What started with a football on a family holiday has grown into two junior football teams, plenty of weekends on the touchline and a sponsorship connection between Karas Plating and Hindley Town.
Karas is sponsoring two Hindley Town junior teams this season, the Hindley Town U12s Amazons and Hindley Town Valhallas U8s. There is a particularly personal connection behind the sponsorship. Griff, who works in the production team at Karas Plating, has kids playing for both teams and also coaches them.
For Griff, football has always been a big part of life. “I’ve played football all my life,” he explains.
His daughter’s introduction to the sport, however, happened almost by chance while the family were on holiday. “There was a football there, so I told my little girl to go in net,” says Griff. “She started saving all the shots she faced, and I thought, I’ve found a keeper.”
“We’d previously tried rugby and gymnastics, but she didn’t like them. I asked her, ‘Do you fancy football?’ She gave it a try and she loves it.”
From that holiday kickabout, his daughter went on to play for the Hindley Town U12s Amazons, with Griff becoming involved as a coach.
From one team to two
Seeing his older sister playing football soon caught the attention of Griff’s younger son. “My little boy got a bit jealous with his sister playing football,” Griff laughs. “He wanted to play football too.”
So that is exactly what he did, helping to create a team for his son and taking on another coaching role with the Hindley Town Valhallas U8s.
Alongside working at Karas and coaching two football teams, Griff and his family have also recently welcomed a new baby. “Plus, I’ve got my football too and a newborn baby at the same time,” he says.
How Karas became involved
The connection with Karas came about naturally through Griff. When the opportunity arose to find a sponsor for his daughter’s team, he approached Karas Plating Managing Director Alan Pennington to see whether the company would be interested.
“I just went to Alan and asked him if he fancied sponsoring,” Griff explains.
The sponsorship helps provide the players with their team rain jackets, giving every child in the squad a coat that they can wear for training and on match days.
For a grassroots football team, support like this helps provide the equipment that allows the children to turn up together as a team, whatever the Greater Manchester weather decides to do.
Getting ready for the new season
Both teams are currently going through their pre-season fixtures ahead of the new campaign. The U8s have started positively, with one win and one draw, and still have several friendlies to play whilst U12s have so far drawn one and lost one during pre-season, with the competitive season due to begin shortly.
What started with trying to find something his daughter would enjoy has become something the whole family is involved in. His daughter found a sport she loves, his son followed her into football, and Griff now spends his time off helping both teams develop.
Karas Plating is delighted to be able to play a small part in that story and to support two local Hindley Town teams as they head into their new season.
We wish the Hindley Town U12s Amazons and Hindley Town Valhallas U8s the very best of luck for the season ahead. If anyone wants to sponsor, they can get in touch.