Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of everyday life we can forget how fortunate both we and our children are. Playing sport, going shopping, going to work, even walking the dog maybe the “norm” for us.
Sadly as was the case with one young goalkeeper I have coached at Swindon Town Academy since the age of 8 things can happen in life which affects this. Declan Lehmann was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy to attempt to shrink the tumour before a possible operation to try and remove it.
As you can imagine this puts a tremendous strain on a family both emotionally and financially. The regular trips to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and to GWH in Swindon along with time missing from work. Calm actively help support families with children who are suffering with cancer or leukaemia and are run by parents who understand what other families are going through. It has no offices or salaries paid to staff; it is run purely by volunteers and has been supporting families since 1984.
Steve Hale Goalkeeping School will be doing all it can to help raise funds for this worthwhile cause and with this in mind all member goalkeepers
and parents are asked to play their part by participating and supporting my “Save for Calm” event on Wednesday 10th February 2016
In our Wednesday evening session on the 10th February, starting at the usual times of 5.45pm-6.45pm for the younger age group and 6.45pm-7.45pm for the older age group the following will take place:
Every goalkeeper will take part in a penalty shoot out facing 15 penalties each in total from theother goalkeepers in their respective age group. It’s their job to try and save as many as possible. Each child will be asked to gain sponsorship from family and friends for however many penalties they can save, or a straight forward donation. At the time of writing I am also trying to organise an auction and hope to have a few good prizes football/goalkeeping related.
Sponsorship forms for this event have been distributed.
I would ask all goalkeepers and parents to make every effort to support this event both in terms of being there on the evening and raising as much money through sponsorship and / or donations as possible. Remember how fortunate we all are and help try and make a difference in our local community.
For more details on Calm and what they do please go to their website www.calmcharity.org