Born too Soon

'Born Too Soon': Adult 6 a-side Charity Football Tournament 2019
Congratulations to the Target Coaches for winning the 'Born Too Soon Charity Football Cup' this year on 27th April, and to the 'Untouchables' for finishing Runners Up. The atmosphere was absolutely brilliant in spite of the windy weather and the Football itself was of a great standard. I'm sure there are a few sore legs today but considering how much we raised, it was well worth it. Thank you to the 15 teams who participated and to the volunteers who helped referee the matches, run the stalls and man the BBQ. Unfortunately this year we had one team who did not turn up on the day which meant the teams in that league were given automatic wins so that the tournament wasn’t disrupted too much. An extra thank you to Tom Radford who kindly helped set up the bouncy castle and stayed to clear up, all who donated cakes to sell, and to Nat Fleming who kindly held his own cake sale prior to the day and raised £19 towards the Charity! Our total raised for 'Born Too Soon' this year was an amazing £2305!! This figure will make a huge difference to the Kingston Hospital Neonatal Unit and we couldn't have done it without you. A reporter for The South West Londoner newspaper was present on the day covering the event and held interviews with families who have had babies benefit from the charity, including our own. We look forward to seeing you all next year!

'Born Too Soon': Adult 6 a-side Charity Football Tournament 2018
This years charity adult football tournament 'The Born Too Soon Cup' in aid of Kingston Hospitals Neonatal Unit, was yet again a huge success. We want to thank all 15 teams who entered and a massive congratulations to the Cup Winners 'Pique Blinders' and the Runners Up 'Harper United'. We also want to thank the people who volunteered their time on the day to help make a great amount of money. We are especially grateful to Pauline Woods (founder of Born Too Soon) who made an appearance at the event and came to show her support. So far we have raised £2,000 with donations still coming in. Everyone had a fun and memorable day and we are looking forward to next years event already!

'Born Too Soon': Adult 6 a-side Charity Football Tournament 2016
Our Born Too Soon Annual adult charity 6 aside football tournament 2016 took place on Sunday 24th April. The day proved to be a huge success with 7 teams on the day. Each team played in a league format, then into the quarter finals, semi finals then the main event the Final. The standard once again was very high with every team giving their all. This years final was played between Target Older coaches V Toyota FC with Toyota winning in the end by 3 goals to 1. The day also had a fantastic atmosphere with support from many friends and family members cheering on the side lines. The cake sale run by one of daughters from Molesely Mavericks FC was a huge success raising over £100 and the Target Cafe made £160 on the day. Once all donations and entry fees were calculated the final amount raised on the day was £900!!!. A big thank you to everyone who made the day so wonderful, your kindness I'm sure will go along way to supporting our fantastic charity Born too Soon and the wonderful work they do.

Michael Branch & Abigail Fog

'Born Too Soon': Adult 5 a-side Charity Football Tournament 2014
This year’s charity adult 5 aside football tournament in aid of ‘Born Too Soon’ took place on April 26th at Raynes Park Sports Ground. We had 12 teams enter this year which we split into three leagues. The winning teams from each league then went into the semi-finals plus the best placed runner up across the three leagues. Both semi-finals were tight games with both Target Sports Coaching teams making it through to the final. In the final the younger Target coaches team (Target Tots) started the stronger but the older coaches team (Target Ball Teasers) managed to keep them at bay. The game then turned on its head with Target Ball Teasers scoring three quick break away goals. The second half was much the same with Target Ball Teasers allowing the Tots to have possession and then catching them on the break, scoring two more goals. The Tots then fought back scoring three goals late on but was not enough to stop Target Ball Teasers who became the tournament winners. The day as a whole had a great atmosphere with lots of friends & family coming along to support the players. The weather was fantastic and there was a high standard of matches throughout. We managed to raise a £1000 which included team entry fees, generous individual donations and profits from the Target Cafe which will help support what is a great Charity. A big thank you to all who attended and help make the day a great success. We look forward to next year’s tournament which will hopefully be bigger and raise even more money for ‘Born Too Soon’.

