Earlier this month the European Powerchair Football Association held a referee’s course in preparation for The European Champions Cup in Denmark. The course was 2 days of intense powerchair football designed to put the Referees that had flown in through their paces with players from all over England in attendance.

The event was held at Chosen Hill School in Gloucestershire, this is in no small part down to the county being the home of GBG. GBG CEO Brian Dix stated “Having an organisation like EPFA come to Gloucestershire to get ready for a major tournament is fantastic. It gives me and my guys huge satisfaction as it is clear that we are clearly doing something right and that and we are catching the eye of the powerchair world and they want to see how we are doing what we do”.

Due to GBG’s role in the assisting the running of the event, a number of CPFC and GBG players were invited to come and partake in the 2 days activities. This is huge for our coaches as a number of these players came to us having never heard of the sport and now are playing alongside the elite players in the UK including former England World Cup sqaud members and really hold their own. GBG’s Development officer who is also Cheltenham Powerchair Head Coach Kieran Franks added “I can’t believe how far some of our players have come, I’m so proud of their attitude in these sessions as they are far more intense than our usual sessions but every single one of them has done themselves and us proud and looked every bit an elite powerchair player”.

The President of the European Powerchair Football Association Donal Byrne said on the event “We were very pleased with the recent international referee training event hosted in Cheltenham, and our thanks to Brian and the guys at Goals Beyond Grass who in no small measure helped make the event one to remember for all who took part and who came along to help”.

All of us at GBG would like to wish EPFA and all those involved in the Champions Cup good luck and hope everyone has a fantastic time!