Kids from the Furness area have been taking to the pitch with former Barrow AFC striker Jason Walker for his new football academy’s first-ever Summer Holiday Camp at Parkside GGI Academy.
Walker played for the Bluebirds across two spells and scored their winning goal in their 2010 FA Trophy victory against Stevenage. He is currently on the books Northern Premier League club Lancaster City.
The 35-year-old set up the JW9 Football Academy last month, with the aim of offering children weekly training sessions.
This week, they have been running a week of football and multi-sports for children aged 4-11 from 10am-3pm with help from Ryan Rogers.
Walker said: “We’ve had a really good reception. The course is fully booked, and the kids have been really enjoying it. It’s really positive to see the kids getting involved with the sport and having fun in the fresh air.”
The camp has had around 30 children per day, ten of which are girls, and they are from a variety of schools around Barrow.
Walker mentioned how obesity is a growing concern in young children and said: “It’s important to make sure children are getting enough exercise and spending time outdoors, rather then being glued to their iPads.
“Our sessions are all about letting the kids have a bit of fun whilst staying active and promoting a healthy lifestyle.” Walker went head-to-head with his former team on Tuesday night when Lancaster face AFC in a pre-season friendly.
The JW9 Football Academy has weekly sessions planned at Parkside, where Walker works, starting on Monday, September 9 for kids aged 3-11
The six-week course will cost only £24 for all sessions. The training has four time slots for the different age groups, with the under-5s being from 4:30pm-5:15pm and under-7s, under-9s and under-11s all following with one-hour sessions.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here