Wrote this about Sussex Kids Football Managers, Coaches, & Volunteers.

[Bozza]

Liked it up on Medium but sharing the love here too.

Great piece.

 

[Beach Hut]

And the double header today has just been called off........

 

[Henfield One]

Great thread and really good article Jem. Yes we all put in many hours a week to encourage, nurture and train the kids. But the attitude of some Leagues is exasperating at times.

One League that is the exception is the Mid Sussex Minor Youth Football League - they are incredibly supportive and friendly. People like Sarah & Malcolm Harding are superb.

I attended the AGM of one League last June and the usual business was concluded in less than 10 minutes - in front of all the members (because of course you get fined if member clubs aren't represented). Remember this is the one occasion in the entire season, when all member clubs are present. So after the normal business is concluded, I stand up and ask a question - effectively as Any Other Business.

The response from the Chair - we aren't allowed to discuss AOB as it hasn't been advised to us in accordance with the advance notice required. Meeting is now closed.
I replied with ok close the AGM and now let's have a general discussion. No, we can't do that, we won't do that. The meeting then closed and the members dispersed.

Unbelievable. I complained vociferously to the Committee and then contacted Sussex FA, who told me that the correct AGM procedure had been followed. So much for the possibility of a sensible discussion - whether in or outside of the formal AGM.

It'll be the same again this year too no doubt. What a complete waste of time.

 

[ShanklySeagull]

A great piece Chailey Jem. I was that supportive Dad who always watched my son from the touch line playing up a year wit the U7's at our local club. "Would you like to help out - you're always down here" said the two coaches. "You can take your son and form an U6's...over the summer you'll get enough to form the U7's for next season".

And that's how is starts for most people I suspect. Ten wonderful (and at times trying) seasons followed as I coached the team from U16 to U16. In addition to CJ's observations which were absolutely spot-on (particularly Pritt Stick on the kitchen table every summer) I also remember;

The coaches first dilemma - play to win or play to include all the team - regardless of ability. I chose the latter and lost many games as a result, but I remember many players coming through who developed incredibly over the years. The best footballers at 8 are not necessarily the better ones later down the line...

The struggle later on in keeping a squad going - networking through the kids was key - trying to keep the squad going as other distractions come into play with the passing of age...parties/alcohol/girls!

Spending all week working on tactics and training plans to find 8 turn up for training and we have to start the Sunday game with 10 for reasons shown above!

Spending a long time before and after matches putting up or taking down nets - I reckon I could erect and dismantle a Samba mini goal with my eyes shut

The summer tournament - you may start with a list of helpers but it always comes down to the dedicated few who have to do everything from pitch marking to car park and finishing up with reffing?

Wednesday nights at Culver Road in Lancing getting acquainted with Resusi-Annie yet again as the First Aid qualification needs renewing...

Going to football tournaments and finding that one of your players has walked away from playing with the match ball and it's been nicked by one of the other teams...

Finishing training sessions with the obligatory search through the nettles to try to find the missing training balls that one of your naughtier squad members has deliberately kicked into the undergrowth before going home....

6 of your 7 players all wanting to be a striker - balancing that formation was always tricky...

Testing the frozen pitch in Jan looking to see if it will take a stud and remembering you weigh 17 stone and they don't...perhaps the games off this week after all lads...

Getting tanked 5-0 by top of the table opponents - half time team talk...forget the first half lads...lets play the second half from 0-0 and play for pride guys...

The end of season awards ceremony...politically expediency played a part here otherwise you'd end up with one player walking off with all the awards in some of the years.

BUT - I wouldn't change any of it. Coaching the kids and seeing them mature and grow into (mostly) fine young men was the greatest privilege a coach could have. We never won a league or a cup, we may have spent our entire time in the middle and lower league but we always tried to play a passing game and we tried our hardest. I still bump into some of the lads (or their younger siblings) and they all still stop me and say hello.

And that's the nicest acknowledgement of all....

 

[chaileyjem]

Thanks everyone. Some great words about my piece. Appreciated.
Also really heartening and fascinating to hear everyone's stories. I salute those on this thread who've put in many more hours and years than my recent efforts.

Whilst harsh in my article on the FA's overall investment (and especially the Premier League) which frankly is a disgrace. I also want to stress that the Sussex FA have some terrific coaches, courses, and people working for it. The Sussex Sunday Youth League where my team play (and the other Sussex/Brighton Leagues) manage to register over 5000+ players a year, arrange and schedule thousands of fixtures and keep the whole thing going on a relative shoestring. They too rely on mostly people's spare time.

I also wish it would stop raining.

