I’ve met some fiercely loyal supporters of football clubs. Ones that have tattoos of, have named children after, and would do just about anything for their club. Intense. And emosh.
This begs the question: what would you do for your club? Would you give some blood? (I would)
A new season is upon us and it’s time to start recruiting some new talent. I started playing for Hampstead this season and they’re a lovely bunch of women. If you’re into football and meeting new people, come along to some of the summer sessions to see if you’d like to join the squad.
The way football clubs are funded is broken. From the Premier League all the way down to grassroots clubs. Broken. And financially unsustainable. It’s not aspirational to have multi- millionaire’s pumping money into clubs, making players salaries extortionate amounts. What example does it set to young footballers? Be talented. Make £250,000 per week.
Grassroots clubs on the other hand rely heavily on grant funds, cash from local authorities, subs from players and fundraisers. I’ve lost count of the number of football fundraisers I’ve both attended and organised. Of course these type of events are fun, lovely and a great way to support teams, but hitting up friends and family for money and all the effort that goes into bake sales, pub quizzes and tournaments is massive and completely reliant on passionate people to organise . There has to be a better way.
Here’s a scenario: you’re in Kenya, somewhere between the rift valley and Nairobi. The car you’re in gets a flat tyre. Your driver doesn’t speak much english. So you sit on the road side looking at the trees thinking of ways to pass the time.
After much anticipation, I’m so excited to share Hackney Laces Community Club’s new logo.
This is how it will look on various colours of kit.
BIG love and thanks to Lucy Groom and Naresh Ramchandani at Pentagram for creating this.
Stay tuned, there’s loads more to come!
This week at Laces we decided it was time to come up with some club rules. These are rules to go by when at training and just generally as part of the team. I asked every player to write down a rule or two that they thought was important. And here’s what they came up with:
(Note: training starts at 530pm)
Beginning November 1st, I started a 7 week pilot for the project formerly known as ‘Just Another Football Club‘.
It took me a while to decide where I wanted to run the pilot – more importantly, which area lacked sport and community based opportunities for young women (between the ages of 13-17). I met with football folk in Hackney, Camden, Islington and Haringay. After meeting
Pete Blackwell, the London Manager for ‘Reachout!’ a mentoring charity, I was sold on Hackney.
Pete agreed to partner with me and provide pitch space at Petchey Academy where he runs Reachout FC.
Now that the 7 weeks have ended, I’m stoked to say that it has been a success.
Some numbers:
– 21 different players on the register, 10 who consistently come (3 or more weeks)
– 7 text messages, all from different players that read:
“You’ve been sent this message by 07xxxxxxxxx asking you to call them back as they are out of credit. (Normal charges apply)”
– 4 players who have been there every single week. Amazing dedication.
– 3 brand new shiny players who have never kicked a ball in their life
– 2 weeks of standing outside Petchey when school got let out with flyers, spamming random school kids with leaflets about the session (note: this was on the advice of the school’s groundsman told me to stand outside at 330pm and hand out some info. He said this will be a surefire way to boost numbers. So this is what I did. I stuffed flyers into the hands of school kids with with my email and phone number. Aside from me feeling like a stereotypical overly-enthusiastic North American, it was good. Numbers doubled after doing so. Result.)
– 0 footballs/equipment of any sort lost (I’m pointing this out because it’s normally very rare)
One thing that really surprised me was despite some brutal weather, players would still rock up. As a footballer myself, I know all too well how demotivating it can be playing in the cold, wet British winter.
I could ramble on forever about all of the great stuff that has gone on in the pilot but I’ll stop here and save that for a later post.
Here’s what’s next:
– I’ll be continuing with the session, Tuesday nights at Petchey (working towards a friendly 7-aside match against a nice, beginner to intermediate level side)
– There’s a website on the way alongside the branding, partners and all that jazz
– The membership scheme will be finalised so you and anyone you know can become part-owner of this club for the tiny fee of £10 per year. What a bargain.
