DEVELOPMENT
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.

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.

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 in excess of 10 FA Level 1 Coaches and 2 FA Level 2 coaches.

We successfully renewed our Charter Standard status and this now runs until April 2019.

For further details of the Charter Standard scheme visit the FA website at: http://www.thefa.com/charterstandard

Charter Standard News
Following a consultation as part of the FA’s National Game Strategy 2008 to 2012, the FA announced changes to the Charter Standard Club programme. The new criteria applies to all existing and new clubs applying for Charter Standard status.

The changes are outlined below:
  • Goal 1: Growth and retention
    • Club 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 2018.
    • 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 2018.
    • 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: Enable - 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 2018.
    • All clubs are supported through an annual health-check process with their County FA to ensure adherance to the criteria.
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 Feargal Tierney for more information.