LEIGH GENESIS JUNIOR FOOTBALL CLUB
A forward thinking, successful club serving the children of Leigh and surrounding areas
We address in this section the history, aims and policies of the club
Origins
Leigh Genesis Juniors were formed on the 1st July 2008 as a result of the senior Leigh RMI team changing their name to Leigh Genesis.
The new senior club wished to see stronger links between the senior and junior clubs and were impressed with the recent achievements of Leigh RMI Juniors. All the Leigh RMI Junior teams were invited to join Leigh Genesis Juniors and many teams and volunteers did so. In addition new teams have been created and there are now 22 teams who play under the junior banner together with our long established soccer school.
Membership
Football opportunities are currently provided for some 210 young people and there are plans to increase further over the coming years.
Leigh RMI Juniors Football Club were formed some 20 years ago as a result of bringing together a number of existing junior football clubs in the Leigh area and adding to this, new football opportunities for young people to create a junior football club covering a wide range of age groups.
Charter Standard
The club has held Charter Standard status since 2002 in the form of Charter Standard Club and Charter Standard Development Club. Recent efforts focused our minds on our obligations and we have become more proactive within the community and we were awarded Charter Standard Community Status on 10th January 2008.
Achievements
Our commitment to providing a safe and fun environment for all people associated with our club is long standing. In previous years we have achieved the following:
• Created a soccer school for young boys and girls to enjoy non competitive football as a prelude to them joining our junior teams.
• Delivered soccer camps in school holidays to deliver football in the community.
• Forged links with our ladies team in order to generate interest in girl’s football within all ages.
We have now produced a 3 year plan which aims to plug the age groups gaps we have identified and aims to
provide football opportunities to girls beyond the mixed gender age group and to those people with disabilities.
Management
Our club is well managed in terms of organisation, roles and responsibilities.
Our meetings are held every 3 months. Attendance of these is very high with non attendees being a real exception. Meetings are now followed up with promptly produced and detailed minutes with clear actions that are constantly progressed to the next meeting.
In between each meeting the Officers formally meet to discuss outstanding actions from the last committee meeting and any new issues that have arisen. Very regular contact intercepts these formal meetings in the form of face-to-face, telephone, text and email methods of communication.
The club has a positive and can do approach, and has created a number of new appointments in an attempt to spread out the workload and involve a wider range of members in our decision making process.
Finances
From a financial point of view we have been able to sustain our existing activities from a combination of sign on fees, subscriptions, sponsorship and fund raising. All costs associated with the running of a club have been met from these income streams since our formation, which would suggest that our activities have been proven to be sustainable.
Responsibilities
As a Junior Football Club running a large number of teams, we take a view that the protection of children associated with our club is a key responsibility.
• All Managers and assistants must have attended or are making progress to attend a child awareness workshop.
• In addition to the Club Welfare Officer (CWO) attending a CWO workshop, we have a deputy who has attended the workshop also.
• Training and match day visits are carried out by the CWO and his deputy to offer support to Managers and their assistants in terms of venue, equipment, resources, etc.
Child Safety
Safety is of paramount importance to our club and how we manage our activities has our focus of attention at all times. The individual, Assistant Manager, Manager responsibility are supported by the Soccer Parent, CWO and deputy and Officers of the club. This is demonstrated by officials attending various training and match venues, in a supporting role, and raising any unresolved issues direct to the Secretary.
Coaching
Coaching of players starts off at 6 years old in our well established Soccer School. Here we concentrate on fundamentals of movement skills, fun games and techniques. As players develop, we progress into opposed skill practice and arranged friendlies to provide live match practice. We now have some 20 x 6-8 year olds receiving coaching in their first year of football as a preparation for introduction into formal teams for next season.
We run parallel with our Soccer School free football taster sessions to primary schools. The objective of this is to create an even bigger and better Soccer School and obtain players for our planned new teams.
The coaching of our players is the key activity of our club. In our objectives and vision, this coaching is specifically referred to. Most of our players obtain coaching at least twice a week at training and, of course, match days. This is sometimes supplemented with Academy, FA soccer skills or in-house specific sessions, such as goalkeeping sessions, depending on the individual.
Coaches
We currently have 23 qualified coaches, 2 of which are female. Qualifications range from FA level 1 to level 3, age appropriate training modules, goalkeeper coaching, coaching disabled footballers.
We aim to double the number of qualified coaches, increase our number of level 2 and 3 coaches and gain more qualified women and coaches for disability football.
In order to develop our players we need to develop our coaches and this is carried out as follows:
• Coaches who do not have a formal coaching qualification when they start to coach are encouraged to attend a level 1 course ASAP. A time limit of 12 month applies at which point disciplinary action may be taken against the Manager if the qualification is not achieved.
• Identification of level 1 coaches with the necessary experience and attributes are encouraged to take level 2.
• Identification of level 2 coaches with the necessary experience and attributes are encouraged to take level 3.
• All coaches are invited to attend Lancashire FA in service workshops and our coaches have attended the following in the last 12 months:
o Goalkeeping
o Introduction to level 2
o Skills module course 5-11 year olds
• In house master class courses aimed at a particular theme. i.e. fitness and training
• Cross fertilisation of coaches to assist other teams.
• Shadowing of level 3 coaches by level 1 and 2 coaches.
• Introduction of students from Wigan/Leigh college into our Soccer School.
• Planned introduction of Young Sports Leaders into our football taster sessions.
Codes of Conduct
As a leading Junior Football Club, we are more aware than ever regarding the very real obligations that our placed on our members in terms of their conduct.
We recently reviewed our codes of conduct and these have been reissued, so that all are aware of what is and what is not expected of them.
We are now developing an internal agreement, which will focus on:
• Image - including wearing uniform, smart hairstyles and promptness.
• Communication – zero tolerance of abuse, only positive communications on the field and negative to be held in private.
• Smoking, alcohol and drugs – all prohibited.
• Management – clear responsibilities for each Manager.
Discipline
We have currently incurred a very low number of disciplinary points however, in an effort to force this down even further all disciplinary offences for the forthcoming season will receive greater focus. All players and their Managers will be interviewed by the club Secretary who will decide whether any internal disciplinary action needs to be taken. At the time of interview, fines will be collected thus improving our ability to pay promptly. A league table of our best behaved teams will be created so that we can reward those responsible for obtaining only a few points and look at reasons why some teams are amassing more.
Forging Links
Our links with our key partners is steadily improving and is stronger than ever:
• Lancashire FA
• Wigan and Leigh Football Development Forum
• Wigan and Leigh Culture and Leisure Trust
• Leigh Sports Village
• Wigan and District JFL
• Bolton, Bury and District JFL
We greatly value these relationships as it’s proven that by working together, individual and common objectives can be met.
Training Facilities
We are currently reviewing our home pitches and training venue requirements, and are including in our consideration grass, 3G, and Astroturf. We have started partnership discussions with Leigh Sports Village and Lowton Community Sports College to explore potential opportunities to maximise facilities to the wider community. We have created a Soccer Centre specification to give us a “utopia” scenario and to see what really is achievable.
Communication
The administration of the Junior Football Club has moved on markedly in the last 12 months. The creation of Exel and Word documents has replaced those previously handwritten, which means most methods of communication are via electronic mail. We are reviewing, amending and reissuing our policy and procedures and developing best practice and are in a better position to maintain our quality records.
We have created specifications, objectives and plans so to give us a clear view of the direction we are talking and provide a review mechanism for us to learn from the many experiences that we will undoubtedly face.
Rob Atherton
Secretary
15 December 2009