National football award marks Jess out as a rising star

Jess Klamm at work with the Roffey Robins youngsters

Jess Klamm’s honour is part of a national grassroots football award scheme run by the FA and McDonald’s.

The scheme aims to recognise and reward volunteers, match officials, clubs and leagues across the county who have made a difference to grassroots football in their community.

Jess, who is 14, is a young volunteer at Roffey Robins Atletico, where her dad is a coach and her brother a player.

Jess is a role model and - says the FA - a rising star

She started out helping around the club about 18 months ago by setting-up drills and undertaking tasks on behalf of the manager.

She is now a fully integrated part of the support team, running the first drill of a training session and leading pre-game warm-up routines.

Jess carries out her roles with a confidence, calmness and understanding of the game that is beyond her years. She exudes confidence and has established a fantastic rapport with players and coaches alike.

Jess lives Horsham and goes to Millais Secondary School. As well as being passionate about football coaching, Jess also enjoys dance and is a keen scuba diver, one day hoping to study marine biology at university.

The Sussex FA said: “Jess is a fantastic female role model. Having a young, able, female volunteer who is at every training session and match shows she is dependable, and sends a strong message to the team and those on the touchline.

“The team give her the utmost respect and listen to her instructions intently before carrying them out. The sheer commitment come rain or shine from Jess is admirable.

“Every match-day she records the player stats (tackles, shots, assists, minutes played, etc.) and updates them afterwards, allowing the coaches to have a comprehensive understanding of their players, which they use to help with squad selection.

“Jess is currently too young to start her coaching badges, but wants to become a qualified coach in the future, and Roffey will be supporting her with that goal as much as they can.

“Ultimately, Jess stands out as a fantastic young female volunteer, who is very deserving of this award and hopefully has a bright future in the game.”