– I’m making a rota of footballers (male and female) come out and help with sessions.
– Getting a few of the older girls (16 year olds) on a coaching Level 1 course.
Special mentions:
Trying to get something off the ground is hardwork. Really. And without certain peoples’ support this would likely still be something I’d only dream about doing. So here is my first honour role of lovely people – and there will be plenty more to be added to this. It’s only the beginning.
– Naresh Ramchandani, who aside from having top notch football banter, basically convinced me to quit working for him to pursue this. Oh and did I mention he has re-named and branded it?
– @nataliedoyle82 from the London FA for spreading the word
– Pete Blackwell and the crew at Reachout for being crazy helpful and encouraging.
– Orlando from Actis, my newly found mentor. He didn’t bat an eye lid when I pounced on him at a mentoring matchmaking night put on by Unltd.
– Keisha Graham Benjamin (her initials are KGB – funny, right?) for rallying together all the teenaged girls she knows in Hackney. Including multiple members of her family. And a few circus performers.
If you or anyone you know would like to get involved, please do get in touch!
Ps- I gave Glove Love to the team as a Christmas present. It was very well received.
PPs- Apologies for the pictures quality. They were taken on a borrowed Blackberry in the rain.
When I was ordering kit for Laces CC a few weeks ago, I searched for ethical footballs. I was looking for something outside of the usual football suspects (Nike, Puma, Adidas), and I came across Fair Corp. After reading about their supply chain and their impressive values, I ordered 7 of their ‘Ethletic’ balls.
At first I was dubious as they came in a small box deflated. Once I put air into them, they looked and felt like standard footballs but were a bit bent out of shape. But then after a few kicks and knocks they were broken in and are just perfect. See?
The girls love the spots on them and I like telling people about them when I’m asked what make they are. If you’re ever in need of ethical fashion and sports equipment, have a look at Fair Corp. They’re good ‘uns.
Since November 2010 I’ve had an idea brewing in my head. Often obsessing and sometimes losing sleep over it, this summer I finally got my act together and pitched it to Unltd (a fund for social entrepreneurs) for some start-up cash but mostly for something to kick me into action.
So (drumroll please) this is where I officially announce the beginning of Just Another Football Club. Yes, it’s exactly what the world needs. Another football club.
The idea is to create a community football club for girls between the ages of 13-17. The issue I’m trying to tackle is retaining girls in the game, as there is a really high drop off rate for girls in this bracket. And research has shown that this correlates with two things: a lack of funding for girls and women’s clubs and lack of support.
I’ve always solicited my friends for money via bake sales, pub quizzes, football tournaments, half marathons, and more, to help support the football teams I’ve coached and played for. While I love events and my very generous friends, there has to be a better more sustainable way.
The second issue, a lack of support, come from limited or no opportunities outside of actually playing the sport. Sport has been known to increase self-esteem, develop leadership skills, build relationships and much more but what if a player loses interest in playing – can they still be a part of the team?
The players will have opportunities to get involved in lots of different stuff – not just playing, but coaching refereeing, organising events and other activities.
To tackle these issues and create the best football club ever*, my goal is to build a football club that would be owned and supported by the community. This won’t be an FC, it will be a CC. A community club. Anyone can become a member for a £10 share. All members are equal. This membership lets people to help make club decisions, receive special offers and discounts at local shops as well help fund a grass roots football movement.
If you have ideas or skills to lend, know girls that want to get involved or just want to be one of the first members of the club, get in touch.
The pilot starts tonight and will run every Tuesday night for 6 weeks at Petchey Academy in Hackney from 6-7pm.
*solely my opinion, and likely mine alone.
Ok. He’s gone. And Arsenal are in trouble with a shocking start to this year’s premier league. Oh Cesc. You are sorely missed.
I spotted these amazing pics in the Guardian, courtesy of photomontage. Just brilliant.