At the end of the day, football amounts to cause for celebration – celebration of a goal, three points, a thumping sliding tackle, or on occasion, even, something greater.
Ahead of our 3-0 win over Burnley at Selhurst Park a fortnight ago – a day of joy for new manager Oliver Glasner and his new Crystal Palace charges – there was a smaller-scale, but certainly no less meaningful, celebration which took place just yards from Selhurst Park.
For inside a packed Fanzone ahead of kick-off, host Rob Thornton momentarily paused the pre-match proceedings – and Mary Barnett, unknowingly but wonderfully deservingly, was about to get pulled up onto the stage.
“It was a total surprise!” she admitted, speaking to cpfc.co.uk – but perhaps it shouldn’t have been.
Mary was about to receive a special ‘Community Captain’ armband, frame and pennant on behalf of the club and the Palace for Life Foundation, for whom she has dedicated a vast amount of time to assisting fundraising efforts – and ultimately changing the lives of young south Londoners – in so many different ways.
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is to ‘Inspire Inclusion’ – a feat Mary accomplishes every single week…
…having initially joined Palace for Life as a sessional coach, Mary soon got stuck into delivering a wide range of programmes such as Premier League Kicks, Premier League Primary Stars, Disability and Pan Disability sessions, Adult Health, NCS, and Holiday Camps.
Over this period, Mary built up her coaching abilities, working with a wide-range of participants from different ages and environments.
She eventually took on the role of lead coach of the Women’s Walking Football team, who can these days often be found doing a pub quiz together, watching the Lionesses or taking part in fundraising activities – such as the Marathon March, in which they raised over £10,000 – to help transform the lives of young south Londoners.
FULL story at source: https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/features/mary-barnett-palace-for-life-community-captain/
