Barnet walking football teams , over 50/60/65 UPDATES

[pgbee]

Why say it's for over 50s and then have it when only retired people can go? Not a moan just an observation....

[SudburyBee]

I am not retired , and am over 50 , where there is a will there is a way

[petersperoni]

Why say it's for over 50s and then have it when only retired people can go? Not a moan just an observation....

Very valid point. I'm semi retired but work part time self employed so I can manage it.

I guess it may be to do with pitch availabilty (as we don't pay and quite often in the evening all pitches are being used by paying customers) and another guess would be to save paying overtime to the guy(s) running it.

If there's enough interest from people willing to pay (if that is the obstacle) I'll certainly approach the club.

We were saying though when you reach a certain time in life do you really want to go out again and play football on a cold, wet winter's evening!

[RichardM]

Why say it's for over 50s and then have it when only retired people can go? Not a moan just an observation....

Very valid point. I'm semi retired but work part time self employed so I can manage it.

I guess it may be to do with pitch availabilty (as we don't pay and quite often in the evening all pitches are being used by paying customers) and another guess would be to save paying overtime to the guy(s) running it.

If there's enough interest from people willing to pay (if that is the obstacle) I'll certainly approach the club.

We were saying though when you reach a certain time in life do you really want to go out again and play football on a cold, wet winter's evening!

Yes, I do every Monday evening at the age of 69. Three goals yesterday in a 10-6 win after being 5-1 down. We pay a fiver for the privilege.

[petersperoni]

Yes, I do every Monday evening at the age of 69. Three goals yesterday in a 10-6 win after being 5-1 down. We pay a fiver for the privilege.[/quote]

Blimey, fair play to you Sir! Are you free to be on the bench Saturday afternoon?

Was that walking football for the over 50's and if so how many turn up wherever it is you play? As I said if there's enough interest from any who want to turn up regularly and pay I'd be more than willing to approach the club. Ours is being run by the Community Trust side of the club and as such I don't know if they receive any income from an outside agency for organising it, allowing it to be free of charge for participants. If this is the case paying for playing receipts would need to outweigh that. Seems like I've got some questions to ask but pointless unless enough interest is shown. There will be a few ines about what we do in Alex Jones' notes in the programme this Saturday.

[RichardM]

Yes, I do every Monday evening at the age of 69. Three goals yesterday in a 10-6 win after being 5-1 down. We pay a fiver for the privilege.

Blimey, fair play to you Sir! Are you free to be on the bench Saturday afternoon?

Was that walking football for the over 50's and if so how many turn up wherever it is you play? As I said if there's enough interest from any who want to turn up regularly and pay I'd be more than willing to approach the club. Ours is being run by the Community Trust side of the club and as such I don't know if they receive any income from an outside agency for organising it, allowing it to be free of charge for participants. If this is the case paying for playing receipts would need to outweigh that. Seems like I've got some questions to ask but pointless unless enough interest is shown. There will be a few ines about what we do in Alex Jones' notes in the programme this Saturday.[/quote]

I don't like having to admit it but I play twice a week at Stevenage FC. We have been going for exactly a year and there are about 40 people signed up including 3 women. The most we have had at a single session was 23. Nearly all are retired but some, especially on the Monday evening, are younger and still working. I think everybody is over 50 years of age except the son of one member who comes with his Dad. It is easy to see that some have been very good players in their youth but the fact we cannot run seems to be a bit of a leveller. One guy played for Enfield in the 1960s and another for Dartford. It is also run by the Football in the Community department with a young academy coach taking the sessions usually with a helper. We do a few warm up exercises followed by a bit of coaching (which can sometimes end in chaos with a lot of laughter), and then we have small sided games until the hour is over. We use a heavier ball than the normal match ball which helps with the passing game. It is great fun and everybody who comes for the first time say they love it when asked at the end of the session. We have played against other sides either in friendlies or competitions. The competitions have not been very successful for us as generally the other sides were much younger and the referees were not too bothered about the walking only rule. Hopefully we can arrange a game against Barnet in the near future. I would recommend Walking Football to anybody who loves the game and is reasonably fit. I have made many new friends and the weekly sessions are the highlight of the week for me, as well as watching Barnet of course. I hope to get down to The Hive soon on a Friday afternoon, that's if the wife fails to find something for me to do.

[petersperoni]

Thanks for that Richard, really interesting.

As we are very new, and also probably due to the time we play, we are struggling for numbers although from what I understand there could be a dozen or so of us next session, all male and more senior than not! We have had 2 or 3 Barnet apprentices join in to make up numbers.

What our respective groups have in common with not only the format, we all enjoy it and there is a good amount of laughter. The no-running rule, and we try to stick to it, is hard work (if anyone else is reading this - try it if you don't believe me, or ask the apprentices) but that's to the fitness benefit.

Give us time to build the numbers and I'm sure we could arrange a derby.

[SudburyBee]

A good turnout , more players and more to come next week apparently as people bring friends .. Good fun and thanks to the club for its efforts to date x

[THCT]

Hi all,

Really glad to see things picking up and hope to see more faces this Friday!

Peter, I can confirm that a changing room will be available for next week. If there are any more requests please let me know; I read through this thread as well.

Thanks,
Staf

[petersperoni]

Well done Staf and thank you.

I'very got someone who is keen and hopes to come along on Friday. It's open to all folks, including women if they feel like having a go.

[yeoman of the guard]

still interested in taking part in walking football but have been laid up over past couple of weeks....thinking of popping over to Hive even if only to introduce myself to group...need confirmation of dates etc.....

[petersperoni]

Every Friday afternoon (excluding school holidays) 2-3pm on the AstroTurf. We are there today Yeoman.

[SudburyBee]

Hi , just checking r we playing this Friday and has it been decided when we break for Xmas x

[petersperoni]

Hi Sudbury. Yes, contrary to the website yesterday (I don't know if it's been amended yet) there ISa session this Friday, our last before Christmas is the 11th December (which I can't make) and we start again on 15th January.

There's an article (and photos) on the club website. The interviews and photos were taken at our session last Friday.

[SudburyBee]

Hi Peter , we had a good turnout and back as you say on Jan 15th .. With the prospects of friendlies and entering a league ..
Wishing you and yours a good Christmas , and to all those who have made Friday football such good fun .