Iceni Spears Seeking Support to Expand Women’s Football in Norfolk | Aviva Community Fund

Yesterday we took at a look at the East Kilbride Pirates’ efforts to host a valuable training camp for their impressive Under 19s outfit, but the Pirates are far from the only team seeking support from the Britball Nation to help bring some much-needed funds into the British game!

The Iceni Spears have also gotten in touch to ask the community for support in their project to expand the women’s game in Norfolk.

Based out of Norwich, Norfolk, the Spears offer both flag and full contact American Football. Seeking to expand the team so as to be able to compete in the now seven-a-side Sapphire Series, the Spears entered the Aviva Community Fund to support their goal of growing the game - something we can all get behind!

Club Chairman and Quarterback, Vicki Cecconi, shared with DC:

“Getting involved in Women’s American Football has been life-changing for me and I know that many of my teammates feel the same way. From being too scared to get out and run, go to the gym or engage in other organised sports there are many of us who have gone from very little physical activity to travelling the country playing games, running half marathons, playing netball, boxing etc all thanks to trying American Football.

Our community is close and very encouraging. Its a sport for everyone; we have players aged 18-36 from all walks of life, all fitness levels and all body types. Its the most inclusive sport I know and we want to get more women in Norfolk to experience that, to be a part of a fantastic community and to develop their confidence and have a lot of fun while being active.

£5000 would be an incredible amount of money for us which we would use to bring women’s football to Norfolk by hosting multi-team training sessions. We want to invite teams and players from around the country to Norwich to collaborative training sessions with aim of encouraging new players to come and get involved in football and join our team. This would culminate in a competition day where the teams would play competitive games against each other.

In addition to this, we would also like to buy some new training equipment to help us work on our skills as well as some new kit so we can always be sure we have enough, correctly fitting kit for our incoming players.”

Supporting the Spears is incredibly simple!

• Head to the Spears’ project on the Aviva Community Fund website. 
• Register to vote - you must be at least 13 years of age, and share some details such as name and email address. If you’ve registered previously, simply log in.
• Cast your 10 votes in favour of the Spears or potentially one of the other Britball teams participating this year - easy!

The Spears are one of two teams that have gotten in touch asking for support, but it’s worth noting there’s a number of other Britball outfits also eager for the Britball Nation’s help in bringing some much-needed funds into the sport.

Other projects you may also be interested in include:

The Kent Exiles - looking to provide fresh new game shirts for the adult team as they begin life in the Premiership

The Essex Spartans Academy - seeking to fund additional equipment and maintain existing kit, to increase participation

The Birmingham Bulls - ‘Bull’ding for the Future’ by purchasing new training equipment, allowing them to reach a greater number of people within the community

The East Kilbride Pirates - Are looking to bolster their incredibly successful Under 19’s outfit by hosting a player training camp

The Iceni Spears - Women’s American Football team based in Norwich are seeking funding to help them build an inspiring and challenging programme that encompasses both tackle and flag football.

The Wembley Stallions - ‘Stallions in the community’ project is a phased initiative to increase participation in American Football amongst 14 to 18-year-olds across the London borough of Brent

Inverclyde American Football Community Club - are seeking funds to enhance their equipment in order to cater to the large amount of interest they’ve received in their region

The Merseyside Nighthawks - The Premiership North outfit are looking to continue the development of American Football in the Merseyside area, particularly through their expansion to an U17s team and increasing participation through having more readily available kit and equipment

The Solent Thrashers - are looking to invest in several avenues to help grow and develop American Football in their local community - including new uniforms and new training equipment.

The Kent Phoenix - ‘Building a Nest’ - the Kent Phoenix are looking for support to improve local facilities, including developing a regional centre of excellence for the sport.

Whichever project you wish to support, the important part is to make sure you step up, sign up, and vote!