Hi everyone,
I hope that you are all keeping well during this weird, crazy and surreal time and that your family and friends are also safe and well too.
I just wanted to write to you all to keep you up to date with how we are trying to deal with the recent Corona Virus outbreak at Colts, as this has obviously had a big impact on the club as a whole and more importantly the children’s season of football.
As a committee we are trying to operate on a “business as usual” basis. Whilst we will have to cancel events such as the presentation night, we do not want to just simply stop like some other clubs have and we are busy looking at some alternative ideas that will allow the managers to end their seasons properly and for the players to receive their awards and have some closure on what has certainly been an eventful season for a number of reasons.
Think back to the start of the season in August when all we were talking about was Brexit! That seems a distant memory now…. Then there was the general election, followed by the rain that never seemed to end and then the inevitable floods and a raft of cancelled matches. Looking back, all these events seems very insignificant now as we try and tackle something that none of us have experienced in our lifetime.
However, just like the British public in general, Colts have a strong fighting spirit and the way we have set up over the past 4 years has allowed us to be able to weather events like this, even after so few years as a club. We are not reliant on a large event like a six-a-side to keep us afloat each season, we have our own pitches at Croshaw that we can use as we see fit when things improve and we have also reinvested previous seasons monies into new venues, equipment and making sure that we have a sound financial footing in case of events like this.
As committee, over the next two months we are going to commit to completing the following for all of you parents and players alike….
- An online version of our presentation night programme will be delivered to all of you electronically, as well as to all of our sponsors who we will ensure have free advertising within the programme. This will be with you prior to the 16th May 2020 as that is when presentation night was due to take place.
- All managers will receive all of the player’s individual trophies, as well as the individual awards of Most Improved Player, Managers Player and Players Player between now and the start of May. It will then be down to the managers to decide how they go about presenting the awards, but I am sure they will come up with some creative ideas that will keep the players entertained.
- Finally, we will be looking very closely at our financial model and ensuring that as a club we try to assist all of our members during this tricky time where people are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts or simply not being able to work at all. We will investigate all avenues to see if we can get any grants to assist with club development and we will also look at the signing on process to see if we can assist with either staged payments or alternative arrangements. We can also confirm that signing on fees will remain at £100 per player, with siblings still benefitting from the 50% discount on the eldest child paying a full fee.
Unfortunately, as many of you are aware, the Football Association are not always as forgiving as some organisations when it comes to fees. Whilst the club is trying to do all it can to help during this tricky time, there will still be bills, insurances, affiliations and other standing overheads to pay, therefore your ongoing support is much appreciated. In turn, we will do our best to give your child the best experience possible whilst playing youth football and continue to build on the “Colts Family” ethos.
We also need to be conscious of the many businesses that have supported us over the years and try to support these businesses going forward too. From our kit suppliers, to the generous sponsors of the players kits, everyone will feel the impact of the next few months and hopefully between us we can all work together and make the 2020 / 2021 season one to remember. This will also mark the 5th anniversary of Lancing United Colts therefore it will be a special one for the club to celebrate.
There are also a few people that I want to personally thank that I would usually thank at presentation evening.
Firstly, the managers and coaches of the teams. It takes a special person to be a manager or a coach of a youth football team and I can not praise our group of managers enough. Each week they provide the club and the players with hours of their valuable time for free, and a lot of this work goes on behind the scenes unnoticed. Our club, our reputation and our ongoing existence is only ever as good as the managers we have in situ and I am proud to say that as the Chairman of this amazing club, I feel that we have the best group of managers around. Thank you guys, you are the definition of “not all superheroes wearing capes!”
Next up, the committee. It is at times like now when the committee come into their own and demonstrate how strong they are as a group of people. Lots of work goes on behind the scenes that people will never ever realise happens and until you get involved with a club like I have over the past 10 years, you do not appreciate the effort that a small group of people put in to keep everyone as happy and content as possible. One thing I have especially learned over the past 5 years is that you cant keep all of the people happy all of the time, but we seem to be doing a pretty decent job of keeping the majority of our players and their families content and that is the main focus of the committee and always will be. Becky, Chip, Paul, Dan, Tash, Leigh and Ant, thank you for all of your help and guidance this year. Long may it continue.
Then there are the players. We are now a proper club with 15 teams that range from the age of 6 to 16 years of age. Our growth has been phenomenal these past 4 years and all the players that pull on the Colts shirt week in week out do the club proud. Our discipline record is good, we are well respected amongst other teams and most importantly we are competitive at all levels. Every player and team that I see look razor sharp in their kit and the club brand is now well recognised in both the local community and the wider youth football community in Sussex and beyond. A massive well done needs to go to all the players for representing the club so proudly over the past 4 years since our inception in 2016.
And finally, you, the parents. Without the support of the parents there would be no club. The players sometimes forget the hours, mileage and money their parents put into their football, but this does not go unnoticed. Thank you for choosing Lancing United Colts as the club of choice for your child and thank you for your ongoing support as we continue our journey.
Stay safe everyone, and I am looking forward to seeing you all again in hopefully the not too distant future.
All the best
Glenn Souter
Lancing United Colts FC – Chairman
