football for toddlers

[vhurleyp]

i have a little boy who seems super super keen in anything football related. Does anyone know of any footie clubs for toddlers at the weekends at all? i'm sure he would have so much fun

[anna_r]

I picked up a leaflet at Jags about a course there. Haven't been yet as my daughter is a little young, but I think she'll love it. I think it was from 18months.

BABY BOOTER'S - DROP IN SESSIONS - Football & Ball skills for Toddlers aged 1 to 4 yrs

- 11.00am - 12noon Sports Hall every Saturday & Sunday morning - ?3.00 per session

http://www.jagssportsclub.co.uk/termcourses.asp

[vhurleyp]

thanks anna will look into this straight away

i had wondered about jags as another friend had said the pool and swimming classes were good. are you a member?

[Pickle]

Little Kickers is great - both my son (3.5) and daughter (2) go to their classes in West Dulwich on Saturday mornings and love it.

[vhurleyp]

thanks pickle little kickers looks great have joined the waiting list!

top tip thank you

[prdarling]

My boys go to Jags. It's ?3 per child and there's no obligation to sign up for any period of time which is perfect for us as we are often busy on a Saturday.

We did do Little Kickers in East Dulwich but it's really expensive - about ?7 per session and although the boys enjoyed it, I found that they crammed an outrageous number of kids into the church hall where it was based. The kids kept banging into each other and there was loads of waiting around while each kid had a chance to shoot a penalty - my 2 year old was bored stiff and kept wandering off.

Also I found their admin really annoying. They have a "hotline" which is basically sonmeone's home phone and is NEVER answered. You simply can't in touch with them straight away, unless they are trying to get you to sign up for the next block of lessons, when suddenly they are on the phone all the time. We did the 8.30am session on a Saturday morning and at least once every 4 weeks the teacher didn't turn up till 8.45, which was infuriating in itself but horrendous in the winter when we were waiting outside and the "hotline" remained unanswered. One Saturday all the parents showed up at the crack of dawn to find a notice on the gate to say they had been evicted from the premises for not paying their rent. Imagine my delight on a snowy Saturday morning with a disappointed 2 year old.

Personally I think Little Kickers is a great concept but, in my experience a shambolic organisation and actually a huge waste of money when there are other clubs which do the same job for half the price

[charlottep]

prdarling could you tell me what time the session is at JAGs and from what age children can join pls? My 2 year old would love to do something like that. Thanks!

[pebbles]

JAGS also sounds like a fabulous option cos although we are still happy with Little Kickers however we inevitably get booked up on a Sat and can't make it. Just looked on JAGS website and it looks like it's from 4 upwards which is too old for us - prdarling -can you confirm this age - thanks

[pebbles]

Pls ignore my last message - have just reread the website adn it looks like there is also a footy course for 1-4 yr olds - yipeee

[pebbles]

me again!!!! i know i could just phone them up so sorry for all these questions - can non members pay that amount and still take their kids?

[curlykaren]

yes, I too was wondering if these sessions are open to non-members??

prdarling, thanks for the info re little kickers, after reading this thread I emailed to put sons name down, I might try and see if they will let us do a taster session first to see if it as you describe. Thanks

[sj]

Yes non members can go. It is a turn up, pay znd play club so fees due if you don't go. It is the same ?4 to members and non members. We have been going for 4 years and my now 8 year old still loves it. The coaches are really great- lots of fun, fair and inclusive. Have never done the toddler group but it is run by the same bunch so am confident it would also be good. The older childrens session is 9-1030 every Saturday. They also run full days in half terms and holidays.

[prdarling]

Hi all

Jags does have a session for little ones. My sons go at 11am on a Sat and they are 2 and a half and 4 years old. We are non members and it costs ?3 per child.

Curlykaren re LK I'm sure it depends where you go. We were doing the East Dulwich gropu at 8.30am on a Saturday morning which was initially in St Peter's church hall on Friern Rd which was a nice big space, but then it got moved to the East Dulwich Community Cntre on Darrell Rd which has 2 pillars in the middle of the room and is totally rubbish for little boys to run arond in The EDCC has outside space so now it's summer they may be outside. In the winter though, with 2 teachers, 20 kids and 20 Dads and the odd sibling/mum and newborn at the side of the room (which was scarcely bigger than my knocked through living room/dining room) it was an annoying waste of everyone's time. I think they have another venue on Rosendale Road. When they were on the phone trying to get me to sign up again and I was complaining about the lack of space on Darrell Rd, this option was suggested to me but the LK franchisee couldn't even tell me where it was and suggested I could google it.... I think it was at this point that I realised there must be other organistaions out there who don't completely take the piss out of their customers and that was the end of our relationship!

[Pickle]

We go to Little Kickers on Rosendale Road and the venue is fab, large airy room, heaps of room, doesn't feel crowded at all. Sounds like it's by far the better option compared to the East Dulwich venue.