EAST GRINSTEAD MEADS NEWS

NEWS

Last Updated 23:30 on 07/07/2010

Sussex Charter Standard "DEVELOPMENT" Club of the Year 2010 - East Grinstead Meads FC were awarded this prestigious title in May. This is recognition for the ethos within the club, for the quality and quantity of coaches as well as for the way the club is run. It was awarded by Sussex County Football Association and was open to only the 15 top CS Clubs within the county. This follows on from the Sussex CS Club of the Year 2009.

U10 Champions - Congratulations to the U10 squad who won the City division of the Crowborough League this season. Well done to Alan, Neil and all involved with the team. A magnificent performance.

U12 Runners-up - The U12 squad came runners up in their Horsham League in 2009 / 2010. Well done to Mark and all those involved with the squad. A fantastic season.

2010 Football Festival - This years festival was held on Saturday 22nd May 2010. We welcomed 64 teams this year. Full report to follow.

Sussex Charter Standard “Development” Club - The club is pleased to announce that we have been successful in our application to become a Charter Standard “Development” Club. We met or exceeded all the requirements as laid down by The FA, these included completing 3 years as a CS Club and continually evolving the club to incorporate new Child Protection procedures. The club were also required to have one Level 2 qualified coach (we have two!); to show all adults who have contact with children are suitable via CRB checks, they attend Child Protection workshops & First Aid courses; A Development plan to show the club is progressive in its ideals and aspirations; Financial Accounts to show club stability and growing player numbers indicating a popular and successful club. Thanks go to Jem Newman for his hard work in putting all the paperwork in place for this fantastic landmark achievement.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

EG Meads FC General Meeting - Pre-season meeting due last week in August.

Horsham League Registation Deadline - To ensure football for next season please complete and return Registration Forms before July 17th

Imberhorne Lane Dates - The first day Imberhorne Lane is available for matches is Saturday 4th September 2010.

Club Coaching Day - This new "Developement" will take place pre-season when all coaches will swap age groups for a Club Training Session at Imberhorne Lane. Date TBC.

2010 / 2011 SEASON

Teams entered at age groups U7 to U10 (Crowborough League) and U11 to U16 (Horsham League) for next season. For more info please go to the Team Pages. We also have an U6 Developement Squad who play football at the Meads Primary School on Saturday mornings.

Matches - All 11-a-side matches to be played at Imberhorne Recreation Ground (Sat).

All mini-soccer matches to be played at Halsford Park School on Saturday mornings.

The big blue storage container at the Rugby Club has been fitted out with shelves (Thanks to Duncan Tocher and Neil from ROTAN). Every age group has be assigned one key. Please store all goals, flags, line markers etc. inside, and keep tidy!

RECENT EVENTS

FA Cup Semi-Final - The Meads were asked to supply two players from the club to act as Flag Bearers at the FA Cup Semi-Final between Chelsea & Aston Villa at Wembley. This was a great honour and we have been chosen as we are Sussex CS Club of the year. The lucky 2 players Libby Williams and Arjun Agarwal and their parents were guests of the FA.

Dads' Footie Match - 11-a-side Dads v Mini-Soccer Dads. SATURDAY 20th MARCH 2010 @ Imberhorne Lane Pitches KO 4pm

EG Meads Easter Football "Developement" Course - There was a one day course on 14th April 2010 @ Halsford Park School.

England v Portugal @ Wembley - EG Meads were given 25 tickets by the FA to see England U21 v Portugal U21 at Wembley on Saturday 14th November. They had a brilliant day last Saturday at the England / Portugal U21 match. We hired and filled a coach. The seats in the ground were behind one goal and unfortunately a lot of the action seemed to be at the other end (including the goal!) but the result was good and the atmosphere was superb. A great first Wembley experience for most of the youngsters and first time at the "New Wembley" for most of the adults.

Christmas Party - This was held at The Meridian Hall, East Court on Saturday 21st November 2009. About 100 parents attended and much dancing and merryment was enjoyed. Paul Gates won the signed England Shirt from the raffle. Thanks to Sue Stitson, Angela Tocher & Sharon Clarke for all the hard work making it happen.

