Football Focus Issue 71 | Page 80

York Railway Institute FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/FOOTYFOCUSMAG York Railway Institute association FOOTBALL CLUB Y ork Railway Institute AFC is a fantastic example of the important role that a club can play in the local community. Football Focus Magazine recently caught up with their Chairman Kat Richardson to find out more about the good work that the club has been doing lately. Involvement She told us, “I started coaching quite a few years ago, so that we could begin an U6s team at the club (my son is now 13). As with all grassroots clubs, everything is done by volunteers. I then started helping out on the admin side of things too and then when the Chair, Pete, who had done an amazing job building up the girls section, had to step down, I stepped up. There are some truly wonderful people on the committee; I speak with Yvette as Child Welfare Officer and Junior Boys 80 Issue 71 Secretary almost every day, amongst the others who keep me sane! Plus Margaret and Kevin have been involved with the club for over 20 years and are retiring this year. They have kept the club going through many more ups and downs.” This Season “Most of our teams have had a good season, our U15s boys have won their division, and others are still going for promotion too or finishing well with good cup runs. We have had a few new teams start too, our U11s girls have grown and improved dramatically with some excellent coaching from Andy and Karl. Joel started a new Men’s Reserves team who challenged for promotion in their first season, and we have had some really good cup runs with our Ladies reaching the Semis of the County Cup. At the other end of the age groups, we have twenty two very enthusiastic U6 players and have started a new girls club for 6-10 year olds to try and support initiatives by our County FA and get more girls into football.”