Hi everyone,
I hope you are enjoying the Easter break.
As ever, lots of great stuff happening at your club. And as we get to the business end of the season, it is only right that I start this note with some great news from our teams.
Here goes,
More League Winners – Under 12’s Girls and Under 13’s Boys
Following on from the success of our Under 15’s girls, our Under 12 equivalent have won the right to be called ‘The Invincibles’, having won their league without tasting defeat.
A huge congratulations to the girls and coaches Ken Platt, Dan Earle and Rick Garnett. A magnificent achievement by all, winning all bar one of their games. The girls have come on so much over the past 12 months. Coach Ken Platt shared “The team work hard, encourage each other and fight to the very end. A true Greetland team. I would also like to state we have an amazing group of parents who make the coaches job so much easier. Thank you all for your work”.
Great words from Ken.
It is also with great pride I share with you our Under 13’s boys have also triumphed in their league. Again, another super achievement for the team and the club and congratulations go to the boys and coaches, namely Adam Oldroyd, Jack Bradbury and Jon Hambling.
Adam commented “Following the amalgamation of the A and B teams, to win the league is an amazing achievement. The boys gelled from the outset and the joy of capturing the title was a reward for sticking together, like a band of brothers”.
Great work all and fingers crossed for some more winners before the season concludes.
Let the Coaches Coach
I am extremely proud of the fantastic work and dedication undertaken by our coaches who are all volunteers. Each week they ensure our footballers have a platform to enjoy the game in a safe environment and they put in hours of work, some of which goes unnoticed.
It is wonderful so see so many parents watching their young footballers each Saturday or Sunday and I know many parents are enthusiastic and only want the best for their child and their team. But please, try and refrain from coaching specifically, from the parents side of the pitch as it can cause confusion and it can also undermine the coach. I have attached a link below, which I would encourage you to have a little read of. Thank you for your support and understanding.
https://eachgameasitcomes.com/eliminate-parent-coaching/
Pitch Improvements
It feels like we have had a lot of rain this winter. More than normal. This has had an impact on football pitches throughout the region, including our own.
We have plans in place to ensure we commence our pitch improvement earlier than we have historically, with a well thought out plan that will result in us being ready for the new season and hopefully our pitches will stand up to the elements throughout the winter.
We do try and protect our pitches as much as possible, thinking strategically with regards to how frequently each pitch is played on. Again, plans are afoot and we are hoping season 23/23 will be our best yet with regards to grass quality.
A New Website – With Great Features
As touched on previously, we are in the process of developing a new club website. This will be our shop window for existing and new members and having had a view of the draft version, it is certainly going in the right direction and I am rather excited about it.
When complete, we will be introducing various new initiatives, which will feature on the website as well as promoted within our social media accounts. This includes features such as Player Profile and Coaches Corner. These features will spotlight our players and coaches on a regular basis. Oh, there may also be one for parents also!
Social Media – An Opportunity
As well as upgrading our website, we have plans to elevate our social media output. With this in mind, we would like to provide an opportunity for somebody to help us with our outputs, specifically around the design element. This would be a voluntary role and ideal for getting some great experience and an entry on a CV. Thinking specifically about one of our footballers, but open to any suggestions for support.
If interested, please drop Gareth Ewing a note via
gareth@thestorytelleronline.co.uk
Supporting our Club – General Roles
Our success and growth as a club is predominantly down to members coming together, sharing their knowledge, experience and skillset. We have a wonderful committee who are dedicated to developing all aspects of the club.
And we are far from a closed shop. We are always looking for additional help. We have over 400 members on our books and I believe we have lots of untapped skills from people who could really help to drive the club forward, ensuring even greater foundations for existing and future footballers.
If you feel you could help us, with a particular skillset in mind, please get in touch. We are in the process of revisiting our committee roles, with a view to increasing the volume of scope. I will share these within my next note, however again, drop Gareth a note if you would like to help. It could be experience in grant writing, business development or marketing perhaps. Anything and everything that would grow our club.
I think that is all for now. I really hope you enjoy the remainder of the season and fingers crossed we may have some more silverware to report on next month.
Regards
Ian Chapman
Chairman
Greetland FC
