The Future
The Future
I have been involved with Charlton Rovers AFC since 1994, when I used to take my lad, Jack to Saturday Club at Glenfall School. One day I was asked to help with some coaching routines and that was it. Here I am 13 years later as club secretary, having managed and coached teams over the years. Its a familiar story, as most of the team managers and coaches have been introduced to the club through their children.
The Saturday Club is the lifeblood of the club, attracting children as young as 5 for a fun and energetic workout on a Saturday morning. We have players in the senior teams who started at Saturday Club, and have continued to enjoy their football into adulthood with Charlton Rovers. This makes you proud to be associated with club.
We have a tremendous group of parents and friends of the club who put in an enormous amount of effort to keep the teams and the club going. The club is well organised and on a good financial footing but what for the future.
The club has many ideas and initiatives for the future, and we would like to set up a development team to assist with taking the club forward. We have managers, coaches, a treasurer, 2 x secretaries, a chairman and a child welfare officer, but they all have existing commitments with the club.
The sort of initiatives we would like to explore are:
Fund Raising and Social committee We have about 200 children / adults playing football each week. We think it would be good to get the club members and families together on a regular basis. If you enjoy organising things and would like to take a more active role in the club please get in touch.
Facilities Group Cheltenham Borough Council would support our efforts for a clubhouse / improved changing facilities and pitch improvements at The Beeches. There is government / lottery / foundation money available, but we need to tap into it and get organised. If you feel you could assist, please get in touch.
Girls Football The biggest growing team sport in the country. We will make a special effort to attract more girls to Saturday Club this year, with a view to having an all girl team in the mini soccer league at the beginning of 2008 / 09 seasons. We ideally need a female coach (mum) to take this initiative on. Are there any mums out there who would enjoy getting involved with helping / coaching? You can expect lots of support from the club.
It is a sad sign of the times, but it is increasingly difficult to attract people to the club who are prepared to lend a hand. I know we are all very busy, but we really do need help to take the club forward. If you would like to see Charlton Rovers progress and develop for the benefit of local children please get in touch.
Tim Cooper Club Secretary
secretary@charltonrovers.co.uk
