We are a group of “old” girls who are learning to play football while having fun and making new friends.
We first started up on 16th April 2015 with 10 women and have grown to over 200 women on the books, who now come over 5 sessions each week (6 from 06.02.23).
Our age range is approx. 30 to over 70 (with some youngsters who join in with the spirit of what we’re doing) and we play for fun as well as trying to be competitive! Our first competitive match was at the FA Peoples’ Cup in 2016 where we entered 2 teams into the Adult Female Vets’ category and 1 team into the Adult Female competition. 1 year later we entered the same competition with 6 teams.
You don’t have to have any experience to come and join us, just a willingness to have fun and join the very friendly bunch of women we have. They will always make you feel welcome whether you turn up on your own or in a group, with friends. We do have women who have plucked up the courage to come along to a session on their own and are so glad they did! If you aren’t in the RH10/RH11 area, why not start a group up of your own? There are some tips and pointers on the “Starting Up” sub menu.
We now run 6 sessions, which include, a beginners’ session, a beginners/intermediate session, a beginners/intermediate/confidence in coaching session, an intermediate session, a session for the more advanced/experienced players who have played previously and a Walking Football session for those who are 40+ and want to play a slower paced game. Details of all the groups running are on the “Sessions” menu.
Sessions have been funded by the EFL Trust and Premier League Girls Fund, in the past, but are now £4 each for the CTFC Community Foundation run sessions and £5 for the COGS’ run beginners/intermediate session. The Walking Football session is currently £3 per session. Your first session is FREE.
We play on the 3G “Ball Court” which is located at the back of The People’s Pension Stadium (Crawley Town FC) and is opposite the Redz Bar. There is a 3G pitch as you enter Winfield Way, on the right, but it’s not that one, you turn left into the Stadium and continue to the end. You can’t actually see it on Google Maps but it is there, we promise! Walking Football and the Beginners/Intermediate/Confidence in Coaching (COGS XTRA) is held at Hazelwick School, RH10 1SX on the Astro pitch 1.
For our sessions, you can wear what you like but we do ask that you wear shin pads and you can either wear astro trainers or moulded boots (no metal studs). As we have so many players, we wear black sports t shirts with our logo & your initials and use black shorts and socks when we play in tournaments.
We arrange friendlies with local teams and have played in some great fun festivals/tournaments against teams of like-minded women. We’ve also made some good friends from playing in these matches. We have run our own Women’s Recreational Festivals, where we endeavour to make them all about participation so everyone can play.
In the time we have been running, we have been lucky enough to win a few Awards, which is amazing! In November 2016, we were nominated in the FA Women’s Football Awards and won the FA #WeCanPlay Participation Award for our “innovative and amazing concept”, which was presented to us at Wembley, by the FA Chairman, Greg Clarke. In March 2017, we were awarded a Crawley Community Award in the Group Achievement category and in July 2017 we were awarded the Sussex County FA’s Community Award but best Inclusive Group. In May 2018 we were awarded the Women’s Sport Trust #BeaGameChanger Award for the Local Inspirational Project and in November 2018 we won the Sussex Sports Award for Community Impact Project. Carol Bates was also nominated for a Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Vitality Grassroots Award and the judges chose her as 1 of the 4 Finalists. It’s been amazing so far and wouldn’t have been possible without all the fantastic women who love playing football!
Finally, if you’re not sure about coming along, read the Testimonials of the women who have and you will see how not only is playing football good exercise, it’s great for confidence, mental health and wellbeing too! It may even change your life!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can email cogscrawley@gmail.com
42 women enjoyed playing in the FA Peoples’ Cup in 2017!
