The brand new state-of-the-art football facility in North East Lincolnshire welcomed over 70 young people to a free football tournament.
The first Fair Play Tournament of the school year, funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, on behalf of Humber Violence Prevention Partnership, was held at Clee Fields on Ladysmith Road on Friday, 6th September.
Teams from organisations across the borough participated, including Cleethorpes Trinity Centre, Fusion Community Hub, YMCA, Centre4, West Marsh Community Centre, Immingham Oasis, Toll Bar Academy and Grimsby Town Foundation.
Each organisation delivers weekly sessions with tournaments held on a bi-monthly basis as part of the Fair Play Football initiative.
The scheme is open to boys and girls age 12 to 19 and is delivered by North East Lincolnshire Council and its partners.
It aims to provide a cost-free opportunity for the younger generation who are signposted via their local schools, the Youth Justice System and the Young People’s Support Service.
In Friday’s tournament, the teams were divided into two leagues with Cleethorpes Trinity Centre being declared eventual winners in a tense final against Fusion Boxing.
CEO of The Trin Centre, Andy Cox, said: “I attended the Fair Play event held at the new YMCA Clee Fields facility on Friday. It was great to see so many teams take part representing youth groups from across North East Lincolnshire.
“This was the fourth event that The Trin have been invited to and this was bar far the biggest and best yet. The standard of football was really high too which is a credit to each of the organisation’s being represented and their coaches.
Clee Fields was opened in August 2024
“I believe that the Fair Play provision is of great value to our community as football is a great engagement activity. For us personally, we run our sessions on a Friday night to provide our young people with access to free football which runs alongside our open access Youth Club.”
He added: “Using data from our local policing team we have managed to demonstrate the positive impact that these sessions are having on anti-social behaviour statistics in our area. This data along with case studies that we have been collecting, allow us to evidence that the work associated with the Fair Play programme is working.”
Community Manager of The Trin Centre, Kerry Hillman, believes Fair play Football is a key initiative that empowers the young people they help.
“For us, it’s about bringing young people together and giving them a purpose and helping them to be the best they can be with the support of their care workers.”
The sessions give those with little to no experience of playing football a chance to have fun as well as benefit physically and mentally.
“It does not matter where these people come from or how good they are, offering these free sessions is great for our local area.”
Speaking about winning the tournament, she said: “This was one of the best competitions we’ve been part of. The competition was really high quality so we were very happy to win the tournament.
“It empowered the young people in the team and gave them more of a purpose to keep playing.”
Councillor Hayden Dawkins, Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and the Visitor Economy, said: “Fair Play Football is an amazing scheme that not only gives the younger generation a hobby, but also improves their physical and mental health.
“It’s wonderful to see the new Clee Fields site used for such a positive event, especially with so many people taking part.
“The Council Plan is focused on protecting and improving the lives of people across the borough, which these initiatives help to achieve. I hope this will continue and provide a basis to improve our younger generations skills in sport for many years to come.”
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