In the heart of the Grove community, you will find Grove Challengers Football Club which was founded in 1971. As a club they are passionate about delivering grassroots football to children from Rising Stars (aged 5-6) through to age 17 and are a Charter Standard Football Club, and supporters of the FA Respect campaign. Currently they have 12 teams across all age groups who play in the Oxford Youth Football League (OYFL).
The simple aim of the Club is the long term development of players. To carry out their aim they are committed to providing a safe and friendly environment for young people to develop their techniques and skills in order to enjoy and play football.
Priding themselves on being an all-inclusive club, last year they started up training sessions for children with special educational needs which sees children with a broad range of additional needs come together and feel part of a team and their Club community. These sessions create accessible training opportunities for everyone whilst providing a safe space where they can play football, belong and just be themselves.
To make all of this happen and allow over 150 children to play football, Grove Challengers FC has a small committee who help to facilitate the day to day running of the Club. They also have our great team of managers and coaches who all have relevant DBS and Safeguarding checks in place who look after the teams, making football fun whilst developing the players’ football skills.
Their main fundraising event of the year is the Grove Sixes Tournament, which is approaching very quickly and is held the first weekend of July every year. It is a very well received tournament with over 250 teams and over 2000 children taking part across the weekend, with some travelling quite a distance to be able to attend. It is a great weekend with a lot of football played, and if you fancy coming along to see what we are about and to watch some football, pop along on the 6/7th July.
The Club is also looking forward to when we will be able to move across to their new pitches, as this will allow them to keep growing and to facilitate more children moving into the area to play football and be a part of the local football community.
As with all Clubs they wouldn't be able to run without the volunteers that they have and they are always looking for additional helpers, coaches, managers and players as they grow bigger. If you would like to be a part of the Club or would like to find out more, please email welfare.gcfc@gmail.com.
To find out more please visit grovechallengers.com
