Last weekend, starting at 1pm on Friday 13th October and running all the way through to 1pm on Saturday 14th October, Axon Moore’s Mark Turley, Aaron Conneran and Danny Kay took to the football pitch to play 24 hours of continual football all for an incredible cause, Street Soccer Academy as part of their fundraising event Soccer 24.
As part of the ‘Rep team’, Mark, Aaron and Danny joined the squad that played against 24 teams, a new team on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours, including one game against Axon Moore colleagues in a head-to-head match.
The challenge was all to raise vital funds to assist Street Soccer Academy in their charitable work which supports isolated individuals in the region, helping them deal with issues related to homelessness, unemployment, offending behaviour and physical/mental health problems.
Simon Murphy, Chief Operating Officer stated: “Since 2009 Axon have supported Soccer 24, not only in donating thousands of pounds to the cause, but also by providing players to play on our Rep Team.”
Commenting on the challenge, Danny Kay said “Definitely one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever done. Physically & mentally exhausting! The 3-5am shift stood out as I could barely keep my eyes open whilst playing. It was, however, a great achievement and really enjoyable (at times!) – definitely helps there being a big group that are in the same boat as you, it does spur you on.”
Aaron Conneran mirrored Danny’s comment, saying “Taking part in the Soccer 24 charity football event was extremely challenging, I didn’t appreciate the scale of the challenge going into it, but attempting to play football continually over a 24-hour period really did take it out of me. However, the satisfaction and sense of achievement during the last hour was amazing and looking back now I am so glad I managed to complete the challenge and raise money for a great charity.”
Our MD Mark Turley, also a Trustee of Street Soccer Academy had this to say; “Street Soccer Academy is an organisation close to my heart and this was the 6th time I’ve taken part in Soccer 24 as part of the Rep squad. This year was definitely the most challenging with it being 6 a side and a bigger pitch…and also with me now being in my (very) late 30s !Street Soccer Academy is an incredible organisation which is run to the highest standards by a fantastic team. I am proud to support such a great bunch of people doing such important work and the social impact of SSA’s activities is clear.
The event was superbly run as ever and there were even a few enjoyable moments along the way despite the physical strain, even managing to win our last few games despite barely being able to move faster than walking pace!
Thank you to all those who sponsored us, and to Danny and Aaron for joining the rep squad and helping me get through the 24 hours for a truly great cause.”
Simon Murphy concluded: “The support we have received from Axon Moore over the years, through Soccer 24 and many other of our initiatives, is not only crucial to our sustainability but is also a huge encouragement to those of us who manage our charitable work and we are extremely grateful for the backing we receive."
