Duffield Dynamos in their kit
Derbyshire grassroots football clubs helping players of all ages keep scoring goals are being supported by generous donations from science company Lubrizol, whose UK technical centre is based in the county.
The Littleover Dazzlers, Duffield Dynamos, Sleetmoor United, Belper Town and Belper Town Ladies are all benefiting from support given by the company’s active charities and communities committee this season.
The Littleover Dazzlers is Derby’s oldest FA charter standard youth football club with teams ranging from U7 to U18.
Kev Harrison, an industrial testing technician for Lubrizol’s Driveline department, coaches the club’s U16 and U12 sides, in which sons Leyton and Aiden play. This season Lubrizol has contributed to the cost of new kit for the under-12s.
Kev puts in many hours a week coaching the Littleover Dazzlers, training teams on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings as well as turning out to support young players for their Derby City league matches at Bemrose School on Sundays, with games also taking place at Alvaston Park and Derby Racecourse.
Arsenal fan Kev, who has also been recognised by Lubrizol for his six years of volunteering, said: “I started with helping out because the manager was leaving at the time, and I wanted the team to be able to carry on. I thought I’d put myself through the training. I want to provide an enjoyable, good atmosphere for children to play with lots of positivity.
“My boys enjoy playing football. They have got lots of friends there. They enjoy being competitive at the same time. Lubrizol provided funding to contribute towards new kit for the under-12s. That support means that the team can go out and feel like a team and look like a team. I like that my employer is contributing and caring about what its staff do outside work.”
Mark Davies, Vice President of Corporate Research & Development for Lubrizol – a job in which he has responsibility for the company’s research and development over all its global sites, employing thousands of people – also spends much of his weekend as a coach for the Duffield Dynamos, a three star FA accredited club that is one of the region’s largest with 40 teams and more than 550 players.
Over the past couple of years Lubrizol – which is based nearby at Hazelwood – has supported Duffield Dynamos by sponsoring tournaments and contributing to new kit.
Mark, whose eight-year-old son Joe plays for Duffield Dynamos under-9s team, The Rockets – said his coaching role tied in well with his demanding day job.
He said: “For me, I think it’s really important that people have something in their life that’s outside of their job. It’s good for your mental health and allows something to be put back into the community.
“You see children forming really good friendship groups. It’s really good to see my son develop by becoming more confident over the years. He’s really confident now and I think a lot of that comes from football. When the kids play, it’s a good way for them to burn off some energy, learn some new skills and be part of a team. Football is also about helping them grow up. We talk to them about playing well together, respect, and looking out for each other. Win or lose it’s really good when they run off and are really happy.”
Claire Hollingshurst, from Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee, said: “We’re very pleased and proud to be supporting Derbyshire’s grassroots football clubs. It’s easy to think that football is just about the top-flight clubs but everyone starts somewhere and there are hundreds of children around the county – and the UK – who are getting a huge amount of benefit from playing and training each week. Not only that, there are many coaches giving up hours of their time a week to keeping these clubs going. We’re glad to be able to help our employees who give up a lot of their time by supporting these clubs which mean so much to families.”
