Latest news with #Preece
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Telford: Females of all ages are taking up football since Euros
Females of all ages are lining up to play football for the first time, thanks to England women's outstanding performance at the Preece, Managing Director of AFC Telford United Foundation, said there had been a surge in new members. "I am not exaggerating, there has been a 26% rise in youth club sessions of girls participating," he said. "But it is not just girls, there are adult females as well wanting to try the game for the first time. Whatever the Lionesses have been doing, then keep it up."England defended their European title with a 3-1 penalty shootout victory over Spain in the Euro 2025 final in Basel on Sunday. Back home, more than 16 million people saw the match live on Preece said: "The achievement of the Lionesses over the last few years has just inspired generations of girls."And our female football sessions, where we do walking football, there are ladies that have never tried it before but always wanted to have a go."The Wildcats football club for six to 12-year-old girls trains at the SEAH Stadium in Shropshire, home of AFC Telford United, which plays in the National League of the members, Thea, aged nine, said: "I thought the Lionesses did really well, and it is one of the best games they have ever done."Her teammate Holly, 10, said she believed the Lionesses win "will inspire more people, as there are excellent players, and it has given the sport a boost". Paige Gainham is a coach with AFC Telford United Foundation and works with the young Wildcats. She said: "As soon as that ball hit the net on Sunday's Euros final, it was just an amazing feeling, and it just shows that anything is possible."Chloe Kelly [England midfielder] started at an early age and built her way up, and it just shows that anyone can do it if you put your mind to it."She added: "There was a time when you rarely saw women players on TV. It will make girls want to achieve what England did on Sunday."
NBC Sports
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Bubba Wallace holds final playoff spot with 5 races left in NASCAR Cup regular season
Bubba Wallace continues to hold the final playoff spot, but he saw his advantage expand after Sunday's race at Dover Motor Speedway. Wallace finished seventh at Dover and holds a 16-point lead on Ryan Preece for the final playoff spot. Wallace entered Dover just three points ahead of Preece, who finished 19th Sunday. Twelve drivers have won this year to claim playoff spots. Four spots remain available via points with five races left in the regular season. Those four drivers in a position position without a win are Tyler Reddick (156 points above the cutline), Alex Bowman (+63), Chris Buescher (+44) and Wallace (+16). Those below the cutline are Preece (-16), Kyle Busch (-39), Ty Gibbs (-52), Michael McDowell (-77) and AJ Allmendinger (-80). No other drivers are within 80 points of the cutline. Here is a look at the playoff standings heading into Sunday's Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (drivers in yellow have won this season):
NBC Sports
07-07-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Race for final NASCAR Cup playoff spot tightens with 7 races left in regular season
Ryan Preece's fifth top-10 finish in the last eight races moved him closer to a playoff spot after Sunday's Chicago Street Race. Preece finished seventh. Combined with Bubba Wallace's late crash, Preece is now two points behind Wallace for the final playoff spot with seven races left in the regular season. Wallace was running seventh with six laps left when contact with Alex Bowman caused him to crash. Wallace finished 28th, losing 21 points. That was the number of points Preece gained Sunday on Wallace. Dustin Long, Shane van Gisbergen's win Sunday — his second of the season — did not change the playoff standings. Twelve drivers have playoff spots via wins. That leaves four spots by points at this time. The four drivers in a playoff spot via points are: Tyler Reddick (143 points above the cutline), Bowman (+39), Chris Buescher (+35) and Wallace (+2). Those just below the cutline are: Preece (-2 points), AJ Allmendinger (-43), Kyle Busch (-46), Erik Jones (-50) and Ty Gibbs (-66), who finished second in Sunday's race. The Cup Series races Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Here is a look at the Cup playoff standings (drivers in yellow have a playoff spot with a win):
Leader Live
26-06-2025
- Business
- Leader Live
Hike in fostering costs branded ‘despicable' by Flintshire councillor
