New youth football team trying to get off the ground in Brigstock

Brigstock Kites is the newest under 8s team in the area that is set to join the Weetabix Youth League.

The club was formed by Ben Emery, who started the club after feeling sorry for the youngsters as well as his own lad who have little to no youth provisions in the village.

They’re currently trying to raise money to get their pitch in a suitable condition and hopefully have some funds left over for a kit as well as other necessities.

Ben said: “The ground itself is in a really, really bad state. We’re joining the Weetabix league in September but we currently train there [at the pitch in Brigstock] and then we have some friendly matches at Tresham College.

“But even at training the pitch is awful, the pitch is so bumpy, it needs at least 20 tonnes of soil brought in to completely re-level it.”

They have a GoFundMe page which is currently (April 28) sat at £315 of a £600 goal but Ben says this was set as a realistic goal and the amount needed is actually £2,340.

He said “We’ve worked out the exact figure that we need and we need £2,340 but we’ve got time, we’ve got about three months to try and gather that.

“We’ve bought some second-hand goals for £80 and we just pull them out every training session and we put cones down and we slug along.

“Costs just keep going up. We’ve got to pay massive fees to get our committee members background checked, we’ve got to get kit sorted, we’ve got to start paying referees for our matches and we’ve literally started for nothing, with a few hundred quid in the bank, but it’s so hard getting it off the ground, you need a few thousand pounds to get it cracking.”

They have reached out to local companies for donations, but sadly to no avail.

According to Ben, this is the first time there’s been a football team in the village for about 20 years.

Ben said: “I feel so sorry for all the children. I’m from Northampton, where there’s dozens and dozens of options in regards to football teams and things like that. The worst thing for children in villages like this is that there’s nothing for them.

“It’s not just us really, it’s all villages across the county, they really need looking at in regards to youth prospects, it’s a major, major issue that I think is overlooked.”

The club trains on Sunday mornings at Brigstock meadow. The team is currently only for the under 8s age group but they do sessions for all age groups during the week.

All the boys in the age group at the village school have signed up, with 40 other children ready to start coming to their midweek sessions.

It’s open to all genders but according to Ben, so far, only boys have turned up.

To donate visit their GoFundMe page. All funds go towards equipment to truly establish the team and to get the pitch up and running.