'Born Too Soon': Adult 5 a-side Charity Football Tournament 2012
On 20th October 2012 Target Sports Coaching held an adult 5 a-side football tournament for parents of the children who attend our coaching courses. It was held at Raynes Park Sports Ground between 1 - 6pm and was attended by over 200 people and 14 teams were entered (including a Target coaches team) in order to help raise funds for 'Born Too Soon'. The charity provides state of the art equipment and special touches for families whose babies are either born premature or ill at Kingston Hospital Neonatal Unit, and can help make life easier during such a frightening time. The chosen charity is extremely close to our hearts as our daughter Georgia (pictured above) was born 10 weeks early weighing just 2lb 14oz. She is now doing amazingly well with no signs of her premature entrance to this world.We wanted a way of thanking the staff and neonatal unit for all their help we received and thought a fundraiser through a football tournament would be a great way to do so. The day raised over £1,500 and everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed themselves. A children's bouncy castle, an inflatable speed cage & Target Cafe were also running on the day, where all takings were put towards to final total raised. We would like to thank everybody who was involved on the day, and a special thank you to all the volunteers who helped us make the occasion memorable and a huge success.

Diary of Target, in partnership with Footsteps, in Kenya.

DAY 1 Saturday 12th August
We arrived at Heathrow at 6.30am, and were instructed to wait outside the terminal for an hour due to the recent bomb threats. Once let inside the terminal, it was rammed. There were policemen with guns everywhere, and the whole atmosphere felt edgy. We finally got booked in and put our bags through about 8am. More queuing followed for at least another hour just to get ‘air side’; we all got searched top to toe.Arrived at Nairobi airport, relieved that the journey had gone quite quickly, and proceeded to sort out the paperwork for our visas.
We met Tony, who founded the Footsteps Charity, and he took us to our cab outside. A worn Nissan truck was waiting, old, rusty and not very safe. As we were loading our bags, a Kenyan approached me, he put out his hand, so I shook it and said hello. Tony hurriedly told me to jump in the van as he was actually after my money.
The journey to the hotel was about 40 minutes and felt incredibly strange. The surroundings were really built up with flat roads at first, then suddenly became bare the further we got.
When we arrived, armed guards took us to our hotel. It really felt strange being the only white people around and witnessing their reactions to us. We dumped our bags and went down to the bar; getting to sleep at around 2am (taxis beeped their horns continuously outside the hotel in Nairobi).

DAY 2 Sunday 13th August
I woke up at 8.30am with a loud bang on the door for breakfast downstairs. Afterwards we put our bags in the safe room and headed out.
The streets were mental and very different to what I was used to seeing. We definitely stuck out like sore thumbs and was an odd feeling. Everywhere you looked people were either begging or trying to sell something. The streets were very dirty and dry. The cars on the roads had no rules at all to follow, the bravest always pushing their way through first. It looked like a kind of controlled mayhem.
We arrived at an old looking building where a small, yet invaluable internet café had been set up. It had about 20 computers and chairs, but no room to swing a cat. We sent our messages to home, and left to experience the other side of Nairobi. The difference in living conditions was astonishing. Men wearing suits and ties, driving nice cars and going to work in extravagant buildings.
We all went to the Hilton Hotel and is where I first met James. He was a young, well dressed black man, with the biggest smile I think I have ever seen. James actually runs the internet café for Footsteps and was so welcoming.
After the meet and greet we had to return to out hotel to collect our bags. We re-loaded them, under the guards watch, in to a small rusty mini-bus and 30 minutes later were back at Nairobi airport ready for the final leg of the journey.
Once we had all booked in, we proceeded through to the departure lounge. There were two waiting rooms available. One was full of well dressed people, men and women, and the other was our room. After 5 minutes we noticed that the ‘business class’ room was showing the Charity Shield football match, so I asked the security guard if we could go through. He gave me a big smile and said Jamba (welcome).
When we saw our plane come in, our hearts sank. The 60 seater was so old looking and not good for those already suffering from a fear of flying. However, the flight was only 40 minutes long and I managed to sleep most of the way.
When we arrived at Kisumo, the Airport terminal was no larger than the ground floor of our house at home. We waited outside to collect our luggage and watched an amazing sun set. We met another Toni, he was our taxi driver, and again the transport was shocking. We drove for about 20 minutes through some of the worst places I have ever seen. Small shack type shelters erected everywhere, and the conditions were so poor that most children did not own clothes. There was rubbish everywhere which, contributed to the strong stench in the air. Some were even collecting the junk in order to sell it for a tiny amount, storing and then carrying it on their heads to enable them to carry it for miles. It really did make me feel thoroughly sick as I reflected on how we live and what we have compared to this.
The 1* hotel in Kisumo wasn’t too bad. Its’ tiny rooms had a basin, a shower and could at least have a shower with warm water (the hotel in Nairobi had no running hot water). We met up with the other charity workers in the bar, who had already been in Africa for a week, and all seemed really nice with stories to tell about their trip so far. After a quick beer we all got back in to the battle tank and headed off for dinner.
Dinner was fine but did take over an hour to arrive, even though the place wasn’t busy. We spoke about the plans for the following day and I had to explain to the group what we were intending to do with the children so, I ran through the session planners I had prepared. Everyone seemed to like and understand our ideas and said they were looking forward to the kids running to fresh faces for a change, rather than them continually getting mobbed.
I got to bed earlier tonight, at about 11 pm, as the traveling was beginning to wear me out.

