through to the quarter finals of the Tandridge League Cup. Our U16s are also through to the quarter finals of the Tandridge League Cup and our U17s are through to the semi finals which will be played in January.

BBFC 2010 Quiz Night
The Balham Blazers annual quiz night - South West London's biggest night of the year - will take place on Saturday February 27th at St Mary Magdalene Church, Trinity Road, SW17. Please put the date in your diaries. More details will follow soon.

London Charlie

Long serving U16 player Charlie Barthorp was selected for the London Football Association team for the second time this season and played against Kent on Sunday December 13th. Kent won the game 2-1, but despite being on the losing team Charlie had an excellent game.

Pat Walker
We are delighted to welcome new coach Pat Walker to Balham Blazers F.C. After completing a Masters at Oxford University and representing the University football team for three years, which included playing in Varsity matches against Cambridge, for which Pat was awarded a coveted University Blue, Pat was keen to get involved with coaching at the grass roots level. After completing his FA Level 1 coaching badge he took part in a football development programme in Costa Rica coaching football to local school children. On his return he coached the U15s and U16s at Staines Lammas FC. After a two year break due to work commitments Pat is very excited to be getting back into coaching and hopes to complete his FA Level 2 Coaching Badge in the not too distant future. "I really hope I can help to build on the tremendous success Balham Blazers has already achieved." We at Balham Blazers are very excited that Pat has joined our coaching set up and feel sure he'll be a great addition to the club.

Nigel Fletcher-Lord Cheque Book
Once again Nigel Fletcher-Lord, father of brilliant U17 player Fareed, has come up trumps for the club, raising a staggering £800 for this year's sponsored marathon. Nigel, known affectionately as Lord Cheque Book because of his incredible fundraising feats, has contributed enormously over the years and once again we owe him and everyone else who has raised money this year a huge debt of thanks. Not all the money is in yet but we already know that we have passed the 2008 total of £1,800, which is great news!
The final total will be published as soon as we have it.

A Balham Affair
The LSYFL Under 9 Cup Final at the end of the season will be an all Balham Blazers affair after the Colts and the Eagles both won their semi finals on Saturday November 7th. The Colts defeated Balham Foxes 2-0, whilst the
Eagles, having led in normal time and again in extra time had to come through the dreaded penalty shoot out to beat AFC Wandsworth. Congratulations to both teams and a special word of praise for cucumber cool Joe Higgins who hit the winning penalty that took the Eagles into the final.

Sportsmanhip
On Saturday September 24th Balham Blazers Colts and Balham Blazers Eagles, both in the LSYFL Under 11 Premiership Division had to play a league game against each other. It was a fantastic encounter which the Eagles came from behind to win 5-4. Even more impressive than the game itself however was the behaviour immediately afterwards of the Eagles team, commented on later the same day in an email by the parent of a Colts player:

“I had to say, after today's Colts v Eagles game, how fantastic everyone connected with the Eagles was after the game. I would expect this from the parents, and wasn't disappointed, but to have such a reaction from the players was really something. They knew how much the game meant to the Colts and, whilst it meant just as much to them there was not a hint of anything other than total sportsmanship from each and every one of them. They immediately, and I mean immediately, consoled the losing team. I would not have thought it possible for boys of that age to behave in such an amazing way bearing in mind that they had just come from behind to win with the last kick of the game. I know we're all one big happy family but this was one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen from a group of boys. Naturally, I hope that the Colts will have the chance to return the compliment in the near future.”

Exceptional Marathon
Many thanks to everyone who turned up and ran in the Sponsored Marathon on Saturday October 17th. It was a dull afternoon weather wise but there was an excellent turn out and some brilliant committed running from players in all age groups, along with one or two mums and dads too.

The Marathon, run as a 1km relay, was completed in 3 hours 3 minutes. Although not a club record breaking time this was exceptional none the less given that almost half the runners were Under 9s, all of whom ran fantastically well.

