On Thursday 20th April, the newly founded Planet Penguin Football Foundation charity were proud to launch their 3rd football team, The Brentford Empresses, a 40 years+ women’s walking football club. This team is the latest of Planet Penguin’s quest to build a community that all support each other. The Brentford Penguins Football Club for Player’s with Down’s Syndrome have been going for over 5.5 years and The Brentford Emperors (a Walking Football Club for the over 55s) have been running for over 7 months.
The Women’s team started their journey at Gunnersbury Park Astroturf at 10.30am with 12 players including Rupa Huq MP and Kate Wells from the Middlesex FA in attendance.
Head Coach and Founder, Allan Cockram explained that ‘We are all starting from the beginning in basic football drills and will grow together as a family and a team’. The sessions started with individual introductions, moving on the passing in pairs, then some fun team-bonding games and finally, to top the session off, they had a red ribbon cutting ceremony to launch the Club by Rupa Huq MP.
Allan Cockram was so proud of everyone and the first step is always the hardest when starting something new. Walking Football is such an amazing sport which enables everyone to take part in an equal capacity.
This 3rd team in Planet Penguin’s quest to provide a safe and caring environment for marginalised and often forgotten groups in the community has been a dream of Coach Allan’s for many years and is now realising its reality.
Coach Allan Cockram said ‘I would like to thank everyone from volunteers to supporters who have contributed to making dream happen and now we have the platform to build a community that any society would be proud to call their own’.
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