Partnership opens Football up to preschoolers

Saturday 17 November 2018

The Guernsey Football Association (GFA) has agreed a partnership with Little Champs which will see high quality, age-appropriate, football sessions open up to toddlers and preschoolers.

Under the current set up, children can join their local football club’s Mini’s section once they start in reception at school.

But the demand for sports classes for younger children has led to the development of Little Champs - basic sports skills for toddlers - and, now, Little Champs Football.

Laurel Le Tocq, who set up and runs Little Champs, believes getting children into sport from a younger age will normalise an active lifestyle and encourage a lifelong enjoyment of sport. 

“This new partnership with the GFA is a really exciting step forwards for Little Champs,” she said.

“The current classes introduce children aged 2-4 years to the fundamentals of movement and basic sport skills in a fun, encouraging and age-appropriate way. The opportunity to develop this offering to include sport-specific football classes, run by qualified GFA coaches, is a great next-step for the children who have cracked the basic sport skills and are now ready to apply those skills to a sport.

"We ran some taster sessions through the summer and the children were eager to do more. So here we are! The ultimate aim is to form similar partnerships with other sports too, widening the opportunities for pre-schoolers to get involved.”

Pictured: Ted and Angus. 

Little Champs Football classes will be taking place indoors at the Rohais Badminton Hall during the winter months, and will move outside in the spring and summer. Classes are scheduled to take place on Saturday mornings and on Tuesday/Wednesday mornings starting mid-November.

Gary Roberts, Chief Executive Officer, GFA added: “The GFA is pleased to have established this new partnership with Little Champs, which is an exciting new venture that will provide young children with a positive introduction to the sport and in what will be a safe and fun environment.

"Developing an enjoyment of being active and participating in sport can establish a life-long journey of being fit and healthy and this is something that the GFA not only advocates but fully endorses and supports. The sessions will be delivered by highly qualified and experienced coaches and we are looking forward to working with Little Champs to provide this new opportunity for the local community.”

Anyone interested in booking a space can contact littlechampsGSY@outlook.com. Little Champs is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Pictured: The Little Champs training.