FOOTBALL: Coach Sam Jarvis introduced almost 1,000 of the youngest children to Rugby Town JFC

Brian Dainty continues the story of Rugby Town Junior Football Club, which began in 1994:After the successful result in the club’s battle to retain the name they had played under for three years, the club returned to the job of providing football for the children of Rugby.If children started to play at a young age, they should eventually go on to form the core of players in the club as they grow. So kids of five and six years old were seen an ideal age to get involved in football.However, one coach realised that even younger children wanted to, and indeed could play football.That coach was Sam Jarvis.So Sam began bringing kids as young as four into the club. He would tip out a bag of balls, set up some goals, and the boys and girls would spend an hour kicking, dribbling and scoring!Sam stayed with RTJFC for ten years, and in that time, he was responsible for bringing close to 1,000 children through the club and into playing football.He won many awards and accolades during his time and would spend hours writing letters to prominent and influential people, telling them of the dedication and commitment of Rugby Town Juniors to bringing football to our community.Having had the chance to meet and spend time with Sam recently, I can say that his enthusiasm for football hasn’t diminished in the years since he was part of the club, and he is still immensely proud of his achievements for the kids of Rugby.As a perfect example of Sam’s idea of introducing very young children to football, I was delighted to tell him that one of those 4-year olds is now Captain of Rugby Borough FC, who play from Kilsby Lane.Sam Jarvis is pictured with some of the very young players he was introducing to football and in the newspaper cutting receiving an award