Hamble United have had a great season , all enjoying their football and proudly wearing the club colours .
We now have an adults six a side tournament coming up in July and a youth tournament in August . Then the season starts again . We need to continue with fund raising so we can replace the larger equipment in order to maintain our 3 pitches . We are coming to the end of our lease negotiations with The Hamble School and Hampshire County Council where we hope to secure the clubs ground for our long term future .”
Youth
“ Youth football is what our club is all about ; the only reason I started the senior teams was so the young players had an exit route into men ’ s football . I have young men playing for me in the first team that I was training in the soccer school when we first started .
One of them is now running our U14 ’ s team . Being able to help young people develop is very rewarding and we are not here just to teach them how to play football - it is more than that , it ’ s about teaching them how to be decent all-round individuals .”
Integration
Challenges
“ As I would imagine is the case with most clubs , it is funding that provides the most challenges as it effects everything we do including paying for courses , kit , venue etc . there is an endless list . Everyone recognises grass roots football needs to be supported and funded but it ’ s not readily available . There is a massive difference between verbal support and practical funding being available and easily accessible . Funding will always be an issue . Sustaining the number of volunteers needed to provide a quality experience for our players and their families and being able to continue to develop the site are our other challenges .”
Ambitions
“ We would like to be able to develop the site so that we have with changing rooms , showers , coffee shop and club house on site . We currently have to walk over into the school gym to use changing rooms etc . My dream has always been to have an old fashioned pavilion that is at the centre of the community where I can go when I ’ m even older and greyer and have a chat with the young boys and girls coming through the club .”
“ Younger players are coached by some of our senior players and coaches so that they are known by the younger players , once they get to an appropriate age we encourage them to train alongside senior teams and then when they reach the correct age and if they feel able to we introduce them slowly into senior football , pairing them with a mentor so they don ’ t feel over whelmed by it all , as we all know an adult dressing room can be quite daunting .”
Community “ Without a doubt we are a community club . We play and train in Hamble having been linked with The Hamble School since before we have leased our ground from them . The vast majority of our players and Managers come from the local area . We would be unable to sustain the continued growth of our club without being part of the community and having strong ties with The Hamble School .” www . footballfocusmag . com 31