IT IS a time when youngsters should be enjoying their football.
Under 11s, new members of the Huddersfield and District Junior League. But instead of enjoying the experience, youngsters from Overthorpe United are finding Division 4 tough going.
So much so that having lost all of their eight matches and conceded 85 goals, their club officials fear their first League season might be their last.
They say the team is taking a battering and rather than demoralise the children any further they want the league to relegate them. But so far, the club stays where it is with the team being told it will have to battle on to the end of the season.
The last thing anyone wants to do though is give children such a bad experience of sport so early in life that they lose interest. They should be enjoying themselves and whilst they may not win many games no-one wants them to lose so badly that they shatter their self-esteem and their confidence.
Maybe the league needs to look again at this young team and see if anything can be done to help keep them on-side and playing the game they love.