DAY 3 Monday 14th August
It took a while longer to answer the door this morning as I got stuck in my mosquito net. Due to the high risk of malaria, I made a thorough attempt to keep mozzies from getting in by tucking the net securely all the way round my bed, but this also prevented me from getting out easily in the morning.
After breakfast, we traveled 40 minutes to the school. It, again, was a culture shock. So many tiny shacks at the side of the road, all trying to sell anything they had. The roads were impossible with huge pot holes to contend with. We turned off the ‘main road’ on to a dirt track. It was bumpy with even more pot holes. Five minutes of being thrown all over the place, we saw some old tin shacks, we had arrived.
Forty children were waiting outside to greet us all singing and dancing their hearts out; what an amazing welcome. As we left the van, the children ran towards us, smelling and touching us. The feelings were immense and nothing like I had ever experienced before. We were introduced to the Head. He gave me a cuddle and asked us to join him in his office (literally holding my hand all the way)! He said a prayer to wish us a safe stay and were then shown around the school grounds. There were 4 buildings for their new classrooms and a new herbal garden, to teach the children about their surrounding plants. This was mainly for medicinal purposes and I later realized that most minor ailments, such as nausea, were often treated by using a remedy from the garden.
Once I had explained the sporting plan of action for the week, we headed out on to the field. It was huge with shrub boundaries yet full of rubble. We cleared much of it so that we could mark certain areas out with cones. Every move the coaches made, the children followed. Ninety children must have been surrounding us at one point, and we were only marking out the pitches. They were just fascinated, and best of all, eager to get on.
The teacher introduced me to my assistant called Victor while, the other coaches began their sessions. Victor (19yrs) was a well spoken and friendly Kenyan man. I guided him through the plan I had bought with me and also gave him a Future Pro T-Shirt. The joy and gratitude was enormous; big cuddle again!
Victor called the first group of 5 & 6 year olds over. The children were so tiny and very cute. None of them owned a pair shoes and played barefoot on the field. They were wearing whatever they could to look presentable but all managed to participate without a care in the world. An hour long session has never passed so quickly.
After lunch we took the older group of 13 & 14 year olds. These children understood more English and we could therefore communicate with them a little better. Some of the children were very tall, towering over me but some of the children were incredibly small. I was informed that this was a common result of the prevalent AIDS disease.
Today were definitely the best football sessions I have ever taken. I even had to participate throughout because it was so much fun. Another memorable experience from today was the crowd. Many children and adults stood and watched each lesson, as many as 200 at some points, all eager to watch the proceedings. We really needed some sort of crowd control as balls were being nabbed by older kids! Overall it was a brilliant day. At 3.30pm we stopped, as the mini bus had arrived, and said goodbye followed by 200 hand shakes and hugs. Today was the most rewarding day ever.

