CLUB HISTORY & THE WAY FORWARD
Crosfields Junior Soccer Section was formed in May 1998 by a group of 4 parents who wished to set up a Junior Football Club to cater for the specific needs of local children. These 4 founders wished to set up a junior football club that welcomed all children no matter what their ability & to set about providing football coaching aimed at enhancing the players football skills but whilst making it a fun & safe environment for the players, where they could learn at their own pace. Out of the 4 founders only 1 remains & has strived to keep the original ethos of our Club from when it was first formed & to take our Club forward to ensure that we always provide the very best for our players. Back in May 1998 our Club only consisted of 3 age groups, namely Under 7’s, Under 8’s & Under 9’s, with 30 players. The Club has since expanded in a relatively short period of time to cater for Under 5’s age groups through to Under 17’s age groups, for 400 players.
The parents who originally formed our Club firmly believed that all children should be allowed to participate in our National sport & adopted the ‘Football for All’ motto. At Mini Soccer we have non-selective values & will allow children to join our Club whatever their ability, providing that there are adequate ‘coach to children ratios’ for the safety of the children themselves. We literally take the first players who contact us & waiting lists are only set up once a squad is full. We work with the players that we have to enhance their skills & the understanding of the game & we simply do not give up on players or ever tell them that they are not good enough. As a result we don’t have a high turn around of players & we retain our players & many have received long service awards for commitment, which they receive after 5 years of joining our Club.
All mini soccer run mixed boys/girls squads, so that both boys & girls can participate.
However, as a Club we accept that we are learning more & more each season on the best ways in which to run the Club. We issue Questionnaires to players & parents to assess how we are doing. We are receptive to new ideas & will always strive to improve matters where we can. By the 2000/2001 season we realised the changing needs of the 11-a-side players & have recognised the more competitive element of the 11-a-side game to encourage players to achieve their full potential. This gives the older players a goal to strive for in training sessions & in matches.
We are not scared to implement safety measures such as banning bladed football boots from the start of the 2006/07 season – however un-popular this move may have been with some. After thorough researching of this particular design of football boot it was deemed extremely dangerous if the blades became sharp & serious injuries have been sustained. We gave parents 6 months notice that this type of boot couldn’t be worn by any of our players & have noted with interest as other Youth Academies & the Warrington Youth League have followed suit. Above all the safety & welfare of our players is paramount & we feel justified in setting this policy.
We readily took on board the FA Charter Standards when they were first introduced & we became the first Club in Warrington to attain this status. To be quite honest we didn’t have to do a lot of work to achieve this status, as we had already implemented the majority of the Charter Standard practices through our own philosophies, but we have worked very hard to maintain this status as our Club grows & to constantly re-evaluate what we are doing & what we are trying to achieve. We always look to improve & to re-assess our goals. As a result we have been awarded with National, Regional & County FA Charter Standard Development Club of the Year in 2004, & Regional & County FA Charter Standard Development Club of the Year in 2005 & 2006. In February 2004 we recognised the need to set up teams to cater of all-girls. Current FA law prevents players from playing in mixed boys/girls teams after Under 11’s & this caused heart ache for several age groups with girls, who were no longer allowed to play & train for them from Under 12’s upwards. We advertised for girls to come & join us & we set up all-girls training sessions. Word soon got around & before long we had - we nearly 50 girls from Under 7’s through to Under 14’s training with us. Initially the training sessions were run by existing Team Managers & coaches & gradually we persuaded parents of the girls to come on board & register as coaches & administrators to run the girls age groups. In September 2004 we entered our 1st all girls U11/12 League team into the Edgehill Girls League & our Under 9/10’s all girls League team into the Cheshire Girls League. Our girls teams have grown from strength to strength & we have U9/10 & U11/12 participating in the Cheshire Girls League & U13/14 & U15/16 participating in the Liverpool County FA Girls League. All of our Team Managers & Coaches & age groups Administrators are parents or grandparents of a child within the age group. All of the coaching & the administration of the Club is undertaken voluntarily by these parents & grandparents. Likewise all of the members of the Management Committee & the Executive Committee are also parents of children within the Club. Our Club is run by parents for the benefit of the children in the Club.
The role of the Team Manager is a particularly difficult task & our Club seeks the co-operation & support of every parent who has registered their child with the Club. Our Club actively welcomes the help & support of other like-minded parents. There are a variety of ways in which parents can help either for the benefit of their own age group or for our Club as a whole. If any parents would like to volunteer their help in any capacity, then please let your Team Manager know. Any help is very gratefully received & appreciated.
All Club funds are used to directly benefit the children of the Club & the expenditure of the funds is decided by the Executive or Management Committee. The Management Committee consists of all Team Managers & coaches & a monthly Club Meeting is held – usually on the 3rd Thursday of each month in our Club House, where all squads must be represented & we always welcome parents to come along to see how decisions are made & to have an input into the running of our Club. Players monthly training fees are set at a minimum to ensure that this sport is affordable for everyone.
From the start our Club has pledged to equip the children of the Club with the equipment which it believes is necessary. In addition to the Club drill tops & Club tracksuits, it was our goal from the 2001/2002 season to purchase Club wet tops for every player. Our Club also believes that players should all be allowed to work with a ball each at training sessions, in order to develop the child as an individual player as well as developing team work. The Club has therefore been committed to maintaining our standards set from the 2000/2001 season of providing a ball per player to encourage ball mastery skills. All Club wear (club drill tops, club wet tops, club tracksuits & club playing strips) are loaned to the players free of charge whilst they remain Club members.
Exit routes into open age soccer have already been established, so players may continue to play football. The Club has on-going development plans, which are constantly reviewed to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the players. It is the Committee’s intention that this will always be a well run, well organised, well equipped & well funded Club with an excellent reputation for catering for the players needs. Our proudest achievement was gaining our goal for the 2001/2002 season by being awarded with F.A. Charter Standard Development Club status in August 2001. During the 2007/2008 season we hope to gain FA Charter Standard Community Club status which is the highest award that a grass roots football Club can achieve.
