SUMMER football has arrived at St Bernard’s School as Barrow AFC Community began the holidays with a week of fun action.

Over the past few days, youngsters aged between five and 11 have been flocking to the sun-drenched – or rain-drenched, depending on the unpredictable weather – school fields to enjoy their favourite games.

Boys and girls, kitted out in shirts from their favourite clubs – Everton, Liverpool and Barrow among them, as well as one youngster causing confusion by wearing a Manchester City jersey and carrying and Manchester United bag – spread out over the lush green grass engaged in days of activity.

With coaches Marc McAloone, Brad Hubbold, Matty Taylor and Jamie Hodgson in charge, the children worked on their skills and took part in fun exercises and matches.

With upwards of 30 kids involved, they were split into three age groups, each working in a way suited to their experience and abilities – the youngest on fun-oriented games and the older children on matches designed to work their brains and further develop their tactics and awareness.

Among each group, there were shouts of encouragement as other youngsters took part in individual or team drills. McAloone was also encouraging them, though his shouts of “Megs” every time a player put the ball through an opponent’s legs were slightly undermined by his own inability to do the same thing on more than one occasion.

McAloone – occasionally stopping to help tie bootlaces – knows a number of the young players taking part through previous AFC Community courses or through their work in local schools, though some of those involved this week have been from Lancaster, Blackburn and even Yorkshire.

He is able to see them developing and having fun, and said: “It has been a great start and hopefully it will carry on like this through the summer.

“We spent all this morning on passing and through the week each morning we will work on a different aspect like dribbling or turning. In the afternoons we will have games and tournaments as well.

“Sometimes we will mix the age groups together, but it’s better when they are apart because the younger players get more touches of the ball, which they wouldn’t get if they were with the older kids. It’s always the dominant players who get the touches, but by splitting them up into age groups, it maximises the touches they all get.

“With the younger ones, it’s not that we are trying to do stuff on the technical side, we want it to be fun – but if they can get a little bit of the technical side out of it, it’s great. But with the older kids, occasionally we will look at decision-making and things like that as well.”

There is a good mix of boys and girls on the fields, with the latter mixing in with the boys or taking part in their own activities depending on the numbers in their own age groups, a sign of the work the club have been doing in the community and in regular sessions through the year.

Next week, Barrow AFC Community will run a multi-sport session at St Bernard’s, with further football camps between Monday, August 15 and Friday, August 19 and Tuesday, August 30 and Friday, September 2.

Girls and boys football will take place at North Walney Junior School from Monday, August 8 until Friday, August 12.

All sessions run between either 9am or 10am and 3pm daily. For more information, call 01229 666011 or email enquiries@ bafccommunity.com