Carl served in the Armed Forces and now has a squadron of excitable young footballers to look after
A football coach for an under-7s team has completed an exhausting 50km run back and forth on the Humber Bridge to raise enough money to keep them going. Kingswood United Jedis are a grassroots team in north Hull.
Carl Bower, 54, who spent 23 years in the Yorkshire Regiment of the Armed Forces, finishing as a Company Sergeant Major, decided to “do something quite dramatic” to raise funds for footballs, bibs, cones, and other pieces of kit. He set upon running back and forth across the Humber Bridge for 12 hours, with medical support from his wife, who is an ambulance driver.
Carl first got involved with Kingswood Jedis when his grandson joined the team. When the previous coach announced he was leaving, Carl stepped up because “otherwise there would have been no team for these kids”.
“At first, I thought I was out of my depth,” he told the Hull Daily Mail. “One, I don’t know nothing about football, and two, I am dealing with under-sevens, little lads. I thought, ‘What have I done?’
“But it is like anything, it just needs a bit of nurturing. It is all about communicating with them. It is very similar to using soldiers, but just a younger age. It is about bonding, becoming a team.”
It was a commitment; before Carl could even get started he had to complete a DBS course, a level 1 coaching course, and a first aid course. He now trains the boys every Thursday evening and attends the games on Sunday.
He said: “To be honest, I really find it very enjoyable and rewarding. Take the age group away, and I find some similarity to being in the ‘Forces training a group of men.
“I work up and down the country, nationwide, as a builder. I come back from whenever I am – Blackpool this week – to do training on a Thursday.” He admits he is “absolutely shattered” at times, but without fail comes back from training “all smiles”.
Carl took on his Humber Bridge challenge on Saturday, October 25, and managed to do 50km in 10 hours “running back and forth like a pinball”. Due to an old ankle injury that “blew up” due to the strain, he had to stop before the final two hours were complete.
Kingswood United Jedis is still accepting donations. The fundraiser can be found on the Go Fund Me page.