A bit of a strange summer for Ilaria her current club hadn't really arranged any friendlies or tournaments, which meant she ended up appearing for a couple of other teams over the summer resulting in her decided she wanted to join one of them full time. So she is now looking forward to a new challenge, with a new team for the 2026/27 dropping back down into her own u9s category. She did sign off in style with her old club in their only tournament, keeping a cleansheet in the final, saving 2 of the 3 penalties in the shootout and then stepping up to score the winner.

Grassroots training but I'm wondering where the grass is 😂😂. It's times like this i wish I played on a pro pitch but I had a great session still

Guys, whats your thoughts on Congo's first goal? I was watching it last night in my local - and everyone blamed Pickford stating a goalkeeper should never be beaten at near post... The ball moves so fast now, we have all been in goal when a ball is hit that fast, you only hear it hit the back of the neck - you do not see the ball!!! Whats your thoughts on this?

So final awards of the season for Ilaria. Kettering FC u9 managers player and players player of the year to add to her Northampton town u10 player of the year. Not a bad effort for an u8... Roll on 2026/27

After a couple of weeks off Ilaria has been back on the pitch. A couple of friendly wins and picking up where she left off with two strong performances.