B&HA FC Developement Course - Half Term - Around 50 players attende the "Developement" course over Half-Term. It was a great success and we hope to hold a second event next year! If anyone has feedback it would be great to hear (good or bad) so we can improve the event for next year.

Mini Soccer Managers Workshop - Wednesday 30th September. 9 parents attended this workshop aims to provide better quality football coaching through mini-soccer.

Referees’ & Linesman’s Course - Wednesday 7th October. 15 parents attended this workshop which helps to understanding the rules of the game at both mini soccer and 11-a-side formats. The course was taken by an Sussex FA Referees Instructor.

FA Youth Award - Module 1 - Neil Gadd has successfully passed this new qualification. The course lasted 4 days at Sussex County HQ and is designed to help coaches progress to the next level of coaching with the 8 to 12 age group. Well done Neil.

International Match v Bermuda - On Sunday 2nd August a combined U11 & U12 Meads team played host to visiting team from Bermuda. Devonshire Cougars were in the UK to play in the Umbro Tournament in Manchester and they were looking to play a extra game before their departure from Gatwick. We were contacted by their American Sports Travel Company via our website and this match was quickly arranged. The match was a close contest with The Meads having the greater possession but The Cougars had greater control and skill. Final score was 0-2 to the Cougars with a unstoppable 25 yard pile driver in the first half and an own goal following a period of pressure 5 minutes from time.

Meads U14 Sportsmanship Winners! - Congratulations go to the U14 squad who for the second year running have won the sportsmanship award for their age group. Well done lads you are a great example to the younger teams and the club!

Meads U9 Winners! - Congratulations go to the players, Alan and Neil for Winning the East Grinstead Town Footie Fun Day and being Runners Up, for the second year running in the Langton Green Festival in the last couple of weeks.

Meads U10 Weald Division Runners Up - Congratulations go to the players, Andre and his team for comming runners up in this division. This looks good for next year!!!

FA Level 1 Coaches - Congratulations go to Brian Madden & Shaun Melody who have passed their Level 1 Assessment in May. Shaun will be coaching the U6 squad next year and Brian is going to run the U9 squad for the next couple of years. Both coaches will be looking to players' parents for help and support to make these age groups a sucess.

EG Meads Football Festival 2009 - 54 teams from around Sussex, Kent and Surrey converged on Sackville School to participate in the 2nd East Grinstead Meads FC Football Festival.

The event was split into 2 half day sessions with the U7 and U9 age groups in the morning and the U8 and U10 groups in the afternoon. In total 186 matches were played in a fantastic sporting manner and this was a tribute to all the players and the eight referees who supported the club throughout the day, a fantastic effort.

First Aid cover was supplied by Dr Jerry Hill and St John Ambulance, our thanks goes out to these people for their support, thankfully the worst injury was a bruised knee.

The U7 and U8 age groups played a non-competitive festival, many of the players experiencing matches for the first time, every team playing at least 5 games. All player receiving medals for their efforts on the day. The U9 and U10 age groups played a round robin tournament on a divisional basis. The winners and runners up in each league winning a trophy and players from all teams taking home a commemorative medal. Winners were as follows;

U9 (Blue) Winners – Maidenbower Utd, Runners Up – Crawley Utd, U9 (Red) Winners – Ashurst Wood, Runners Up – Crawley Utd, U10 (Blue) Winners – Heron Way, Runners Up – Lingfield Youth, U10 (Red) Winners – East Grinstead Town, Runners Up – Denton & South Heighton.

The Festival was pleased to welcome the East Grinstead Mayor Lee Maramara and the Mayoress to the event. The Mayor watched a number of games and was impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the players and supporters. He went onto present all players with their well deserved trophies and medals.

All visitors were kept fed and watered by helpers from Meads FC especially the amazing spread of homemade cakes, cups of tea & coffee and a BBQ.