 

[El Presidente]

Excellent article Jem and hats off to you for your sacrifices week in week out. Your comments about the lack of grass roots support are very valid. The Premier League makes a big play of putting £1 billion into grassroots. Further analysis revealed that the definition of 'grassroots' from slippery Sid himself Richard Scudamore included parachute payments and solidarity fees to the Football League.

How paying the likes of Downing £70k a week constitutes grassroots is beyond me. What you are doing however is superb and consider my hat doffed in your direction.

 

[ROSM]

This is such a great article.

I helped coach my eldest sons team and now manage my middle child's team and do Admin for both.

Most parents I find are appreciative of any efforts people put in although there are some who see it as free childcare perhaps. I encourage parents to stay and watch so they can endorse some of the messages themselves

I would say that maybe 90% of teams approach the game with the same attitude and the fa courses do drive that.

However I would say that there are poor exceptions - on one occasion I was called an effing cheat in an under 7 game when I spoke to a player who had tackled off his feet (note I didn't give a free kick or stop the goal they scored from the resultant pass) but didn't speak to one of my own players after his did a perfectly fair and controlled block tackle. The parent also complained because I let a throw in get taken about 6 foot from.where the ball had gone out (he didn't seem to notice I was more interested in ensuring good throw in technique or that I had let his sons team take a throw in again a few times rather than just chucking it on a pitch) ! And this parent was of an fa charter club. Their coach said to me 'if you want to tell him to leave I will back you' but you have to question why the coach hadn't stepped in earlier

Then there was the occasion I saw one under 8 team beat another 24-0

On that occasion (neither were my team) I asked the winning coach why he hadn't at half time, either played his more developmental players who got no more than. 5 mins on the pitch, or offer to scrub the game and start again by offering to mix both squads up and have a balanced match using bibs. He looked at me like I was a Martian

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I did find some really dedicated managers & teams out there. Fishersgate Flyers, Adur, Saltdean & Denton were always sporting. I also saw a young Joe El Abd (Adam's older brother) and a lad called Westgate(?) from Eastbourne who went on to play a few games on the wing for Albion.

Am also proud that at least 4 of the kids I coached took up coaching in later life.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Whilst harsh in my article on the FA's overall investment (and especially the Premier League) which frankly is a disgrace. I also want to stress that the Sussex FA have some terrific coaches, courses, and people working for it.

I stopped coaching a couple of seasons ago but one of my early frustrations was with the Sussex FA Coaches Development people. Once the Level 1 was out of the way, they forgot that most coaches are volunteers with full time jobs and would not schedule Level 2 courses for weekends which made it very difficult for many to move to the next level. Thankfully, the current person - Steve Pythian - was a long standing coach and took on these ideas which make them more flexible now.

I also spent time with the Coaches Association and would recommend coaches sign up to this if they don't get membership through their clubs. I attended some great free coaching sessions laid on by the SCFACA which helped not only learn new skills but also to meet and share experiences with other coaches. Probably the best one I attended was a Goalkeeping session run by the Southampton FC and Scottish FA keepers coach.

I miss coaching the mini soccer kids although Sunday mornings on the sofa with a cuppa and the Sunday papers is nice - especially when the weather is like today!

 

[BigGully]

Excellent points.
We have had to pay extra subs this winter so my younger sons team can train, and that was just for one hour a week.
They didn't play a match from 13th Dec until early February ( there was a short Christmas break )

Having been involved a few years ago I found funding a problem, but for different reasons.

I actually found the individual clubs get a little bit greedy off the back of the volunteer coaches, by that I mean most youth sections tended to stock pile money, it seemed that each youth department of a club was holding cash balances unnecessarily high.

If the club was associated to a senior side then most of the time the youth sides were batting away advances from the senior sides for funds, or alternatively not redistributing the funds back to the players or their sides.

I have sat in meetings with copies of accounts showing a balance of £6000+, whilst the rest of the meeting was about procurement of sponsors for new kit or equipment rather than even thinking of using those funds (parents money raised by those volunteering coaches), at times it all seemed a greedy approach.

All clubs require some working capital a few thousand seems quite adequate, but why the need to amass more.

The money should be turned over quickly and appropriately, one aspect that always seemed under represented was specialised goalkeeper coaching, use the funds to perhaps ask for qualified sessions for each goalkeeper of each age group, or for those times when we need to hire a 3g/4g, but it needs to be spent, not hoarded because ultimately it will be used inappropriately or wasted, using the contributions from previous age groups on current age groups, that seems unfair, or if imaginative ways cannot be found why not cut the annual fee's demanded from parents.

Use the money, use it wisely, quickly and imaginatively, but use it, spend it and allow those children to be the main benefactors of their own parents contributions and the hard work of the volunteer coaches.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Having been involved a few years ago I found funding a problem, but for different reasons.