While many fostering and children's care providers are already moving to non-profit models to comply with the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025, Cllr Carolyn Preece criticised action by some providers to pump up profits. A report put before Flintshire's Joint Education, Youth and Culture and Social and Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee revealed that one unnamed independent fostering provider has reportedly hiked fees by 40% this year. 'It is despicable ,' said Cllr Preece. 'To do that, to increase it by that amount is just money grabbing in the short space of Time they have left before they can no longer be a provider. 'To me that is a company that we shouldn't really be using in the first place because that is showing their true colours.' It was a feeling echoed by Cllr David Coggins Cogan who said: 'Well done to Welsh Government, I think the elimination of profit from children's care is long overdue. 'The firm that has increased fees by 40% is beyond despicable, it's disgusting. Extracting profit of the backs of children who we are looking after is beyond reprehensible.' Chief Officer for Social Services Craig Macleod said that over the next five years the business would likely find it difficult to work in Wales as a result of the move. 'The organisation that has increased its fees substantially, authorities will be very hard pushed to commission any further services from them,' he said. 'From a Welsh Government perspective, this is why they are bringing this legislation in. 'I must stress however that the majority of providers we work with currently are keen to embrace the new legislation and are committed to prioritising the welfare of the children in care.' The report highlighted that Flintshire's transition to a system of care that eliminates profit must be done with the interests of the children and families involved remaining at the core of decision-making. It detailed the Social Services team's strategy for adjusting to the new legislation around children in care – focusing on bringing more care and fostering provision in-house and working more with those providers who are transitioning to a non-profit model. Read more: Ambitious plans for council to bring care of looked-after children in-house by 2030 'The work our teams are doing in Flintshire to make this happen is amazing,' said Cllr Preece. 'I also commend the Welsh Government because this is the right way forward. The authority is planning to increase it's residential bed capacity for looked-after children to 30, double the number of respite beds for disabled families to six and and provide in-house fostering provision for an additional 52 children by 2030. Coupled with contract with agencies that transition to non-profit, that should see the authority meet the deadline to remove profit from care. Children in care who are currently settled in England, where the legislation does not apply, will not be repatriated to Flintshire if their needs are being met by their current care provider to prevent unnecessary disruption. The plans are ambitious, but Mr Macleod said that working with not-for-profit partners would help them deliver the change by 2030. 'It is really really challenging,' said Mr Macleod. 'We are realistic that we have to work with high quality local providers to develop all this provision and we have a number of trusted providers we currently work with to bring in some of the capacity we will need.'
NBC Sports
15-06-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
RFK Racing seeks to build on Michigan finish in Mexico
MEXICO CITY — There was no celebrating last week at RFK Racing after it placed three cars in the top 10 for the first time in a Cup race since July 2016 at Daytona. 'It was certainly not anything to be embarrassed by,' Brad Keselowski said of the team's performance at Michigan. ' … We just want to do it more often. We want to win. 'We're, as a company, just fighting really hard to break through to the next level and we have these intermittent flashes and sparks. We want to turn it into a roaring fire.' That begins with Sunday's Cup race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a 15-turn, 2.42-mile road course. Ryan Preece will start second — his first top-five starting spot on a road course. Chris Buescher, who has the best road course average finish in the Next Gen car at 8.7, starts 16th. Keselowski will start 30th. RFK Racing has placed at least two cars in the top 10 in three of the last four races, matching what Hendrick Motorsports has done, although Hendrick has a win and three more top-five finishes than RFK in that span. Dustin Long, Ten races will remain in the regular season after Sunday's race. Buescher is in a playoff spot, 20 points above the cutline, and Preece holds the final playoff spot entering Sunday's event. Keselowski needs a win to make the playoffs. 'This is a big stretch for us,' Keselowski said. 'We want to get all three of our cars in the playoffs. It appears that it's going to take wins for all three cars to do that, maybe we'll get one car in on points. We've had a couple of really strong races but haven't broke through to Victory Lane and I'm disappointed by that. 'I feel that we're bringing efforts that are close to being able to do that, but we haven't gotten there. You can't do anything about the races behind us, but the races in front of us you're just trying to be laser-focused to achieve results.' With four road course races among the final 11 events of the regular season, Keselowski sees opportunity for his teams. 'All three of our cars at COTA were a factor at one point,' he said. 'Didn't necessarily get the win but showed some strength.' Preece has been strong lately, scoring three top 10s in the last four races. 'Confidence is a lot higher,' Preece said. 'I've been really trying to focus on this racetrack because I feel like from a team aspect there was a lot of unknowns for everybody. … The playing field is pretty level. I just put a lot of effort into it.'
