As we head into the new year, we wanted to share our plans for 2026 and what this will mean for the girls.

Our main focus will continue to be developing the girls’ skills, giving them plenty of opportunities to play football, and preparing them for the 2026/27 season. From September 2026, the girls will be eligible to join the Suffolk Girls and Women’s Football League at U9 level.

Joining a league team does involve a commitment from both players and parents. This includes:

• Playing matches on Sunday mornings (both home and away) throughout the season
• Attending weekly training sessions

League match details:

• Format: 5v5 (including a goalkeeper)
• Match length: 30 minutes (2 x 15 minutes)

As we have a good number of girls who will be eligible for U9s in September 2026, we’ve decided to split into two teams. This will help maximise playing time and development opportunities for every girl. Our two under 8 teams (Wolf Cubs Black and Wolf Cubs White) will mainly train and play matches independently of each other.

Your daughter will be part of the Wolf Cubs U8 Black Team, which will be led and managed by our coach Graham (Meredith’s Dad).

Between now and September, Graham will focus on preparing the team for the U9 league. This will include weekly training sessions as well as arranging regular friendly matches with other clubs. Our teams will mainly train independently of each other.

For Wolf Cubs U8 Black, we are aiming for a squad of 8 players. There’s no need to decide right away whether your daughter would like to join the league team.

However, after Easter we’ll need a clearer idea of numbers, so we’ll be asking for decisions around that time.

We also want to be completely transparent: at the moment, we’re not yet sure what football opportunities will look like for girls who would prefer to continue with training only and not join the league team. This will depend on the number of volunteers we have available to help, and once we know how many of the girls would like to be involved in the league team. We’ll share more information on what we are able to offer once we know.

To keep communication clear and simple, you have been added to the Wolf Cubs Black WhatsApp group. As the team’s manager, Graham will be your main point of contact. You will be removed from the existing group to save confusion.

We also want to take this opportunity to also remind you that you can read our Safeguarding policy on our website, along with details on how to report concerns, or contact our Welfare officer: https://stourwanderers.co.uk/contact-welfare-and-safeguarding/

Sessions will remain free of charge for the rest of the 2025/26 season.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Here’s to 2026!