Where nearly everyone starts
Turn Up Tuesdays
Seven o'clock every Tuesday. No squads, no sign-up and no standard. Small games on half a pitch, then tea on the bench.
Turn Up Tuesdays is exactly what it says. Arrive at Cae Dderwen at seven, in whatever you have got, and join in. Twenty minutes of gentle warming up and passing, then small games that change every ten minutes, so you never spend long being marked by the same teenager.
Most people who come have not touched a ball for years, and a good number never did at school because girls weren't allowed. The group runs from women of nineteen to women of sixty-eight, with a wide range of fitness. Coaches keep an eye on who has been on the ball and make sure you get it.
Nobody needs boots for the first month. Trainers are fine on the grass unless it is wet, and we have a box of spare boots in most sizes. Every session finishes by eight, and the tea is on until half past.
Tuesdays run all year, including over the summer and all through the winter, when you will be under the lights with mud to the knee. In a very bad frost we go to the hall in Pentre. We text everybody by five.
What you get
- An hour's football every Tuesday from 7pm
- Coaches who pick the sides so nobody else has to
- Bibs, balls, spare boots and spare shin pads
- Tea, and quite often cake
- A WhatsApp group for lifts, if you want it
What it costs
First month free, then £3 on the night or in your membership. All the prices are on the sessions page, and come and try will tell you where to start.
Questions about turn Up Tuesdays
What if I am the worst one there?
You will not be. That job has been taken since 2014, and she will tell you so herself.
Do I have to run?
Not if you do not want to. Plenty of women walk the first month, and nobody has ever said a word about it.
What about my knees?
Bring them. Tell the coach what is wrong with them. If they are too sore for Tuesdays, walking football on a Friday morning may be what you want.
Turn up on Tuesday. That is genuinely the whole plan.
Seven o'clock at Cae Dderwen, in whatever you have got. Your first month costs nothing. Bethan will find you at the gate, and nobody will ask you what position you played in 2004.