Board24 have sponsored local youth football team Bardon Eagles for two years and after last season was cut short due to Covid-19, we are pleased to announce Board24 have agreed to sponsor them for another year. Not only that, but Board24 have agreed to donate the much needed sanitiser and sanitising equipment to ensure that they can return to their training as safely as possible.

The Bardon Eagles have been given the go ahead to resume their training ready for the new season and are prepared to open next week, now that their required risk assessments have been completed.

Mark Butler, Board24 Corrugator One control room operator, is one of the coaches for the Bardon Eagles and tells us: ”Most of the players are raring to go again and so are the coaches, with being off school, the kids are getting extremely bored, so when I announced we were resuming sessions very soon, it was met with quite a bit of excitement. I have a couple of players that have vulnerable members in their family, so will look forward to seeing them whenever they feel comfortable enough to resume.”

There are a few limitations now in place for sports, which can make it limited to what they can do during training. The teams first focus will be on fitness, after 3 months off, both the team and coaches will need to concentrate on getting back onto form. Mark and the other coaches are currently putting together fitness drills, involving passing and shooting. The footballs used will need to be sanitised after every session, as well as limiting the players to how often they can pick up the ball. They will be spending a lot of time trying to adjust to their new ‘normal’ to make sure that the team is a safe as possible.

Mark says “It will be a challenge, but it will be worth it. I’ve seen a few of the players and parents, and they have been asking for weeks if and when we would be restarting, it will be great to get the lads back together as they are quite a close group. I imagine they are all looking forward to seeing each other again, I guess in their minds it will be one more step closer to normality. Which can only be a good thing, for their physical and mental health.”

Board24 are proud to be sponsoring and helping The Bardon Eagles to get back in the game and wish them luck with their next season.