Norristhorpe Stars
Under 7’s Newsletter – Number 3 (Jan ’08)

As usual I would like to open with how very grateful I am for all your continuing support for both myself and more importantly all of the team.
Firstly I must apologise for the lack of a newsletter recently but by virtue of the term “newsletter” I am of the opinion that I would have to have some news to impart. As we have been restricted by the weather & the number of games we have been able to play, the news & information front has obviously been very quiet.
As everyone is I’m sure aware, we have been experiencing some difficulties with the team and subsequent games during the last couple of months. We all know & have our own opinions behind the reasons for this, but it would appear that this situation is now resolved & can be “put to bed”, with things remaining as they originally were.
We are currently discussing various options, as a football club I hasten to add, for next season & how the teams may line up, if indeed there are to be any changes.

Honours
Because the games have been few & far between, the trophies have been difficult to re-allocate but I would appreciate it if you would base your opinions & votes for the “Most Improved Player of the Month” on Saturday training as well as any of the recent games. We will definitely have a trophy presentation at the end of February & I’ll ask you for your votes a little nearer the time, so if you can give it some thought in readiness.
As far as the captaincy is concerned, we have a couple of the boys who have not had the opportunity to wear the armband yet.................I am fully aware & mindful of this & will be attending to it as soon as possible. I’m a firm believer that this extra bit of responsibility gives the boys much more confidence and I’m sure that this has been proven with one or two of them so far. Therefore please don’t be too disappointed if your son plays the game of his life & the armband goes to someone else, we are running out of games & I’d rather do this sooner than later.
We will be having a presentation night at the end of the season, much as we did at the end of last season. We are currently kicking around a few ideas at the moment but a distinct possibility is to do something very similar to the Christmas party, which appeared to work quite well & each team made a very small profit which we are currently using to buy new & extra equipment.
As last season, every boy in the team will receive a squad trophy; I will also be presenting a trophy for my player of the season. There will also be an award for the Most Improved Player of the season, this is voted for by the parents & supporters of the team – Not, I hasten to add, the players. I still think that it’s important that you don’t vote for your own family member & as such we will produce voting slips for you to fill in. As I have mentioned, this is open to supporters as well as parents & so the “Bradley Army” will all have a vote & I would hope that every team member will get “on the score sheet”.
There will also be an award for the players “Player of the Year”. This will of course be voted for by the team members, I would appreciate it if you would impress upon the boys that this is to be their decision alone, you are to have no input in it & that the idea is not to just vote for their best mate. Please back me up on this.
As soon as we have arranged everything, dates etc. & the venue is confirmed, I’ll let you know.

Volunteers
Thanks to Patrick as usual for his refereeing prowess at our home games, I’m obviously mindful of the fact that his new “job” as Under 10 girls coach may impact on his role with us occasionally, but we will have to live with that and work a way round it. If any of the other dad’s fancy a go at “reffing”, I will support you in any way I can, the only criteria is that the candidate should, in an ideal world, be C. R. B checked. This is not a requirement, only a suggestion but we do have a couple of our “dads” who are currently going through the procedure so if they fancy it.......................!

Cont/
Phil, Bradley’s dad is working on the website & all should be up & running very shortly. We have the opportunity to post pictures on the site & if there is anybody who I have not asked for permission to do that with, would they please pull me on one side & tell me if that is ok or not for their boy.

Once again could everybody please supply me with their e-mail address?
It makes communication far simpler for letting you have maps etc. for away games and such. The easiest way would probably be for you to send an e-mail to me – HYPERLINK "mailto:a.ashpool@sky.com" a.ashpool@sky.com & I’ll save your address that way.

Extra Training
The club has agreed to experiment by employing an outside coach for a couple of months as an addition to all the existing training. This is a similar situation to the various “soccer schools” that run during school holidays. It will be done, as far as I’m aware, by various age groups & there will also be specifics within the training regime, including goalkeeping. For obvious reasons I am hopeful that “The Mighty Bradders” will be interested in this in particular, but I believe that all of the sessions will be open to everyone. When the time comes, I hope that any of the boys who are interested can make it but if you have problems regarding timings or availability, let me know & we’ll try to sort it out amongst ourselves.

Summer Tournaments
We are currently finding out how many tournaments we can compete in during the summer. The intention is that Norristhorpe as a club will enter as many as we possibly can & then split them up between the teams so that we can all play. The only problems we may have are if any of them coincide with personal holidays, so fingers crossed & we’ll see how things pan out.

Parent’s Committee
Due to lack of interest, the parent’s committee has been disbanded & the chair, Anne Jeffs has been appointed to the board to act on all the parents’ behalf. If you have any points to make you can contact Anne directly and she will answer any concerns you may have.
Her contact numbers are: 01274 869974 or 07704 402110.

Next Season
Because as I have already mentioned, we are looking at the team / squad situation for next season it is quite important that we know as soon as possible if it is anyone’s intention that their boy will not be playing next season. We understand that some boy’s interests will change and that some will no longer have the desire to play. Please remember that we will be collecting subs for next season, during the next few months & should your child not wish to play, he can still train with us for a nominal monthly fee, as we used to pay as under 6’s. We are hoping to collect the “subs” in one hit this time as post dated cheques create all sorts of headaches for both the club treasurer & I’m sure you guys as well. If anyone has any feelings on this matter & would like to speak to me in private, please let me know. I hope that all the boys will still want to play in the games next season as I still believe that every single one of them has grown as a player & that they will continue to do so.

Onwards & upwards.

Thanks once again for all your support &
COME ON YOU STARS!
Cheers
Adrian

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