The Junior Blades are pleased to announce our next Club sponsor for the 2020/21 season – LED Direct.

The upcoming season will be LED Direct’s first season supporting the Junior Blades but we are looking forward to it being the first of many.

LED Direct MD, Dan Blair had this to say on the deal –

I’ve known Chris a number of years and when he asked if I would be interested in sponsoring one of the Junior Blades teams, I jumped at the opportunity. The Junior Blades are well known in the area and I’m pleased to associate my new company with them and think its a good opportunity to promote my new company – LED Direct. Along with providing much needed funds through my sponsorship I’m also offering some great offers to all of the Junior Blades players and parents and those associated to the Club. Im hoping the partnership will be beneficial to both parties for a number of years.

So who are LED Direct??

At LED Direct we supply LED Lighting and Smart Home products to customers throughout the UK. Located in South Yorkshire and operated by a team of lighting professionals with over 60 years in the lighting industry we strive to provide a quality product at the best prices.

Whether it be domestic light bulbs or lighting for a commercial property, we have it all covered to help you switch to LED and reduce your lighting costs by up to 90%.

If you want to take the leap into home automation or expand your current setup we have that covered too. From wireless controlled lighting and heating to more safety focused smart security systems and home protection all controlled from your smart phone.  Use VIP15 for 15% discount after signing up to a newsletter. And even better, you can spread the payments over 3 months interest free by selecting Klarna as payment option on checkout.

The Junior Blades are really pleased to have LED Direct on board and look forward to working with them for the 2020/21 season.

The Junior Blades are recruiting for a new U7 team for the 2020/21 season.

Anybody with children going into Y2 in September are eligible for the new team.

If you would like some more information or would like to register your interest in joining the team then please contact Layen on 07557 794386 or send your details to the Club via info@juniorblades.co.uk

We are going to be announcing our new U7 manager and coaches in the next week or two and sessions will begin as soon as the Club enters Phase 2 of its ” Return to Play” policy.

We currently have 5 or 6 players interested and we are really excited to get the team out on the pitch in the next few months.

Training will be on Wednesday nights at St Georges Graves, Norton between 6 and 7pm.

The Junior Blades are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all of our players, coaches, parents and their family members. Like everyone, we are keen to restart the season as soon as possible but we will not rush the process and put anybody involved with the Club at any unneccesary risk.

The Club is committed to putting a structured, controlled and organised – “Return to Play”policy in place.

We have drawn up a guidance document for everybody to read and follow.

We are liaising with St Georges Graves, our home ground, regarding when the facility will re-open. Once we have a re-opening date we will be working together to create Phase 2 of the Return to Play policy which will incorporate Junior Blades returning to football in a controlled and managed manner at our home ground once more.

The Club will be providing all of our managers with COVID 19 kits later this week which will include latex gloves, sanitising sprays, hand sanitisers and facemasks to ensure that when we do return to football the risks to our players and our staff is kept to an absolute minimal.

As well as the guidance and the COVID kits we have also sent out a self-certification to all of our parents. This form has to be completed before players can return to any form of training and on the form are a number of statements which players must agree to before they can complete the form.

These statements include –

• Confirmation that the Return to Play Guidance has been seen and understood
• Players do not have any underlying health conditions
• The player or immediate family has not been in contact with anybody with COVID 19 or somebody displaying symptoms in the last 14 days. If they have then the player must self-isolate for 14 days before returning to training.
• If a player or immediate family member is currently shielding then the player should nor return to training in Phase 1
• If a player has not been social distancing for whatever reason then they should maintain the correct social-distancing for 14 days before attending a training session.

Only when the player can answer YES to all of the questions above can they return to any Junior Blades sessions.

Football will return and it is important that when it does return all of our players and families are able to enjoy it. There is no need to rush back to training. There is no need to put yourselves or others in unnecessary danger or risk. There is no pressure from the Club, managers, coaches, other players or parents to return too quickly. Please only return when you are comfortable with the guidance and processes in place and you also meet all of the “rules” described above.Not attending sessions in the First Phase will not affect your child’s place in the Club. It will not impact on their future next season. Catching the virus will however so prioritise your child’s safety over everything else. Ensure that if you do return to training that you follow the guidance given. Police the guidance as well and ensure others are following the guidance. If everybody follows the same rules and principles the risks to everyone will be as minimal as possible. The quicker we all do this then the quicker we return but taking the necessary precautions the sooner normality will return and the sooner competitive football will begin.Safety is the number one priority !! Protect yourself and others first then consider returning to the sessions.

If you have any queries, worries, concerns at all please contact the Club. Nathan our Welfare Officer or myself will gladly answer anything you would like to discuss. Please email info@juniorblades.co.uk with your contact details and we will get back to you as soon as we can

Chris Slack
Club Chairman on behalf of the Junior Blades Managers, Coaches and Committee

Kobi Myrie is 8 years old and plays for my Junior Blades football team. In his spare time, he has made more than 70 keyrings to raise money for NHS workers and has so far raised over £150 for the NHS by selling the keyrings, which take roughly 20 minutes to make.

