Addiscombe Little League

Addiscombe Little League Football is a member of the national Little League Football organisation, a registered charity ( #1001312).

Addiscombe Little League Football provides football for children for players of all abilities in school years 1 to 8. A strong community involvement is a key feature. The emphasis is on mass participation rather than elitism, enthusiasm and endeavour rather than ability. Players are encouraged to develop team spirit, self discipline and sportsmanship.

We play on Saturday mornings between the months of September and April at Ashburton Playing Fields, Addiscombe (accessed from Woodmere Avenue or Bywood Avenue, satnav: CR0 7PH).

The whole league meets at 09. 45am and sessions are concluded by 12: 00pm.

The children are organised into three groups:

Bantams: (school years 1 to 3): For our youngest players, we teach core football skills, how to strike the ball, tackle and move. Players spend as much time as possible working with the ball. Games are 4 or 5 a side.

Mini Soccer (school years 4 and 5): We develop on the skills acquired in the Bantams, building on those techniques and developing an understanding of team shape. Communication skills are developed. Typically games are 7 a side.

Mains (school years 6 to 8): Building once again on the skills acquired in the Minis we develop players' understanding of team shape and positional sense in 9 a side matches.

We play wind rain or shine (unless the weather is too extreme), but will post a message to the facebook page facebook.com/AddiscombeLLF if we have to call off due to conditions which would be unsafe for the children. We strongly encourage parents and carers to stay to support your child throughout the sessions but check with the coach if you cannot. We have a refreshment stall offering hot drinks and food to keep away the chill.

One of the biggest advantages of Little League is that all matches and all ages will always play at the same time at the same venue with no travelling beyond the normal venue, which is great if you've got children of different ages attending.

The league is chaired by Kenny Gibb, and the League Secretary is Paul Iles. Kenny has many years experience of coaching children's football, both at Little League and with local teams. Paul has been involved in children's football or 30 years across Croydon. All our coaches are DBS checked volunteers and we support the development of our coaches through FA coaching qualifications.

For the children's safety and wellbeing, all players must be wearing football boots and shinpads and bring a drink of water.

If you would like your child to try out little league, come down for 9: 45 am on a Saturday morning to the address above, or contact Paul Iles on 07860 699 083.