On Sunday 24th June in glorious sunshine, AEK Youth FC held its annual presentation & picnic on the sports fields of Latymer school (its home pitches).
It was a fun day with almost 100 players took part in fun matches & some dads even joined in!
The occasion was a celebration of the fantastic season all the teams have had, winning league titles & cups but also all teams having excellent Sportsmanship marks from other teams which to AEK is as important as winning trophies. Medals were awarded to every player along with trophies for Top Scorer/Player of The Season etc.
The club took the opportunity to congratulate and offer its heartfelt thanks to Marino Charalambous & Mario Michael who are stepping down from coaching their teams the U15 Golds-U18 Blacks & U15 Blacks. The teams are in very safe hands of coaches Tony, Dave& Andy).
Mario has been the figurehead for the club for nearly 13yrs now & his eldest Christopher is now 21yrs old having been at AEK at U8s! Mario has given everything, driving the club to be better, becoming FA Standard Chartered accredited/forging the affiliation with AEK Athens FC in Greece & welfare officer as well as chairman/team coach. The committee presented Mario with a framed/signed AEK shirt & announced Mario would be the club’s Lifetime Honorary President.
Mario was invited to say a few words (and obliged of course!!), stressing to all the boys that AEK was a family & that the football was just one factor but most importantly lifelong friendships had been made amongst players/parents and coaches & the memories of their experiences of youth football at AEK should be cherished forever.
Marino has also contributed brilliantly creating the best team in its age group in the WFL winning over 15 trophies, a key part of the committee and producing the amazing brochure every season you are reading today! He will stay involved on the committee as the new club chairman & will now spend his Sundays watching his son Theo in the U9s.
Cos Avraam Club Treasurer/Coach remains from the original 3 amigos to keep the ethos running through the club until his tenure comes to an end at the end of next season when the boys at U18s are too old for youth football & mens football beckons!
They have both given so much and will be missed but their legacy continues!
The club continues to be very well respected by WFL/AFA/Middlesex FA and is club that genuinely cares about every single player encouraging and supporting them to develop both on and off the football pitch.
Season Review:
The U9s under the guidance of Stathis & Dino continue to make great strides as a team and had a super season, having fun, scoring lots of goals and playing some fantastic football. The parents/grandparents are also a credit to the club and support the team 100%.
The U15s Golds, have really gelled this season which can be seen from their results, especially after Christmas where they climbed up to 5th in the table, winning 5 games in a row. The club welcomes Tony Arpino who took on coaching the U15s Golds and who has been very well received by the players and parents.
The U15 Blacks, finished runners up for the 2nd this season running which shows fantastic consistency, conceding the least goals in the division & scoring an impressive 52 goals. They also reached the Spring Cup final losing a close match to APYFC who also won the league.
A fantastic 5th place out of 80 teams in the fair play league on sportsmanship of the players/parents/coaches is proof in itself of the way they are regarded by other teams.
The U18s Golds had very respectable season with some great new signings & just a little bit more focus would have seen them finish in the top 2-3 & scored 54 goals the highest in their division. Overall though, this team has great spirit and a credit to their coaches.
The U18 Blacks continue to blow away all opposition, winning 13 games out of 14 in the top division of the WFL which is all the more impressive as they are U17s. 55 goals scored & only 23 conceded. They also won the U18 Challenge Cup making it a league and cup double. They also reached the AFA Cup final, a great day out for everyone & were so unlucky to concede equalising goals in the last minute of full time and extra time, & losing the game on the lottery of penalties. A great season for a great team.