DAY 4 Tuesday 15th August
After a shower and breakfast, we took the 40 minute mini bus journey back to the school. We discussed the night before that I was keen on building the school some football goals. Tony said that we could stop off on the way and pick up some timber. After driving for 20 minutes, Mike (Tony’s’ dad) & I jumped out at the ‘timber yard’ which, was actually a small metal shack with odds and sods outside, and all the different types of wood you could need. It took 10 minutes to locate the type of wood that we wanted and then loaded it on to the roof rack.
Arrived at the school and began the first session with the 5 & 6 year olds. We attempted to play stuck in the mud with footballs as a warm up however, all of the children just stood still! After some more demos and translating, we got going, and they loved it.
All of the children had remembered my name and just kept shouting it out which, they found incredibly funny. We did some passing in the session today and the children picked it up so quickly. Their concentration levels were excellent and all really started to show signs of improvement.
We put the children in to teams, so that we could play some fun matches, but by this time there were again around 200 children spectating. The problem was that older boys from another school began to kick the footballs away and steal the area cones. The teacher had to come over and shout at them but this scenario occurred at least 5 times before the matches could get underway. I understood the boy’s frustrations, in a way. They were not used to events like this taking place, near to where they lived, and just wanted to be part of the action. We therefore decided today that it would be fairer to distribute our 80 footballs that we had brought between the local schools (5 each), instead of giving them all to the children of just one school. We finally played the matches and everyone had great fun with lots of smiling and laughing. Once we had finished, I got all of the children from both groups to sit together for a photograph. When we were ready, we did a demo of 1, 2, 3, cheese, and they all copied intently. Their urgency to see themselves back, once the photo had been taken, was strong, all individually pointing out their friends’ faces as well as their own.
During the lunch break the Head Teacher approached me with a large man called Peter. The head told me that he was an ex Kenyan International football player and that he was thoroughly grateful and very happy for the coaching that we have been doing, even offering to help out himself. I can’t believe I’m coaching with an ex-pro who has played against Brazil!
The second session was again the older children who were all noticeably taller than me. Some of the children were amazing and posses such natural ability, so regrettably I decided to play in the match at the end of the day. After 5 minutes of pure fun, Peter found it hard to resist, and also joined in with the game. The children didn’t hold back, incredibly fast with strong tackles. I even fell over, to the hilarious delight of the kids, but before I knew it, 10 children were all trying to help me up again. This really is the most rewarding experience ever; such fantastic children who are dramatically yet surprisingly easier to coach than those at home in England.
After lunch, Mike introduced me to the local carpenter. I explained my ideas about the football posts and what exactly it was that we wanted, including the exact measurements. We collected the timber, with the ongoing help of at least 30 children, and began to dig the holes for the goals and sawing the wood to the correct heights. Twenty minutes later and we had the perfect goal. We had to leave the second post, as we needed to collect more timber, so said that we would return tomorrow with more.
There were 2 more coaching sessions in the afternoon (30 kids in each) but these children had come from a different local school. Again they were fantastic and a real pleasure to teach. After the session we were hot, shattered and incredibly dusty. We ventured inside one of the new classrooms where Suzanne (also founder of Footsteps) was painting the walls with the children, using their feet to make prints of ‘footsteps’. A little boy named Kevin (6 yrs) decided that he wanted to paint my feet. I could not stop laughing throughout and neither could he. We then crawled over to the wall and placed my painted foot upon it. Kevin decided that I wasn’t doing it right and, still laughing his head off, pushed my foot harder against the wall. By this time the mini bus had arrived, so we got our feet cleaned and jumped in, after completing another 200 ‘high fives’.

