News
‘We Will Share Your Story’ 2018 calendar
This October, a number of the Cowgirls football team joined members of sister teams Republica Internationali (Leeds) and Frau Dortebecker (Hamburg, Germany) on a tour of Palestine’s west Bank. “The motto of the ‘Freedom Through Football’ tour, was ‘we will share your story’ – our promise to share with the wider world the truth of life in Palestine and in particular to highlight the story of women who play (and excel) at football in a country where football for women is far from a cultural norm.” Read more here.
A beautiful 2018 calendar has been produced to celebrate the tour, featuring photos from the trip. To purchase a copy (minimum £5 donation), contact Sooz at scruffylittlevera@hotmail.co.uk
All proceeds will go to support the amazing work of Hamed Qawasmeh and the Hebron International Resource Network.
Cowgirls footy training resumes 4th Jan
We are having a wee break for the festive holidays and will be back training on Thursdays 7-8:30pm at Fairfield school astroturf pitches on Muller Road from 4th Jan.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Cowgirls!
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Freedom Through Football – 2nd Edition Launch and Film Night
Come and celebrate the launch of the second edition of Freedom Through Football, which updates our story to include the years 2012-17. There’s also another chance to see Harri’s acclaimed documentary of the Cowgirls’ 2014 Palestine tour BALLS, BARRIERS AND BULLDOZERS. Plus a report back from Cowgirls who have recently returned from the West Bank.
25th Anniversary Silver Mooobilee Tournament
Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls 25th Anniversary Tournament
Celebrating 25 years of sport, solidarity and silliness!
The Easton Cowboys & Cowgirls are staging our 25th anniversary celebrations from Friday 28th – Mon 31st July 2017 in Thorncombe, Dorset.
The details below are subject/likely to change at any time!
- Men’s and Women’s 7-a-side football tournaments
- 20/20 Cricket (open to all)
- Kids activities and football
- Bands and DJs
- Mass Karaoke
- Silver disco
- Cocktail bar
- Ping pong and pub games
- Meaty, veggie and vegan food and booze available all weekend
- Charity shop fundraising for Temwa projects in Malawi (please bring football tops, banners, tournament memorabilia etc to donate)
The lowdown and rough plan
All invited teams have been contacted by either men’s or women’s football co-ordinators.
We will be asking everyone for a suggested camping donation of £10 per adult to help cover costs. This is the same whether you are staying for one night or all three.
Card payments will be accepted on site for merchandise and food & drink. However, please note that you will be a long way from the nearest cashpoint and the card machines are wifi dependent so please try to bring enough cash with you to last the whole weekend.
Friday 28th July
2pm onwards: Camping area opens for arrival and catch ups
4pm: Main tournament site opens
9pm: Tournament draw and welcome
10pm onwards: Live music from Skimmity Hitchers and Cosmic Ninja
Saturday 29th July
All Day: Men’s and Women’s football matches and kids activities by CACKK
7pm: 20/20 cricket game – World XI vs London Itinerants (main pitch after football)
Evening: Mass team Karaoke with a ‘popstars dead or alive’ fancy dress theme followed by The Silver Moobilee Disco Ball DJs (wear silver)
Sunday 30th July
All Day: Plenty more football and the finals plus kids activities by CACKK
Evening: Tournament award ceremony followed by DJs
Monday 31st July
Please help us clear up. Breakfast is available until 11am. Everyone needs to be off site by 12pm.
Download tournament poster and further details (pdf)
Some polite requests
- Please don’t bring your own alcohol, drink ours. It will be reasonably priced, lovely and helps pay for everything!
- Please don’t bring dogs.
- Raised BBQs only in the camping field. No ground fires.
- Please don’t piss anywhere except the toilets.
- We are trying to stay as plastic free as possible so please bring your own refillable water bottle. There will be tap water available but no bottled water to buy on site.
- We will have plenty of recycling points for all of your rubbish. Please help us to reduce landfill waste by using them. No excuses people. Leave No Trace.
- This is a family friendly event and there is a dedicated quiet area for family camping. Please respect this. The kids activity tent isn’t a creche, kids remain your responsibility at all times.
Can each team please
Register your team and pay the £100 entrance fee asap. If your team can’t pay or you are short of players then please let either the men’s or women’s football coordinators know and we’ll sort something out!
Please pay by bank transfer and use your team name as the reference
Account name: Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls
Sort code: 08 92 99
Account number: 65314359
Reference: Use your team name here so we know you’ve paid
International bank transfer details
Bank name: The Co-operative Bank PLC
Swift address: CPBKGB22
Account name: Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls Social
Account number: 65314359
IBAN code: GB39 CPBK 0892 9965 3143 59
Reference: Use your team name here so we know you’ve paid
- Let us know how many of you are coming and when you will arrive
- Bring a trophy/award to be presented to another team
- Bring a banner to be displayed on the tournament site
- Send us a short write-up about your team and a photo for the programme by 3rd July
We’re looking forward to seeing you all very soon!
Cowgirls football newsletter issue 8
This issue: Diyar’s visit and Wendy’s ‘unique’ Copa Lucrecia roundup!
Palestinian women’s team visit
In June a women’s football team from Diyar Academy in Bethlehem, who the Cowgirls met on their 2015 tour to the West Bank, will be coming to the UK. The Cowgirls will be hosting them for a weekend in Bristol on the 2nd-4th. On Friday night we will be eating food and showing the Balls, Barriers and Bulldozers film at the Palestine museum, and on Saturday there will be a tournament with teams from Bristol Women’s Football Casual League starting at 10:30 am. Everyone is welcome, and please invite your friends. Full details in the flyer:
Tournament fundraiser: Muff Said + DJ Tina Hart
Muff Said have kindly offered to donate the proceeds of their next gig to the tournament – so get yer skanking boots on!
A night of live brassy ska followed by a DJ set from Tina Hart that’ll have you dancing til’ dawn.
Republicow v United Glasgow exhibition game
Easton Cowgirls, Republica IFC and United Glasgow standing up to intolerance
Last month 9 cowgirls travelled to Manchester to play in a special women’s match against United Glasgow. The match was part of the ‘Our City United’ tournament organised by Manchester Unison, involving teams from communities across the city and invited teams from across Britain and Europe with an ethos of community and solidarity. We were joined by some friends from Leeds from Republica IFC to make an unstoppable 11 aside Republicow team. The game was fairly evenly matched in the first half, despite an accident involving a bash on the conk and smashed glasses for Flic. The second half saw us going one-nil down in the first few minutes. This was obviously highly shocking to the old system and instigated us upping our game and seeing 3 cracking goals from Bridie, Talin and Blue.
Following the match we had a showing of our Palestine tour film ‘Balls, Barriers and Bulldozers’, followed by watching FC United’s game at the Broadhurst Park stadium. The rest of the evening will probably need to be related in person in the Plough!
The very distracted Easton Cowgirls at the ‘Our City United’ tournament, Manchester