I actually found the individual clubs get a little bit greedy off the back of the volunteer coaches, by that I mean most youth sections tended to stock pile money, it seemed that each youth department of a club was holding cash balances unnecessarily high.

If the club was associated to a senior side then most of the time the youth sides were batting away advances from the senior sides for funds, or alternatively not redistributing the funds back to the players or their sides.

I have sat in meetings with copies of accounts showing a balance of £6000+, whilst the rest of the meeting was about procurement of sponsors for new kit or equipment rather than even thinking of using those funds (parents money raised by those volunteering coaches), at times it all seemed a greedy approach.

All clubs require some working capital a few thousand seems quite adequate, but why the need to amass more.

The money should be turned over quickly and appropriately, one aspect that always seemed under represented was specialised goalkeeper coaching, use the funds to perhaps ask for qualified sessions for each goalkeeper of each age group, or for those times when we need to hire a 3g/4g, but it needs to be spent, not hoarded because ultimately it will be used inappropriately or wasted, using the contributions from previous age groups on current age groups, that seems unfair, or if imaginative ways cannot be found why not cut the annual fee's demanded from parents.

Use the money, use it wisely, quickly and imaginatively, but use it, spend it and allow those children to be the main benefactors of their own parents contributions and the hard work of the volunteer coaches.

Interesting points.
To be fair to the team my youngest son plays for the subs are good value, so paying a few pound so he could train on an all weather pitch wasn't an issue.
But they have trained at 5 different venues this season because of the weather, the all weather pitch ( not even a decent 3G ) was a last resort.

He did play for another team 2 seasons back and the subs were double what I pay now, his manager was always pleading poverty and asking for sponsorship and money for equipment. This club was part of a well established county league team that had many junior teams, but there never seemed to be a togetherness.
Something was definitely not right with the running of the financial side.

My older son played for a very well ran junior club, the presentation night was brilliant with all ages from u-7 to u-16 attending, also training was on 3G pitches when the weather was bad at no extra cost.

 

[BigGully]

Interesting points.
To be fair to the team my youngest son plays for the subs are good value, so paying a few pound so he could train on an all weather pitch wasn't an issue.
But they have trained at 5 different venues this season because of the weather, the all weather pitch ( not even a decent 3G ) was a last resort.

He did play for another team 2 seasons back and the subs were double what I pay now, his manager was always pleading poverty and asking for sponsorship and money for equipment. This club was part of a well established county league team that had many junior teams, but there never seemed to be a togetherness.
Something was definitely not right with the running of the financial side.

My older son played for a very well ran junior club, the presentation night was brilliant with all ages from u-7 to u-16 attending, also training was on 3G pitches when the weather was bad at no extra cost.

Firstly its quite difficult to somehow apportion value for money when the main contributing service is an unpaid parent volunteer coach, whom then might struggle to access funds to improve their players football experiences.

It perhaps requires a little bit more analysis to what your fee's are spent on and perhaps what is the financial position of your club, although I do agree that sometimes if your happy then your happy, but as this is a thread specifically on the structures and conduct of clubs including a demand for greater funding from outside sources then in my experience the funds have always been there within the clubs but with a reluctance to use them quickly and appropriately.

My eldest Son's best club experience, including end of season presentation nights were mainly due to his coach, the group of parents and those young players, the club itself was no more than the recipient of our parents annual fee's and goodwill which ultimately left a credit surplus of over £6000, which inevitably then was, in my view used inappropriately.

Shortly after my two boys age groups had gone through the clubs system and were to a point the main contributors to that credit surplus, someone felt it reasonable to spend £4000 on club merchandise to re-sell and increase the funds even more, of course someone ended up with a garage filled with unsold club branded umbrella's and coffee mugs.

It was then that I recognised that the funds needed to be redistributed quickly and imaginatively on specific football experiences for those boys and not held in account due to the voluntary work by parent coaches, spend it, use it and benefit by it.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

So many of the sentiments that I share as I now approach the end of my tenure as Team coach of the U16s at the same club as ChaileyJem! Additionally the phone call telling you the opposition are not turning up when you are putting the nets up.. the creation of a new Club website, the design of a new Club badge, and the running of the lottery are all elements that I have found myself doing. It's the sudden realization that having an idea is not enough... you have to get off your backside and make things happen. My memory of the younger age groups is that the Coaches and the parents worry about the result far more than the kids do.. so many of our early matches ended in big defeats, but within 5 minutes of the game ending, the players were happily kicking the ball about again with each other, smashing it into the net that I was trying to take down. For me, game time over results at younger age groups - this enabled the team to survive, have its own identity and ultimately blossom as we were able to attract players from "better" clubs who had folded, or for whom players just couldn't get a game.. we may yet finish with a league title!