FA Accredited Clubs Raising the Standards

 

  

Charter Standard Clubs ‘Coaching Festival’

On Wednesday 12th August 2009, Staffordshire Football Association held its annual Charter Standard Clubs’ Festival at Stone Dominoes Football Club, for all of the Accredited Clubs in the County who have achieved the FA kite-mark.
  

The Festival, which was free of charge and organised exclusively for Charter Standard Clubs, attracted nearly 200 children aged 7-11, who were put through their paces by a team of FA Qualified Coaches in preparation for the new season.

 

In addition to the coaching sessions taking place for the children, around 50 Managers
& Coaches also attended the festival, and took part in two coaching sessions delivered by FA Coach Educators, to give them a few new ideas and tips to use in the forthcoming season, as well as update them on the new ‘age appropriate’ coaching courses which have been recently developed by The FA.

The idea of the annual festival is to promote the Charter Standard scheme and to give Accredited Clubs the opportunity of preparing their players & coaches for the new season ahead; it also proved to be a great opportunity for players, coaches and parents, to network with other FA Accredited Clubs from around the county.

 

Every player who took part in the coaching festival received an FA certificate & goodies, and every club who was represented at the festival received a free £50 Umbro voucher to spend on equipment to enhance their Club’s coaching programme. 

Pictured above is Staffordshire FA Coach Educator Jeff Vernall, who put on a Level 2 Certificate
in Coaching Football session for the Charter Standard Club Coaches during the Festival. 

Staffordshire FA Football Development Officer, Gareth Thomas, hailed the festival a big success: “We changed the format slightly for this year’s event, with more of a focus on player and coach development rather than the traditional Mini-Soccer festivals we have run in previous years. We weren’t sure how this new format would go down with our Charter Standard Clubs, but the feedback on the day and post-event was excellent”.

 

He added: “The children spent the day rotating around a variety of different coaching stations, being put through their paces by the Staffordshire FA Skills Team and other
FA Qualified Coaches; learning new skills at each station to take into the new season.
In addition to the players picking up a few new skills, putting on the sessions for the coaches who came along also proved to be very popular, and we were delighted with the turnout and the feedback we received from the managers & coaches off the back of the event”.

 

The free annual festival is just one of the ever-increasing list of benefits for clubs who have achieved Charter Standard Accreditation. If you would like more information on the Charter Standard scheme, please contact Gareth Thomas on 01785 256994 (option 2), or at gareth.thomas@staffordshirefa.com

 

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Charter Standard & Football Workforce Awards

 

On Wednesday 2nd September 2009, Staffordshire Football Association held its annual Charter Standard & Football Workforce Awards Evening at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium, to say ‘thank you’ to the volunteer workforce who dedicate so many hours to grassroots football across Staffordshire.

 

Following on from the nomination process earlier in the year, the chosen winners of the various awards were invited to the stadium to celebrate the hard work of our volunteer workforce, and their achievements during the 2008/09 Season.

 

Mike Stokes, (pictured left) Chairman of the Staffordshire FA Football Development Committee, Charter Standard Working Party, and Vice-Chairman of the Association, presents the County and Regional Award to June Smith, Secretary of Stafford Soccer School FC (pictured right).

David Bathurst, (pictured left) President of the Staffordshire FA, presents the Charter Standard League Award to Dave Fenton, (pictured right) Charter Standard Co-ordinator for the Walsall Junior Youth League – the first league in Staffordshire to
achieve this new prestigious award.

In addition to the awards ceremony, the winners were also invited to spend the evening as guests of the Staffordshire FA, at Stoke City’s reserve game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, which was taking place in the stadium that evening.

 

Around 40 guests attended the event, with the following Clubs & Volunteers picking up their richly deserved awards:

 

Football Workforce Awards:

 

Kelvin Chell      - Audley FC

Jayne Haydon  - Bilston Partnership Youth League

Neil Tatler        - North Staffs Junior Youth League

David Vale       - Walsall Junior Youth League

 

Football Workforce Award – Young Person (U25):

 

Patrick Hipwell  - Stafford Soccer School

 

Football Workforce Award – Young Persons (U18):

 

Hayley Farren  - Walsall Junior Youth League

Steven Foster  - Wyrley Juniors FC

 

Charter Standard Club Awards:

 

Club - Stafford Soccer School

Adult Club - Chesterton AFC

Development Club  - Rocester Juniors FC

Community Club - Wyrley Juniors FC

Administrator  - David Fenton (Brownhills Community Colts FC)

Coach   - Ian Morton (South Moorlands FC)

 

West Midland Regional Award:

 

Stafford Soccer School

 

Presentation of Charter Standard League Award (the first in the County):

 

Walsall Junior Youth League

 

The Staffordshire Football Association would like to congratulate all of the winners listed above, but also say a big ‘thank you’ to ALL of the Clubs & Volunteers across the County who dedicate so many hours to raising the standards of grassroots football.

