Lions News #1

Grant funded Portable lighting enables Children to train locally

EB Lions AFC has substantially completed its exciting Winter Lighting project which ensures that it can now train the young players within the locality, rather than travelling to towns for expensive Leisure Centre facilities.

The project has successfully achieved the following ambitions;-

1. Children can train locally and conveniently,
2. Costly Leisure Centres are no longer required for our young footballers during the winter months – saving our parents an estimated c£2,000 p.a. in fees and travel costs, as well as eliminating unnecessary car journeys and  avoiding c6,000 miles p.a., so helping the environment,
3. Enabling Children to train during the school week,.
4. Making the Club self functioning for both training and match days all year around (weather permitting),
5. Training can be flexible to suit.

EB Lions have purchased 24 Light sets, which is sufficient to light three mini soccer pitches, at a cost of £15,000. Additionally, we have purchased aluminium mini soccer goals at a cost of £1,500 and equipment for winter training costing over £750. We still aim to purchase a new storage container once the logistics of this are agreed with Edlesborough School from funds left over from the overall budget, which includes substantial fund raising of our own.
This is thanks to the fundraising advice and help of the following Organisations, whose generous grants have enabled a stunning £19,000 investment in facilities;-

AWARDS FOR ALL – who provided a fantastic £10,000 grant.

Aylesbury Vale – their Community Chest mini grant scheme provided £1,000 and moreover their Grants officer, Sarah Rothwell, helped enormously with other Grant applications and suggesting where else to secure funding.

Bucks Grassroots – The Buckinghamshire Foundation provided a grant for what was an extension of the lighting project. The immediate benefit was so apparent that it was decided to extend the project by acquiring an additional 8 lights and additional equipment, with the help of their £5,000 grant.

The portable lighting system allows for quick set up anywhere and the charged lights provide strong quality lighting with no glare, no mains connection, no noise and are water resistant.
EB Lions has worked in close partnership with Edlesborough School who have kindly permitted use of the school pitch as a training base during the winter and it is hoped that this will continue for future Winters.
Sincere thanks go to the following kind supporters, without who this project could not have been achieved;-
Edlesborough School – the kind and continued support of head, Miss Hatfield, has made this possible and moreover EB Lions are in detailed discussions with the Head, Governors and Friends of Edlesborough School, to make greater use of the lighting capabilities by providing the playground area with power and water supplies.
Mr Adrian Bush – Edlesborough School Caretaker, EB Lions Child Welfare Officer and under 12 team Coach, who has been instrumental in taking delivery of the equipment, setting up and keeping the battery packs charged, as well as setting up many of the evening sessions and supporting the team coaches with his dedication and enthusiasm.
Starlite Megastar – the suppliers of the portable lighting systems which has transformed the facilities and given flexibility to now train under quality lighting locally.

Welcoming the grants and the completion of the project (apart from the container which will be in the Spring) Andrew Lancefield, the Clubs Chairman, said: “Such generous grants goes a tremendous way towards helping the Club achieve its goal of providing first class winter training facilities for the young footballers in our villages. The club’s own efforts underline our determination to providing a facilities for our boys and girls within our community to be proud of and I hope this will encourage even more players to take part in active, health-promoting sports.
 Sport is playing a central role in helping people to stay fit, strengthen communities and promote responsibility among young people. It is thanks to the funding from our partners at Awards for All, Bucks Grassroots Scheme and Aylesbury Vale Community Trust as well as Edlesborough School, that such excellent projects can be achieved".

Development

As we enter 2009, it is a timely opportunity to reflect back on the last 6 years of E B Lions AFC since the current Committee took over and in particular the last couple of years of our exciting journey. It is also worth looking ahead over the coming seasons and how our 2007 5 year plan will continue to take shape. 

The overall vision of the club was and is to provide quality, safe competitive sport and physical exercise for young people of all ages predominantly based in our village communities in and surrounding Eaton Bray and Edlesborough.
 
Within that framework we are keen to continue to;-

• Provide a safe and positive alternative to ‘hanging around’ on the streets.

• Help young people realise their potential, develop personal skills and build confidence.