DAY 5 Wednesday 16th August
Woke up at 7am to the sound of a cockerel screaming its head off.
Once at the school we set up for the session but noticed that Victor was not there. I asked Monica, the Deputy Head, where he was and she told me that he had a few family problems and would probably be in a bit later. The first group of children came running over to where we had set up, all now chanting “football”, “football”. Again the children were barefooted with few clothes, if they did posses any they were worn and ripped. I told the Head boy what we intended to do for the lesson and he translated it to the children. Within seconds they were ready to go, all in a line and 2 in the middle just as we had asked. It was so easy. The lesson was based on Heading & Control, and after a quick demo, they went off to practice in their pairs. They were such good learners and a pure joy to watch.
We repeated the same session for the 8 & 9 year olds and were noticeably better than most children of that age in England, even the girls excelled.
At lunchtime I decided to lie down for while outside in the shade. Within 10 minutes I had around 30 children sitting next to me, all starring intently with their big white eyes and huge grins. When the school bell rang, they shot off to line up for class. I have never seen so many children with such respect for their elders.
Push bikes were the chosen transport to get to dinner tonight. A driver at the front and a padded seat for you to perch on at the back. It was a very entertaining experience, one that would have been more enjoyable if it hadn’t given me such painful leg cramp. Laughing turned in to fear when we realized that these bikes tended to race each other on the scary, rule less roads.

DAY 6 Thursday 17th August
We left for the school this morning and were waved off by a little African girl who couldn’t have been any older than 2 years old. She was so gorgeous with shiny white teeth, sparkly eyes and little braids in her hair. As we waved back from our seats in the bus, she suddenly got really shy and ran off.
We also stopped off to pick the rest of the timber up today. I jumped out with the driver and walked over to another little timber yard, again with various types of wood for sale. As soon as the owner saw us (2 white men), he called his men and 5 came running to greet us. There were hand shakes all round, big smiles and genuinely really friendly. He asked what it was we were looking for and had sorted out in seconds. We had to haggle slightly as our driver told me the price was way too much but once we had agreed a price, we had a deal.
We offered the money to the men outside who promptly told us not to give it to them but to instead to wait for ‘Mama’. Mama was an old Kenyan lady with a wrinkled face and dodgy teeth but none the less a real character. She wore a brightly coloured blanket and walked with a stick, and obviously took charge of all money. She slowly approached me but stopped a few yards short, asking me to go to her. Mike ushered me forward and instructed me that because she was the ‘elder’, I had to walk to her in order to pay. This process really showed respect. The trip to the yard made me stop and reflect because just as we were leaving she said to me that they were grateful for our custom because it meant that her ‘family would eat tonight’.
At the school, Magunga Primary, Victor and Eric were already on the field, set up and ready to go. They warily asked whether I minded that they had done this but I was completely chuffed as this was the whole reason for coming. They had looked at my plan and understood it all enough to set the areas up themselves.
Later on the Chairman of the school came over with 4 pupils to ask whether I was ready to make the other goals. He ordered the boys to unload the wood from the bus, gave me a big hug and walked me over to the field to start. It was great fun. They bought over the tools needed for the job and were shockingly hard working. Within 50 minutes we had completed all 4 full sized goals. The Chairman told me that these goals would really be looked after and that the children would get great use from them. He also told me that God had a place for me upstairs because of my generosity; can’t be bad! It really got me what he had said, so I gave him a hug and said thank you.
The sessions were still going well with the children loving every moment, all singing, dancing and generally cheering each other on.
In the afternoon, we set about arranging the mini world cup tournament which, was scheduled for tomorrow and was to be our last day at the school. Seven other schools were coming to play, each bringing 1 boys and 1 girl’s team. When everything was organized, the Head told me that the elder community members, other pupils and the children’s parents were all going to be watching. Around 1,000 people were expected. This information made me obviously a little nervous and couldn’t believe what I was taking on. However, I immediately also got more excited
From the hotel to the Kenyan restaurant in the evening, we used the funniest forms of transport again; push bikes. Racing each other along dusty and bumpy roads made me nearly fall out 2 or 3 times. We ended up coming 5th as our driver had a near miss with a taxi on one of the roundabouts which definitely slowed us down!