Our thanks go to Sackville School for the superb venue, especially Harry Burton the caretaker and for our numerous local sponsors on the day including The Printroom, Guy Salmon (Gatwick), Harvest Construction, Denver Gas Services, H&S Cleaning, R&M Autocare, Big Ben Ice Creams and Road Runners Taxis, whose support was crucial to the days success. All profits from this event will go into the club to promote and provide football for the youth in the East Grinstead area on a “Football for All” basis.

Thanks should also go the Meads & Halsford Park Primary Schools who provide facilities and pitches for matches and training for our mini-soccer teams throughout the year.

Meads FC End of Season BBQ - Over 300 people attended this year presentation event held on Sunday 28th June @ EG Rugby Club. All teams’ coaches made awards to various players for their performances throughout the season. Every team presented a special award as the Coaches Player of the Year to the player who contributed the most to the team throughout the whole season. These awards were donated by Merstham Juniors FC and EG Meads FC are grateful to this club for their generous contribution.

Club Coaching Day - This new "Developement" idea took place on Saturday 9th May 2009 when a Training Session for the whole club was run at Imberhorne Lane. All age group coaches were swapped around to aid their developement and to inject new ideas into maybe old training regimes. Over 120 players and 10 coaches with numerous parent helperstook part. The morning finished with a club photo.

FA Level 2 Coaches - Congratulations go to Sarah & Andre who have passed their Level 2 Assessment in April.

England 4 v 0 Slovakia - Meads FC took 49 supporters to Wembley on Saturday 28th March. It was a fantastic trip in a stunning stadium.

First Aid Course - 11 coaches and parents attended the Emergency Aid course on Wednesday 25th February.

Child Protection Course - 14 people (Coaches & Parents) attended the Safeguarding Children Workshop on Wednesday 11th February at The Meads School. The course was run by Caterine Lerner the Sussex FA County Wealfare Officer.

Volunteers - The Club is looking for volunteers to help run the ever increasing workload associated with our expanding club. If anyone is interested in any way please see any of the Age Group Coaches or contact Steve Phillips (01342 300866), for more information about what is involved.

SPONSORSHIP

Waitrose - We have been informed that Waitrose will be donating £220 to the club from their "Community Good Causes" event in November. We would like to thank the store for its support of the club.

EGTC £300 Grant - For the second year the club has been awarded a grant from East Grinstead Town Council of £300 towards putting new coaches through the Level 1 course and to replacing the old mini-soccer goals.

New Sponsor for U7 - A big thank you to eDSB Construction Consultants for sponsoring the U7 squads training jackets.

New Player of the Year Trophies Sponsor - Merstham Juniors FC have generously donated money to go towards new POTY trophies that will be awarded annually. Merstham Juniors disbanded back in the 1990s and has donated money left over in its account to local youth football teams. Our thanks go to Maurice Gurdin for this generous donation.

New Sponsor for U9 - Printmark have renewed their sponsorship for the U9 for next season. Thanks to Mark Clare and Dean O'Hara for their continued support.

New Sponsor for U7 - Hockley Wright Chartered Accountants are the new sponsor for next season.

EGTC £300 Grant - The club has been awarded a grant from East Grinstead Town Council of £300 towards putting new coaches through the Level 1 course and to replacing the old mini-soccer goals.

Generous donations from Roadrunners Taxis & Saab Turners Hill at the Football Festival

Sponsorship for the U9s from the HOP Partnership

Carillion have sponsored the clubs' coaches kit of fleece & polo shirts to wear at matches / training etc.

Thanks goes to Ben & Sharon Clarke who generously donated money for the U12 and they have all been kitted out in warm training tops and replaced the old orange shirts. Thanks guys!

Alan Hayes Engineering for the U15.

New Haze (Air Conditioning) for the U14.

Roger Bullivant Construction for the U13.

works4group for the U12.

ON-TAP for the U11.

Printmark and KC Pipe Installations for the U10.

Ashdown Motors for the U8.

Hockley Wright Chartered Accountants for the U7.

In recent seasons we have also recieved grants from the Football Foundation & from Barclays.

Sponsored By

Riga Construct Ltd

DHFarthers, Herbert Sports,

Southern Counties Services

Barclays Bank, Carillion

Roadrunners Taxis, Printmark

Saab Turners Hill

Football Foundation