We are often asked why we started a girls’ futsal club. So here is the much reduced story…

April 2017 – a chance meeting one evening after a York City football match with Junior Roberti, York Futsal manager, and he asked us if we could put together a girls’ team to enter an FA futsal tournament in Gateshead? Always up for a challenge, we said yes, but, we had less than a week to sort everything out.

What followed were frantic phone calls, emails and texts to various parents, coaches and clubs to get a group of girls together. We borrowed a kit from York City, thank you, Mark Spencer, and the mini bus from Manor CE Academy, thank you Simon Foster.

On the journey up, we tried to teach the players the rules, explain the game, and generally calm a lot of nerves. The players were worried about making fools of themselves, especially as they didn’t know anything about the game.

Needless to say, the players did amazing, they very nearly qualified for the next round, but above all else, showed true character in everything they did, both on and off the court. Two girls even helped out another team by playing for them, due to the fact some of their players were too young.

On the journey home, the two main topics of conversation were how good was the game and could they do it again? This got Suzy and I thinking, and nearly a year later, what followed, became Bootham Girls’ Futsal Club – York!

Thank you Drew, Ruby, Katie, Chloe, Denva, Kim, Lauren, Lucy and Amber – you will be forever remembered as our first players!

If there is a moral to this story, never decline a challenge, face it head on and you never know what the outcomes may be…