Who are We?
We are Barnsley Sports Academy, under 15’s boys. We are in the Sheffield and District junior league, one of the biggest junior leagues in the country. We were a brand new team, 9 months ago and have just completed our first season together! It is a very unique situation to have a brand new team that have never played together before, usually the odd players leave their clubs and are replaced with others. We were put into a really high division, and have suffered large losses every game. Yet each of the lads continue to turn up and try their hardest, with a smile on their faces, which is very hard when you are losing 28-0 most weeks
Why? Because these lads love football and will do anything to be part of a team
Why are we crowdfunding?
Running a football team has so many hidden costs. We have raised enough money for kits for the lads last season. What we are desperate for is some help towards the running costs of the team.
Referees come at a cost of £35 per match lines people are the same price , there’s an average of 22 matches each season
Footballs come at a cost of £10+ each and having our ground at the side of a railway track, means we go through a lot of balls each season
We would love to raise some funds for a presentation evening for the lads, with some trophies and medals
We would also love to be able to send the lads on a team building day, so they can enjoy getting to know each other
We do as much fundraising as possible, raffles, football cards, prize draws etc, but the money we make doesn’t touch the sides to keep the team going
We are a team in Barnsley, which unfortunately is one of the most deprived areas in the country, we are doing everything to keep our team going to give the lads something to be proud of being a part of, and helping them keep fit and keep out of trouble
We have some lads that have never played in a football team before, we have lads with disabilities and additional needs, which have been treated disgracefully at other teams
The one thing they all have in common is they love football and want to play for their team
It would be really great if we could raise money to put one of our lads on a training course to be a referee, this would save us money in the long run, but again the opportunity comes at a cost
Us parents are doing everything in our power to keep this team together, and playing football, we just can’t make enough money ourselves to achieve this
This is why we are asking anyone who can help to t support us in our 2025/2026 season ahead
If you're applying for extra funding, this is a good place to demonstrate why your project is eligible so refer back to the criteria to help complete this section
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How we’ll spend the money raised
As I’ve mentioned in the previous section, any money raised would be to benefit our lads in various ways
Referee’s - £35 per match
Lines person - £35 a match x 2
Footballs @ £10 each ( 20 per season)
Entry into football league and tournaments - £200
Kits when they have grown out of these ones - £500
Referee training course - £140
Presentation evening and trophies - £75
Team building day - £100
Council pitch fees - £80
Extra training sessions - £35 per hour
Raffle prizes approx - £6 per match
We are lucky that we are not a stand alone club, so there is no money needed for insurances etc
All the coaches and parents offer their services free of charge
Community impact
This team is so important for our community it is helping keep teenagers on the straight and narrow and give them a purpose in life, teaching them important skills
As I have mentioned, Barnsley is extremely deprived, so even getting kids out of the house is an achievement
This is especially important for my son who has several disabilities and has struggled to feel part of a team, in the few years he has been playing football
He has been treated really badly at other teams due to his disabilities
For him to feel at home and part of a team is amazing, hence why I am trying so hard to keep the team going
I just can’t afford to do it without help
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!