Dear Parents

This season has been very exciting in the development of our ever growing club. Our philosophy has always been to be a friendly, inclusive family club hence our stance on not joining the FA leagues until U11’s and keeping our fees and kit reasonable. As we have grown as a club we have been able to offer the children a structure within which they can develop as players whilst enjoying themselves. Each age group has progressed in the following way:

• U6 – Our youngest players who have come along every Saturday for fun training only for their first season.
• U7 – The children have been enjoying playing their first matches which have worked out at an average of a match a month.
• U8 – The children have experienced increased match play, on average a match every 3 weeks in preparation for the “Friendly League”.
• U9 – This season for the first time Ewhurst set up a “Friendly League” with neighbouring teams giving the children a match schedule of playing teams both home and away and ran from the end of September until the end of March.
• U10 – This group started off with 4 players in September and has steadily grown throughout the season to 12. As their numbers have grown friendly matches have been set up and discussions are currently under way to set up a friendly league or possibly enter the Horsham and District League.
• U14 – The boys have entered the Horsham & District League this season.

As you can see there is a steady and positive development of football for the children to develop within. Plans are currently underway for “Friendly Leagues” for next season for U9, U10 & U11.

This year we have paid for several coaches to take part in the FA Level 1 training course and are delighted to report that Allan Gooch (U6), James Walmsley (U7), Ollie Bell (U7) & Tom Harnett (U10) are all now qualified FA Level 1 coaches.

We have also entered the 21st Century and now have our own website www.ewhurstjuniorfc.wetpaint.com (don’t forget to put this address in your favourites list) created by Oliver Hagen at the tender age of 11. The website will be a great source of information for both current and prospective members, please take a look at it. To make things easy at the beginning of next season please download the registration form from the website and fill it in before coming to training. We would also like to take this opportunity to dispel a myth. There is no grace period for returning players, please ensure that your child is registered upon returning. Any child not registered will be unable to take part in any matches.

We have also formed a very amicable relationship with the Parish Council and have received compliments in the last week about what a pleasant experience this season has been from their prospective. It is always important to remember that the Parish Council very kindly allow us to use all the facilities free of charge enabling us to keep our fees low and to put all monies received directly back into the club.

There will be a pre-season summer course from Tuesday 28th until Friday 31st August run by Planet Soccer for Ewhurst Junior FC Players and their friends aged 5-12 years. Ewhurst will receive 10% from every booking made and Planet Soccer have also offered to run a complimentary Coaching for Coaches session early next season for both existing and new coaches as well as anyone who would like to become more involved in coaching. More details next season. Please note that there is a 10% discount for siblings.

There will be an AGM on Saturday July 14th at 11.30am to elect new committee members for the season of 2007/2008. If you are interested in finding out more about the club please come along and join us at The Recreation Ground, Broomers Lane, Ewhurst where there will be hot and cold drinks and some sandwiches and nibbles to sustain us as we make decisions for next seasons. Everyone is welcome. Please check the website nearer the time for positions to be elected.

We will return to training on Saturday 8th September 2007 9.15am – 10.30am. Wishing you all a great summer and look forward to seeing you all again in September.

Clare Hagen