 

If you would like more information on the Charter Standard & Football Workforce Awards initiative, please contact Gareth Thomas on 01785 256994 (option 2), or at gareth.thomas@staffordshirefa.com

 

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Prestigious Award for the Walsall Junior Youth League

 

The Staffordshire FA are delighted to announce that the Walsall Junior Youth League have become the first League in Staffordshire to achieve the prestigious new FA ‘Charter Standard League’ award.

 

Over the last 12 months, the WJYL have been involved in an FA pilot scheme, which assessed the ability of the League to provide a high quality, safe and enjoyable football experience against a standard set of criteria, which included having a minimum of 60% of the teams in the League, with Charter Standard Accreditation.

 

The award also encourages the League to continually develop, through ongoing support from staff at the Staffordshire FA, and the review and ongoing development of a League Development Plan, which was produced with the support of the Staffordshire FA.

Staffordshire Football Development Officer, Gareth Thomas, thanked the League and their member Clubs for all of their hard work in achieving the award; “A total of 444 teams play in the WJYL, and 81% of those teams have achieved Charter Standard status; a fantastic achievement by all of the Clubs, and testament to all of the hard work the League Committee have put in, promoting and supporting their Clubs to achieve the Charter Standard Award. In doing so, they are all significantly contributing towards raising standards within grassroots football”.

He added: “The key challenge now for the League, the Clubs, and the Staffordshire FA, is to continue to drive forward the actions which have been set out in the League Development Plan, and ensure that the foundations are laid for the children who play in the league to have the best experience possible”.

 

If you would like further information on the Charter Standard League programme, please contact Gareth Thomas on 01785 266994 (option 2) or at email address: gareth.thomas@staffordshirefa.com

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Charter Standard Coaches Pick Up Tips from the Top

 

On Saturday 10th October 2009, coaches from Charter Standard Clubs in Staffordshire were invited to come along to a free in-service training day, to observe full-time FA staff delivering coaching sessions to children across all age groups, from Mini-Soccer right through to U18’s.

 

The event was organised exclusively for Charter Standard Clubs, and was an opportunity for coaches to observe FA staff delivering a similar themed session to four different age groups, and hopefully pick up a few new ideas to put into practice with their respective age groups back at their own clubs.

 

The event was held at Charter Standard Club Stone Dominoes FC, who kindly organised the players to take part in the four different sessions, which were delivered by FA member of staff: Jenna Martin (Staffordshire FA Skills Team Coach), Steve Pritchard (Staffordshire FA Skills Team Leader), Chris Dowhan (Regional Coach Development Manager 5-11), and Dennis Mortimer (Regional Coach Development Manager 11+).

 

Staffordshire FA Football Development Officer, Gareth Thomas, explained how the event came about; “Following on from feedback we received from our Charter Standard Clubs at other recent in-service events, coaches had expressed an interest in observing specialist coaches ‘coaching through the age groups’, from under 7’s through to U18’s. With this in mind we recruited the four members of FA staff who all specialise in the age groups they were coaching on the day.

 

Pictured above is Staffordshire FA Skills Team Leader Steve Pritchard, giving a de-brief to Charter Standard Club Coaches, who had just observed him delivering a coaching session themed around
‘Developing Passing & Receiving Skills’ to a group of under 10’s

 

He added; “The coaches who attended were obviously interested in their own age group predominantly, but the other sessions gave them an idea of how to adapt and develop sessions as their players move through the age groups. The feedback we received was very positive, and it’s an event we’ll certainly look to repeat in the future”.

 

Gareth Thomas
Football Development Officer
T: 01785 266994 (option 2)
E: gareth.thomas@staffordshirefa.com

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Inclusion and Equity

Staffordshire FA is committed to ensuring that everyone in Staffordshire, regardless of ability, race, religion, sex and low socio-economic groups has the opportunity to participate in Football in some capacity.

To help achieve their aims in the field of Inclusion & Equity, Staffordshire FA has a Football Development Officer for Inclusion & Equity, Matt Hancock.

To read Staffordshire FA's Equity & Inclusion Newsletter for November 2009 click here.

 

Matt Hancock
Football Development Officer (Equity & Inclusion)
www.staffordshirefa.com

T: 07816 536450

E: Matt.Hancock@Staffordshirefa.com