The 8-year-old was motivated to raise money for workers because his mum works at an NHS pharmacy.

Kobi’s mum, Maria, has been helping to deliver the keyrings to people, by leaving them on their doorstep, while on her essential journey to work

Chris Slack, Bradwell Skip Director, had this to say about Kobi-

“I’m very proud of Kobi and his efforts and to say thank you we have ordered NHS key rings for all of our drivers and we are making a £200 donation towards his fundraising efforts.

£150 will be going to the Sheffield Childrens Hospital and £50 will be going to Kobi to treat himself to some new football boots or maybe a bunch of flowers for his mum !!”

If anybody would be interested in a key ring then please get in touch at info@bradwellskips.co.uk and we will pass any orders on for you. There is no set cost for the keyrings but Kobi and Maria have asked for people to donate to an NHS charity. 

Our U9 managers spent 6 hours last week,visiting all of their players to drop off their end of season mementos.

Each player received a framed and customised lego figure that was decked out in the Junior Blades kit.

Here is a photo of all the players with their figures, and the smile on their faces show that the gesture from the managers was a big hit.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We are really pleased to announce that the Junior Blades are looking to get a Girls Academy up and running for the 2020/21 season.

We are still finalising the details but we have training slots booked in and we are working hard behind the scenes to get the girls section up and running as soon as possible.

The aim is to create an Academy for 10-14 year olds that offers two training sessions per week. One session will be on Wednesday nights 7-8pm at St Georges Graves, Norton, Sheffield and the second session will be on a Saturday (time and venue tbc).

These Girl sessions will be open to all 10-14 year olds, even if you are registered with other clubs. We are looking at offering top quality coaching to develop the ladies game and the individual players rather than having our own team playing in the league.

We are currently in discussions with Sheffield United Ladies to work with their setup to offer the Girls a clear pathway from grassroots football into the professional game.

The exact details etc are still be confirmed. COVID 19 has caused numerous delays but as restrictions start to be lifted we are expecting things to move very quickly going forward.

If you are at all interested please email info@juniorblades.co.uk and our coaching team will add you to the mailing list and send you information as and when we have it.

We are recruiting players for the 2020/2021 season and looking for players for all of our age groups.

For the 2020/21 season we have the following teams taking part.

• U7 – Manager details to be confirmed
• U8 – Levan Reid 07762 100092
• U9 – Chris Slack 07766 333376
• U10 – Layen Wisdom 07557 794386
• U11 – Ryan Perkins 07921 811447
• U12 – Paul Whitby 07833 897140
• U13 – Nathan Flatley 07432 290992
• U14 – Jay Downes 07456 499199
• U18 – Jamie Kay 07876 522955
• U21 – Stuart Brear 07525 357756
• Ladies Academy (more info to be released soon)

Please contact the managers direct for more information on when trials will be taking place.

If you’d prefer to contact us via email – info@juniorblades.co.uk and the relevant manager will get back to you.

We are actively recruiting an U7 manager. If anybody is interested in volunteering then please get in touch either via info@juniorblades.co.uk or contact Chris on 07766 333376.

The Junior Blades would like to thank legendary football commentator, Clive Tyldesley for a fantastic video Q&A session with our football coaches and friends.

Clive spent 90 minutes fielding questions from the JB coaches and answered everything thrown at him. The stories, answers and insights were really interesting and entertaining and the Club would really like to thank Clive for taking the time to speak to us.

We’d also like to thank our current U12 manager and Club Welfare Officer, Nathan Flatley who has been the organiser of not just this Q & A session for a number of others to keep our Club and players occupied during lockdown.

So far Nathan has managed to get the following football characters to give up their time and entertain our Club members

• Rene Meulensteen
• Paddy Kenny
• Keith Gillespie
• Chris Morgan
• Miguel Llera
• Dwight Yorke

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Each one has been a fantastic experience for the players and coaches involved and we are really hoping that Nathan can keep them coming over the coming weeks and months while the season is currently on lockdown.

Check out more about the Junior Blades at www.juniorblades.co.uk

Following a successful first year sponsoring a Junior Blades team, Bradwell Skips have kindly agreed to extend their current sponsorship agreement.

Bradwell Skips branding will adorn the Junior Blades U9 shirts for the 2020/21 season as well as having an advertising hoarding on display at St Georges Graves, the home ground for the Blades.

We thank Bradwells for their continued support and appreciate their commitment to the Club despite the current Covid 19 disruptions.

Please support our sponsors – if you need a skip give Bradwells a call on 0114 2442489 or order online at www.bradwellskips.co.uk

If you are a local business and like Bradwells want to get involved with the Club then please email info@juniorblades.co.uk and we’ll let you know whats available.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Last weekend the Junior Blades were in Cup action.

The U7 and U9 were Cup winners while the the U8 and U8 Reds both came second and earned silver medals.

Big well done to all the younger sections of the Club who took part.

The games were played in the right spirit and all three teams that took part in the Cup finals for each age group were a credit to their individual Clubs.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•