F.A. Charter Standard

Just in case anyone may think junior football is a weekend only activity, we thought it might be useful to outline some of the projects and support activities our Development Team have been involved with recently.

Bullying Awarness Course

Our Child Welfare team, Football Managers and Coaches attended a Bullying Awareness course at Tring Athletic Football Club in November 2009 arranged by Elaine Wilson, our Child Welfare Officer.

David Lewis, the Bucks and Berks County Welfare Officer and John Boulton, an independent consultant who works for the Football Association to promote awareness of bullying, faciltated the course which was both thought provoking and entertaining.

The course included the following topics / subjects:

• A Personal, Social and Intimate Space exercise
• Para verbal skills / body language
• The use of language, how to phrase comments
• Decision making and for example, team selection
• Restorative Practice
  
  • How to deal with problems within an accepted framework
  • How to deal with adults
  • How to create a positive culture within the club
  • Involving everyone, including parents and young people in the process

Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC)

The club achieved Community Amateur Sports Club status in August 2008, having been approved by the HMRC Sports Club Unit.

This approval allows us to benefit from various tax advantages, for example claiming back tax on Gift Aid donations, tax relief on the Corporation Tax paid on income and capital gains and non-domestic relief.

Futher details relating to CASC will be available on the website shortly.

F.A. Charter Standard

We were very proud to receive the prestigious FA Charter Standard Club award in February 2004. This is a scheme introduced by the Football Association in 2001 with three main aims, to recognise good practice, raise standards and reward quality in grassroots football.

In order to achieve this award we had to demonstrate that we are a well organised club ensuring child protection is paramount and we now undertake a continuous review of all aspects of the way the club is administered and managed to ensure that these standards are maintained and improved.

We have an ongoing education programme which enables us to provide FA qualified coaches for all age groups. As well as good practice in football coaching skills, this qualification also includes courses on Child Protection and First Aid.

The club has 15 FA Level 1 Coaches and 1 FA Level 2 coach.

We successfully renewed our Charter Standard status in April 2011 and this now runs until April 2014.

For further details of the Charter Standard scheme visit the FA website at: www.thefa.com/Grassroots/ClubDevelopment/CharterStandardScheme/

Charter Standard News

The FA has announced changes to the Charter Standard Club programme following a consultation as part of the FA’s National Game Strategy 2008 to 2012. The new criteria will apply to all new clubs applying for Charter Standard status, however existing Charter Standard Clubs have been granted a transitional period to allow the changes to be implemented.

The changes are outlined below:

Goal 1 - Growth and retention

• Clubs to have a link with a local school, Further Education College or University to recruit new players.

Goal 2 - Raising Standards

• First Aid equipment to be present on match days and at training sessions.
• Clubs to implement the Respect programme Codes of Conduct.
• Clubs to hold a briefing for players, parents / carers, spectators, coaches and managers to discuss on and off field behaviour.
• Community Clubs to run a workshop on why and how to address poor behaviour and improve standards.

Goal 3 - Better Players

• One coach to attend The FA Age Appropriate Introductory module by 2010.
• Development and Community Clubs: one coach to attend the FA Youth Award (L3) Module.
• Community Clubs: one coach to attend The FA Youth Award (L3) Module 2 by July 2011.
• No more than 1:16 coaching ratio and two adults present at all sessions / games.

Goal 4 - Running the Game

• Development and Community Clubs to have a development plan based on the National Game Strategy Game template.

Goal 5 - Enabler: Workforce

• A Volunteer Co-ordinator is nominated and roles identified for volunteers in the club.
• Development and Community Clubs: one coach to attend FA Mentoring course by 2011.
• Community Clubs: one coach to attend FA Mentoring course by July 2011.

From season 2010-11 it is planned that all clubs will be supported through an annual health check process with their County FA to ensure all existing clubs adhere to the new criteria.

Latest Charter Standard Position for the Junior Club

Our current status is that we are continuing to collate the necessary paperwork to apply for Community or Development Charter Standard status. This has been discussed with Berks and Bucks FA and we are well positioned to receive the Development Award and could possibly qualify for the top Community award. It is unfortunate that we still cannot get together a sustainable plan for girl’s teams.

Coaching Courses

The following coaching courses are now being run by the Berks and Bucks Football Association, please let us know if you are a manager, coach or volunteer and are interested in attending:

• Introduction to Goalkeeping
• Goalkeeping Level One
• Introduction to Futsal
• Safeguarding Children Workshops
• Emergency Aid
• Age Appropriate Coaching – Introductory Module (5 - 11 age group)
• FA Youth Award – Module One – Developing the Environment (5 – 11 age group)
• Coaching Disabled Footballers
• 1st 4 Sport Level One Certificate in Coaching Football
• 1st 4 Sport Level Two Certificate in Coaching Football

Referee Development

The club is keen to recruit more referees to support our ever increasing weekend matches and if you are qualified, or would like to become qualified, please don’t wait to be asked contact, Paul Hobart on 01296 668495 for more information.