The festival was jointly organised by the Oxfordshire Football Association, West Oxfordshire District Council and the School Sports Co-ordinator programme to mark the end of a large after-school football development programme in Chipping Norton and the surrounding area.

125 boys and 65 girls from 9 schools took part in specialised coaching sessions run by FA qualified coaches with the emphasis on fun, helped by 25 Sports Leaders from Chipping Norton School aged 15-18. The afternoon culminated in a number of mini-soccer games which were enjoyed greatly by all the young people.

Each coaching group and mini-soccer team mixed young people from several schools and everyone involved agreed this helped make the afternoon as much fun as possible and not as competitive as inter-school matches would have been. 

As part of the afternoon event, teachers from all the schools involved received training on the benefits of applying for FA Charter Standard School status from Ted Mitchell, Football Development Officer from the Oxfordshire Football Association. Ted said:

"Nine of the ten schools involved will be pursuing FA Charter Standard status, and a similar number are hopeful of continuing after school football sessions.

"The model created for Chipping Norton can hopefully be replicated throughout the county to achieve similar success and mark a step change in the provision of football in Primary Schools".

A spokesperson from Cultural Services at West Oxfordshire District Council said:

"This festival was a great success and we are delighted that West Oxfordshire has been able to host the first FA Charter Standard Festival of this type in Oxfordshire. Much credit for this success must go to Jo Phillips, School Sports Co-ordinator for Chipping Norton School, and the Junior Sports Leaders whose help was invaluable."

If you would like more information about The FA Charter Standard for Schools, you can contact your local County FA Football Development team, or e-mail: Donna.McIvor@TheFA.com