NEWSLETTER-19th April 2009

PROPOSALS FOR ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Given the popularity of the Under 8s training sessions and tournaments, it has been decided to split the existing group into 2 age bands to ensure that all the girls benefit from the coaching given and that the number of girls participating is more manageable for the coach(es) involved.

As a result of the above decision, the club will now have a new section at Under 9s level, in addition to the current level covering Under 8s and below age groups.

All girls who are currently in Year 3 at school will now move over to the Under 9s squad and will be coached by Sophie’s Dad, Graeme Taggart, with effect from the end of this month.

Chantelle O’Hara will continue her excellent work and look after all of the remaining girls, who are in school years 1 and 2.

New girls in either age category will of course be most welcome and will join the training sessions on an ongoing basis.

All our present squad members should be encouraged to mention the existence of the club (and the fact that it caters solely for girls and ladies wanting to play football) to their female school and home friends. Please try and get as many of those friends as possible to come along and join in.

This will not only help those friends to learn how to play football and enable them to make new friends, but also give them improved fitness and wellbeing.

For the club, more girls getting involved will mean additional income, which in turn will further improve available facilities and equipment and hopefully generate even more success for all of our club teams.

Chantelle will therefore coach girls in this squad on a weekly basis, with training to be outdoors during the Spring and Summer months at the sports field behind Philips High School, Whitefield-Wednesday nights between 6pm and 7pm. Chantelle already holds a Level 1 Coaching badge from the FA.

Winter training will most likely be on the same night and at the same time, but location will be advised in due course. This will still be at a local venue, but we will be unable to finalise this until late Summer.

All girls should attend training in suitable clothing—they will need to wear shin pads and football boots to give them as much protection and grip as possible during training.

Whilst the Under 8s squad will not be formed into an actual ‘league’ team, all opportunities will be taken to enter ‘fair play fun’ tournaments and to organise some local friendlies to give the girls a taste of ‘semi-competitive’ football.

Parents of all girls involved in the Under 8s squad will need to commit to an initial annual registration fee with the club for their daughter amounting to £10.00—this will be payable during the month of May 2009.

Parents will also need to commit to a bank standing order payment of £10.00 per month to the club, starting in June 2009 and payable monthly.

All of these registration fees and subscription monies are reinvested in club activities and facilities for the benefit of all girls registered with the club.

Chantelle will appreciate any help she can get from parents of the Under 8s squad members to assist with training, administration and tournament participation during the coming 12 months.

If any parent is particularly interested in assisting in any way, please let Chantelle know—she will welcome your help!

Graeme will coach the girls in this squad on a weekly basis, with training to be outdoors during the Spring and Summer months at the sports field behind Philips High School, Whitefield-Wednesday nights between 6.30pm and 7.30pm. Please note the change of time-this is needed as Graeme works on the other side of Manchester and traffic around the M60 can be very unpredictable.

Winter training will most likely be on the same night and at the same time, but location will be advised in due course. This will still be at a local venue, but we will be unable to finalise this until late Summer.

Occasionally, the opportunity to run extra training sessions will be taken, but all girls and their parents will be given plenty of notice re any additional sessions planned.

All girls should attend training in suitable clothing—they will need to wear shin pads and football boots to give them as much protection and grip as possible during training.

Graeme will be assisted in the training sessions by his wife Eilish and his friend Mark Edwards, who is also assistant coach for a local boys’ football team. Both Graeme and Mark have enhanced Criminal Records Bureau clearance obtained through the Football Association. Eilish has similar clearance through her work with a local Scouting association, but the club will ensure specific clearance is also obtained through the FA. Graeme is in the process of working towards obtaining his Level 1 Coaching badge with the FA, having completed a number of related courses over the last 2 years.

The Under 9s squad will be formed into an actual ‘league’ team, with a view to entering a girls’ league for the 2009-2010 football season. We are currently researching the most appropriate league for the girls to enter-fuller details will be provided in due course.

Opportunities will also be taken to enter appropriate age-related tournaments and to organise some local friendlies to give the girls a further taste of ‘competitive’ football across the coming months and next season.

As you may know, the club already has successful teams at Under 10, 11, 12, 13 and ‘Open Age’, but an Under 9s team is a new venture for us and we are all excited by the prospect. Girls’ football is growing in popularity across the UK, but is not yet able to command the financial support and sponsorship that is available to traditional boys’ football.

The main Football Association and local County FA organisations are very keen to support this development of female football at ‘grass roots’ level. We are doing much work ourselves to prepare a case to be considered for registration as a ‘FA Charter Club’, which will bring a number of benefits to the club as a whole, which in turn will benefit all girls and ladies involved.

Parents of all girls involved in the Under 9s squad will need to commit to an initial annual registration fee with the club for their daughter amounting to £30.00—this will be payable during the month of May 2009.

Parents will also need to commit to a bank standing order payment of £14.00 per month to the club, starting in June 2009 and payable monthly.

All of these registration fees and subscription monies are reinvested in club activities and facilities for the benefit of all girls registered with the club. This subscription is in line with all other youth teams at the club and is needed from the Under 9s girls, given there will be additional league fees, insurance, kits, match balls, referee costs, pitch hire and tournament entries to fund for this age group.

Three more dates for your diaries are 1) Club Presentation Night-26th June 2009 (Bury FC Social Club, 2) 6^th June 2009-Outdoor U9s tournament at Wigan and 3) 28^th June 2009-Outdoor U9s tournament at Euxton, near Chorley.

If any parent is able to find a potential sponsor or sponsors for the Under 9s squad, please let Graeme know—any help will be very welcome indeed.

We will be compiling a contact list for all girls involved at Under 9 to capture details such as parents’ mobile numbers and E-mail address (if held) to ease ongoing administration for the squad.

Graeme’s contact numbers are mobile 07906-427577 or 0798-9146482 (Eilish)-please get in touch (evenings are best) if you have any queries.

THANKS TO ALL THE GIRLS AND THEIR PARENTS FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE CLUB-LET’S ENJOY FOOTBALL TOGETHER!!