An enjoyable day of sporting entertainment...
Last Saturday saw Walsall and Coventry City work in tandem to deliver an enjoyable day of sporting entertainment in the community – providing schemes that spanned the generation gap.The day started with a game of Walking Football – a growing sport in the UK – which is a social-inclusion health programme for over-50s.
Later in the afternoon, were four Junior Development fixtures involving our under-eight to under-11 squads.
Following the conclusion of those matches, all players were given complimentary tickets to watch the first-team fixture between Walsall and Coventry at the Banks’s Stadium, which we won 2-1.
An enjoyable day was had by all, and Walsall FC’s Community Director, Adam Davy, was pleased to work closely with the Sky Blues to produce such a programme.
“It was great to span the generation gap of under-eights through to over-50s in partnership with Coventry City,” said Davy.
“We get on really well with the community scheme at Coventry, which is headed up by Dave Busst, the ex-player.
“In the last few seasons they’ve brought their development centre teams to play our development centre teams. These children aren’t quite at Academy standard yet, but by working in a development programme, we can maybe get one or two through.
“When Walsall are playing Coventry at home, they will bring their children here. And for the away fixture, we’ll reciprocate and go to the Ricoh Arena.
“What was different this year to previous seasons, was that they also brought their Walking Football team.
“We’ve got a Walking Football programme headed up by Chris Springthorpe, who is our Community Assistant Officer, while Dave’s got one at Coventry.
“We’ve been growing it over the last year with Walsall Housing Group. It’s for over-50s who want to get out and be a bit more active - those who like football but can’t spend 90 minutes running around a pitch.
“The social side has probably exceeded the health benefits now; the guys say they feel 16 again and they’re meeting people they’ve got a common interest with.
“Overall, it was a great day out for everyone – probably made even better by the first-team winning their game!”