DAY 7 Friday 18th August
Left the hotel early this morning as we needed to get to the school in order to set up in time for the tournament. All of the teachers were waiting inside one of the classrooms, so we decided to go over our plans for the day so that everyone understood.
The morning tournament included just the Magunga children (boys & girls between 6 & 10 yrs old), and was fantastic. The children played so well and all had great fun. Everything went according to plan and the teachers were all very impressed.
Towards the end of lunch, we suddenly saw all of the other children and parents from the other competing schools that had all walked miles just to take part. This was a real site, a wall of people all coming to supporting their teams, and the children were keen to start.
The afternoon saw the older children take part in their own tournament. There were 8 boys teams and 8 girls teams in a ‘knock out’ style competition. The finals were electric, with lots of chanting and clapping. The level of football being played was brilliant and all the children that we had been coaching tried really hard to incorporate the skills that we had taught them. The boys and girls teams from Magunga made it through to the final where they both went to penalties. The girls actually won their match and celebrated a 5-3 victory in style with singing and dancing from the crowd. It was the best tournament that I have ever taken part in.
At the end of the day, Magunga School laid on a thank you/ goodbye ceremony in which a prayer of thanks was said to all of the schools who had attended. I was then asked to stand and firstly distribute the footballs we were leaving behind, followed by our football trophies that we were awarding. I sincerely wished that I could’ve given every child a trophy for being so well behaved and motivated.
Before leaving the school one last time, Kevin came running up to me and gave me a big cuddle asking me to remember him and keep in touch. I was choked and seriously close to tears. It was tough leaving all of these people whom I had become close to, especially Victor, Eric and little Kevin. I took some last photos of the kids and told the guys to keep coaching as they had done so well. An emotional time but glad I had done it.
Tonight we flew back to Nairobi and were taken out for a meal by Tony and Suzanne.

DAY 8 Saturday 19th August
Today we went to Nairobi Game National Park. We had to get up at 7am and left the hotel by 7.45am after breakfast. The Safari was excellent. The van we were in had a roof that lifted up to enable you to stand and look out. We traveled around the park for 3 hours and saw some amazing animals close up. I managed to get some great photos and overall had a brilliant experience of the wildlife in Africa.

Target Cup
Raynes Park Sports Ground

May 7th 2010, 10am - 3.00pm
The 'Target Cup' is an annual event that Target Sports Coaching organise where local Kingston & Merton Borough Primary Schools take part in a Year 2, 7 a-side Football Tournament. The day is free of charge and run by our fully qualified coaches who are all CRB checked and first aid trained. The aim is to provide the children with an exciting day of football, the chance to win cups and trophies, and to create a genuinely memorable experience.Many pupils already recieve some kind of football coaching, in or out of school, with little chance to play in matches competitively. Therefore the 'Target Cup' is a great opportunity for children to participate in more competitive matches; and for local school sports coordinators to meet and create links through sport, with the hope of arranging and increasing future match fixtures.

Target Cup League Results 2010

League One

Points

Final Position

Sacred Heart Primary

13

2nd

St Matthews Primary (Tolworth)

12

3rd

Coombe Hill Infant School

15

1st

Grand Avenue Primary

12

3rd

Malden Manor Primary

10

6th

King Athelstan Primary

11

5th

Christ Church C of E Primary

7

7th

Target Cup Semi-Finalists 2010

League Two

Points

Final Position

Wimbledon Ursuline Prep School

15

2nd

St Johns C of E Primary

6

6th

Poplar Primary

10

5th

Green Lane Primary

14

3rd

St Matthews Primary (New Malden)

12

4th

Corpus Christi Primary

18

1st

Tolworth Infant School

5

7th


Coombe Hill Infant School v Wimbledon Ursuline Prep School
Sacred Heart Primary v Corpus Christi Primary School

Target Cup Finalists 2010
Coombe Hill Infant School v Corpus Christi Primary School

Target Cup Winners 2010
Corpus Christi Primary School

"The event this year proved to be a huge success as 14 out of the 20 Schools we invited attended and took part. Over 100 supportive parents & friends arrived to watch which created a fantastic atmosphere.
All children enjoyed the competitiveness of the matches yet still showed great sportsmanship throughout the day. Each School played a minimum of 6 matches to establish who would qualify for the finals. The quality of all the games were high and the effort levels applaudable.
Corpus Christi & Coombe Hill both performed well in the deciding match, exhibiting some great goals and team work. Corpus Christi eventually finished triumphant and became 'Target Cup' Champions!
Target Sports Coaching would like to thank all the Schools who participated in the 'Target Cup' including the Sports Coordinators, Assistants & Voluntary Referees for their valuable help and cooperation. We hope to see you again next year".
(Michael Branch, Director of Target Sports Coaching Ltd)

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