The fastest individual runners in each age group were: U9s - William Donkin, U11s - Theo Chaudoir, U14s - Cornell Taylor-Holland, U16s - Fred Fox, U17s - Joe Taylor-Holland

Whether you attended and ran on the day or not please do your best to raise as much money as possible for the club. Donations are welcome. Any money raised or donated can be handed in at training or sent to our club treasurer. Each season to date we've beaten the previous year's total. This year's target is £1,800. Let's hope we can do it once again!

Michael McConnell
Barnet Bound
Congratulations to Balham Blazers player, Michael McConnell, who has recently signed a one year academy contract with Barnet F.C. Michael will be sorely missed but we are delighted to hear that he's settled in well and been made captain of the Barnet Under 16 side.

Michael put in many outstanding performances for Balham Blazers and was voted Players Player Of The Year in 2007.

First Match Day For Under 9s
Our two new Under 9 teams - Colts and Eagles - played their first competitive matches in a triangular friendly tournament, which also involved new side Balham Foxes, on Tooting Common on Saturday September 12th. A big crowd turned up on a sunny afternoon to see them get off the mark in style. Both teams played some excellent pass and move football, just the way we want it played at Balham Blazers and both scored some lovely goals. A very promising start.

Pre-Season Curry

On Thursday September 3rd a group of Under 11 Colts and Eagles fathers enjoyed a pre-season curry at Yars Village in Tooting ahead of the weekend's first friendly against Broomwood. The evening was a great opportunity for everyone to catch up after the summer break and the conversation quickly turned to the forthcoming season. There was much debate about the two teams being in the same league and who would be the toughest opponents in the forthcoming season. Yars Village kindly organised the menu, serving top quality Indian food at very reasonable prices. We will be back!

2008/09 News Review
A full news review of the 2008/09 season, with pictures, news pieces and a season summary, is now available to download. Download your copy.
(2 meg file size)

Record Breaking Season
2008/09 has been a record breaking season for Balham Blazers F.C. Our four age groups either won or were runners up in a combined total of 18 League and Cup Competitions in London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex. For a full list go to the Honours page.

Student Aid To Sponsor Blazers
We are delighted to announce that Student Aid will be our main club sponsor next season 2009/2010. We thank them for their generosity and support. Student Aid provides a range of services to Universities and their students to make University life that little bit more fun and easier. Services include Student Aid Parcels, which are the official welcome parcels for leading Universities across the UK and our website, which enables students to communicate, buy club tickets, share lecture notes, join sports clubs etc. Please visit www.student-aid.co.uk for more info.

Charter Standard

We are delighted to announce that Balham Blazers F.C. has been awarded Charter Standard Club status by the Football Association. The FA Charter Standard Scheme is a best practice guide that sets standards of coaching, administration and child protection for all clubs outside the Football League and Premier League. As a benchmark for quality, it will improve the playing experience for all. To achieve the FA Charter Standard the Club needs to have policies and systems in place such as a written constitution, FA CRB-checked volunteers and all team managers have to have a minimum of the FA Level One Coaching badge. The club also needs behaviour Codes of Conduct in place and a commitment to attend in-service training, provide Mini-Soccer opportunities for under-10s and promote schools liaison and equal opportunities for all.

"Rightly, it’s not easy to attain, but by achieving a Charter Standard award, you are demonstrating to all members, parents and the public, that you are a well organised and safe club. It’s also an excellent way of promoting your Club to potential members, parents, volunteers and sponsors." says Les Howie, FA National Development Manager.

New Club T-Shirts Now Available
We have a fabulous new T-shirt available to buy. It is an embroided Balham Blazers F.C. logo set on a rich black top quality 100% cotton T-Shirt.

It looks good and demonstrates your support for the club as well as supporting the club's finances.

Click here for more information and details of how to order.

Marathon Total
Season So Far
2010 Quiz Night
London Charlie
Pat Walker
Nigel Fletcher Lord
A Balham Affair
Sportsmanship
Exceptional Marathon
Barnet Bound
First Match Day For U9s
Pre-Season Curry
2008/09 News Review
Record Breaking Season
Student Aid Sponsor BBFC
Charter Standard
New Club T-Shirts Now