By Mark Smith
Yorkshire amateur footballers have welcomed the news that there are new 4G pitches in the region.
Champion Soccer six-a-side, who had been based in Glasshoughton for several years, recently moved to Castleford to expand the opportunities for the local community. Small-sided football is the one of the fastest growing sports in the UK with an estimated 1.5m registered players and many other occasional footballers.
Events and League Manager at Champion Soccer Scott Smith said: “The main goals were developing a large successful league in Castleford on bigger pitches with more opportunities for more teams to play.”
Since moving to Castleford the amount of teams on a Thursday night has doubled and there are plans for it to keep on growing.
Smith said: “The league so far has had a positive impact with more teams playing each week, we are still aiming to bring more teams in and encourage more people in the local community to play small sided football.”
Nathan Jarvis, 19, a player in the league for Altofts Albion said: “As you can see there are more teams joining every other week so the want for football is high. Having better facilities attracts more people which means the league will only keep getting better.”
Teammate in the league Joe Chawner, 19, added: “The pitches are a lot bigger and there are more of them so it really allows us to play better football and make better use of the space available.”