U 13's Griffins - News

Dear Parents/Carers and players,
Well, the new season is upon us and trusts you all had a great summer. There has been a few changes to the team this year. Firstly, after doing a sterling job over the last few years Vas has decided to take a more back seat role for the time being. He will still be actively involved in all matters relating to the team, but providing a taxi service for players and answering his phone all hours of the day will NOT be part of his involvement. I have now taken over the reins of responsibility of the team and along with Dave and Vas, will be in charge of running the team in future.
I am pleased to inform you that this year we will be playing in Division 2 of the Timperley and District Football League. Following our fantastic performance last year (league and cup double!) the league has decided to promote us TWO divisions higher. This obviously means that the standard of opposition will improve greatly this year, so we have a real challenge ahead of us.
As you are aware training over the summer has been on an ad-hoc basis and days/times have been varied. This will change on Wednesday 07/09/11 to Chorlton high School, between 6-7 pm. From then on it will be Wednesday 6-7pm every week. As you may notice we only have a 1 hour slot this year. So, it is vital all players are there at 5.45pm for a warm up and are ready to go for 6pm. It is important that when attending training players are wearing shin pads, appropriate footwear and have a drink. We will be keeping records of players’ attendance at training this year and players who either don’t show up without a legitimate reason, or are consistently late will NOT play on a Sunday above a player who shows commitment to the team.
The club has once again provided the team with a smart, brand new kit for this season. I have put the kits together for the lads and they are a bit on the large size in some cases. However, the kit has to last us for two years and I’m sure they will be fine. In order to receive the new kit, the boys have to bring their old one to be exchanged; these will be used by the younger teams.
The squad of players this year is the same 15 who were with us last season with one new addition Joab Thompson, who has trained with us over the summer. I am aware that a few of the lads already know Joab from school, but could we all make sure he is made welcome straight away and part of the team.
On a bitter sweet note, Ronaldo Pearson has attended trials with both Rochdale and Manchester City Academy teams and although both clubs were keen to take ‘Ronnie’ on, the obvious choice was City. This is a fantastic achievement and I’m sure you are all as proud as I am of him and wish him the very best of luck in the future. Unfortunately, this could mean Ronaldo will not be eligible to play for Hough End this season?
I am pleased to announce that once again club subscriptions have not increased this season and as you can appreciate what equates to £3.00 per week for the amount of training the boys receive, equipment provided, costs and fees required to run a football team and time and investment put into the players, this represents outstanding value for money for parents. However, the club have made it clear that they will not tolerate players falling behind with payments this season and players who default will not be considered to play.
I am sure you all agree that our policy of coaching ‘ball to feet’ and emphasis on developing the passing side of our game has paid dividends over the last couple of seasons and we will continue this in the coming season. However, the physical demands will be tougher this season and we plan on developing that area of the team more.
As you can appreciate that with a squad of potentially 16 players this year, players will have to be rotated in the team to give all the lads a fair crack of the whip and I will endeavour to give the lads a chance of playing different positions if appropriate (including sub if they are having a stinker!).
I have managed to speak to and meet the majority of parents over the summer and would love to see a few more turning up to support the team (your kids) over the season. I am really pleased that we have a great set of kids and great parents and would really like to develop that side of the team.
Finally, If anyone has any queries or comments on any matters relating to the team, I can be contacted on (Home; 0161 613 8997), (Mobile; 07958877648), (E-mail; pwgerrard@hotmail.co.uk) or the Hough End Griffins Facebook page.

Thank You Pete Gerrard (Manager)