• To introduce and develop youngsters under 16 (and eventually 18) to active sport, regardless of background or sex.

• To introduce and develop youngsters aged under 16 (and eventually 18) to active and competitive sport within the villages, without having to travel to the Towns to find clubs, irrespective of ability.

We put together a 5 Year Vision for the Club in 2007 as part of our Charter Standard Development award. This comprehensive plan covered a multitude of areas, but the key targets were;-

• To grow to 18-20 teams (we were 8 teams at that point) by 2012,
• To coach 200 children in competitive, fun sport,
• To have around 40 coaches, of which at least half would be FA qualified.
• To acquire our own Ground/Clubhouse.

We are well ahead of target in all areas and were recognised as FA East of England Development Club of the year in 2008;-

• This season we are 13 teams and we expect this to be at least 15 and probably 16 this Summer.
• We currently have 150 children registered, which will grow to 180 in September 2009,

• We have over 30 coaches, of which 15 either hold or are currently doing their Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3/UEFA B badges.

You may well ask how we came up with these numbers or indeed why stop at 20 teams and around 200 players?

We are to some extent unique in that we cater for predominantly village based children. By definition this limits our geographical spread and therefore ultimate player numbers to a degree, albeit we also of course welcome a number of children from outside our catchment, as we have in many of our teams.

These player and team numbers are made up from the ‘ideal’ aspiration, as follows;-

Mini Soccer (boys) – U7, U8, U9 and U10. 
Two squads per age group                          i.e. 8 teams/70-80 players

Mini Soccer (Girls) – U8 - U14 Alternative School years (on average). 
One squad per age group                            i.e. 4 teams/35-40 players

11 a side (boys) – U11, U12, U13, U14, U15 and U16. 
One squad per age group                            i.e. 6 teams/80-90 players

11 a side (other) – e.g. either a boys U17-18 or Girls U15-16 – say one team min. 
One squad                                                     i.e. 1 teams/15 players

These numbers can clearly change slightly dependent on interest, circumstance etc. Teams come together each Summer so it will take us another 2 or 3 Summers to reach this level, when we can draw breath and determine where we go from there. So the Summer of 2011 should see the culmination of our hard work in achieving our growth plans.

The Football Foundation Grant over 3 years to help Coaches FA Development and new teams has undoubtedly supported this plan and made it more certain of success. The winter lights, which is covered elsewhere in our first newsletter is something we incorporated later when demand dictated it and supports our facilities and infrastructure.

One target also contained in our 2007 plan was to acquire a clubhouse as
We originally watched with envy, those local Charter Standard Community Clubs and some smaller Clubs, develop their own land and pitches and build clubhouses. However we have since, through further intense interest and a keen eye, drifted away from this ambitious ideal, principally for the following reasons;-

• Those Clubs become sidetracked away from the children/football, which this is all about, to focus their resources on maintaining a business/infrastructure,
• The need to generate funds is more consuming – the increased ‘rattle of the tin’ understandably upsets some parents,
• We are blessed with a superb setting, Edlesborough Green, where everyone in the village can watch our children play for the Club and many agree is a heart warming sight on a Saturday morning,
• We are able to use and contribute to the development of excellent facilities in three additional village locations,
• We have fantastic support from the Parish Councils in Edlesborough, Eaton Bray and Dagnall and Edlesborough School in providing pitches for mini soccer, 11 a side and training,
• The few sites big enough to house what we would need, even if they are for sale and at a sensible price are all well outside of the village centres – needing cars to travel for everyone, whereas at the moment many can walk to their pitch. 

We understand the need to improve our coaching and technical guidance because whilst we remain keen to develop team work, sport and fun, competitive spirit and desire is critical too, which is inevitably boosted by winning games.  We wish to focus more on the skills over the coming months and years and aid learning to improve all squads and players, making the Club even more successful than we are.

It is thanks to the dedicated support, help and effort of our coaches that makes this Club what it is and of which every player, parent and volunteer should be rightly very proud of the achievements to date.

Lions Goal

Here are the U11's scoring in their 1-1 draw with Beecroft youth 1st February 2009.