FOOTBALL:A Shrinking Game With AFC Hastings
HUGH SULLIVAN
Football coach Dan Pascoe comes to every Friday evening training session at St Leonards Academy with a heavy bag. It doesn’t contain footballs, boots or other playing gear; from it he pulls out a state-of-the-art weighing machine. As each player arrives in the dressing room to change for a six-a-side game on the astroturf pitch outside, Dan measures his weight, tracked against previous weekly records. Points are scored if there’s been a healthy reduction.
Welcome to the world of Man v Fat football, where weight loss and goals scored are equally celebrated and equally competitive. Teams win by combining goals scored and kilos shedded. And if your team doesn’t win on the night, you can still come away knowing that your BMI (body mass index) is moving into credit.
Hastings has accommodated a Man v Fat football programme for the past seven years under a nationwide scheme focused on improving men’s physical and mental health. Some of its participants have been recommended to take part by their GPs; others have found it from social media posts or by old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Upwards of 50 local men – the youngest in their 20s, the oldest in mid-50s – are enrolled to play sessions, which are now held at St Leonards every Friday, and there are always enough to contest two successive six- or seven-a-side matches over the evening as part of a series of league and cup tournaments.
And, from earlier this year, they’ve branched into an 11-a-side team, AFC Hasting. It was founded by Robin Clifford and Daniel Cookson with assistance from committee members Steve Groombridge and Mathew Denness, and is, sponsored by local business Kiley’s Carpets, The team entered a competition branded as the Southern Development League, which arranges Sunday morning matches between participating Man v Fat clubs–and became league champions in their first season.
The league is based in Kent, which involves the Hastings contingent in long away trips including to Margate and Chatham, but these are team-building experiences that serve to unite the players as only shared sporting endeavours can do.
The Friday night session reveals that some players have wider girths than others, and that some bring more skills – in several cases remembered from past footballing careers when they were younger and slimmer. But all show they’re competitive enough to want to win, and many (talking before and afterwards) endorse the friendships and team spirit that they’ve gained from joining the group.
“Football is the anchor,” says Robin, resplendent in his all-orange goalkeeper kit sponsored by Kiley’s. “But we can do so much more.”
Man v Fat six– or seven-a-side matches take place at St Leonards Academy every Friday evening between 7 and 9pm. AFC Hastings train at Bexhill College on Sundays 9-11am. New recruits are very welcome, of whatever age, footballing skill and size of stomach.
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