Document Version: 2014.02 Last Updated 25/07/2014 By Bruce Heard 2014-2015 Season Ravens Youth Football Club Membership Information Pack

Welcome To Ravens Youth FC This hopefully helps you find out a little about what Ravens Youth FC are all about and why we believe we are the best youth football club in the area! A non-profit making organisation that exists purely and simply to provide kids (both boys and girls!) with the chance to learn and play football in a safe, friendly and most of all fun environment, Ravens Youth FC now currently has teams playing in most of the youth age groups and a strong Youth Development Squad for those aged 3-6 that are not yet old enough to be able to play in organised leagues. We pride ourselves on the fact that we are a fully compliant FA Charter Standard club that adheres strictly to the standards dictated by the FA both in terms of how football clubs should be run, and in terms of our ethos and philosophies; We believe firmly in football for all and as such are happy to take both boys and girls of any natural ability, and teach them how to play the beautiful game of football the right way, by adopting a possession-based ethos that focusses on team-work, working hard and always trying your best, having respect for all those involved and most of all, having lots of fun playing football! Ravens FC was founded in 1988 and based in Chelmsford successfully ran both adult and youth football teams competing in local leagues and tournaments. It is perhaps true however that there was a focus on the adult section and in 2010 a number of the long-standing members of the club decided to separate the youth section completely to form what is now Ravens Youth FC, based in Springfield, Chelmsford. Children dont remember what they are taught, they only remember what they learn by doing! (Albert Einstein)

FA Charter Standard For A Reason Unlike some clubs who may chose not to, we adhere fully to the standards described within the FAs Charter Standard scheme that is designed for the future generations that are now learning how to play football to ensure they are coached in the right way and provided with a safe, friendly and FUN environment in which do it! Our challenge is simple - to help young people fall in love with the game, and stay in love with it Above all else, the welfare of the children is our priority, and so all of our coaches have at least the minimal level of recognised training and certification required, many of them with much more; At least Level 1 FA Coaching Badge A Recent Criminal Records Bureau Check First Aid / Emergency Aid Training & Certification Safeguarding Children Training & Certification An FA Coaches License Continuous Professional Development Completed each season to further increase coaching skills More broadly speaking, our overall ethos & philosophy is based on a development approach and not (as is the case with a lot of clubs) a performance based approach this means that instead of focussing on a team winning, we focus on the development and improvement of each individual child, building their skills, techniques and understanding of the game, and allowing them to learn the importance of working hard, always trying their best and team work, which in turn makes playing more enjoyable, more rewarding and ultimately more successful longer term. We operate an Equality Policy that guarantees every child will get the same opportunities and amount of playing time as all the others, and we dont prioritise only those that may have a higher natural ability level we prioritise ALL of our players regardless of their ability, knowing that in the long run this will benefit all the children much more and ultimately, they will become better players and better teams! (The FA)

A Complete Family Experience Ravens Youth FC is a complete family experience, providing both the children with the opportunity to have fun playing football and meeting new friends (these being the top 2 reasons why children play football, as well as the parents and their families with the opportunity to involve themselves in the club and participate in social events, again resulting in meeting new people and making new friends Every journey begins with a single step Naturally we recognise that for many in the modern world, finding spare time can be difficult so we dont expect everyone to give up their time to become coaches, club officials and committee members etc to help run the club, but we do encourage this and like to provide anyone that is interested with opportunity to do so, providing and paying for any relevant training. We do however, believe that its not just our players that deserve all the fun and so the club also organises a number of social events throughout the season for our members, some of which will be for all the family, and some just for the adults. In the last season we have held such things as a golf day, race night, football fun day, our end of season presentation day, a sponsored walk to raise money for Little Havens Childrens Hospice as well as many others and we already have things starting to be arranged for next season, including a psychic medium evening in November. The club encourages our members (both players and parents) to make suggestions and provide ideas on events and how to improve the club, and wants everyone to feel it is their club We might be relatively young compared to some other clubs in the area, and we might not (yet!) have the facilities that some other clubs have, but we have BIG ambitions and we dont let that stop us in providing the best experience for all the family! (Confucius)

Our Ethos & Philosophy For us, its all about the kids! We believe the most important thing is that the kids have fun, by recognising that every child is unique and different and that they will all have different levels of ability, preferred learning styles and will learn, grow and improve at different rates ultimately our core objective is: to help every child to reach their own full potential. I love to learn, but I dont like to be taught By following the methods and approaches dictated as part of the FAs Charter Standard, and by adopting coaching, training and playing methods as prescribed within the FAs Level 1 & Youth Module coaching badges, we know that your child will learn to play the game the right way and will have lots of fun doing it. We focus on all 4 corners of their learning needs, making sure they have the right technical skills of course, but also ensuring the right level of attention is given to their physical development and the ABCs Agility, Balance, Co-Ordination & Speed. In conjunction with those, its also important to add the right balance towards their psychological growth and most important of all, their social development needs. Its another reason why we encourage our club to be a complete family experience, as we know that the more we know about you, the better we can coach! (Winston Churchill) So whilst we expect all our players to always work hard and always try their best during training and games and to be as competitive as they can be, we measure success not by how many games we win or how many trophies a team might win, but instead by simply making sure that every child improves every season and is having fun if we achieve that, we are happy! Ultimately, there is only one way that any child improves and that is by letting them practise and play football so they themselves can gain the understanding they need to learn, which is why our training sessions are game based that involve all the children all the time thereby allowing them as much time with the ball as is possible. Involving them individually helps us to understand their needs, and also why we adopt a development approach and a strict equality policy to ensure that every child gets the same amount of playing time... No child has ever got better at playing football by watching from the subs bench!

When & Where? As you will now already be convinced Ravens Youth FC is the club for you, you need to know when and where! Our Home ground is at: Phase 2, Springfield Hall Park, Arun Close, Chelmsford, CM1 7QE We have exclusive use of the pitches (it those through the gate the on the right hand side as you drive down Arun Close) through the season, there is plenty of car parking space available and toilets available. Training takes place on Saturday mornings, the exact timing will depend on the age group but will be typically one of 2 sessions we run, with the first between 9:00am 10:30am, and the second between 10:30am 12:30pm. All our teams play in the Blackwater & Dengie league and matches are normally played on Sunday mornings each week. I dont believe skill is the result of coaches It is the result of a love affair between a child and the game of football (Roy Keane)

Membership Benefits & Cost In line with our football for all philosophy, we will continue to remain a non-profit making organisation and build our club in the right way with any profits made each season being fed back directly to the players and our members by providing better kit, equipment and facilities, and this allow us to keep our subscription fees to an absolute minimum thereby making it affordable for most and great value for money, with our all-inclusive subscription fees including; All training throughout the season All league registration fees All pitch, match fees and referee fees throughout the whole season for all league, cup and friendly matches Player injury insurance Each player will receive a full playing kit comprising of a top, shorts and socks Each player will also receive a training kit comprising of a top and shorts, that will also have their initials and squad number printed on it All training / match equipment is provided by the club Every player will receive a trophy at the end of season presentation awards day Ive missed more than 9000 shots in my career, Ive lost over 300 games. 26 times Ive taken a game winning shot and missed. Ive failed over and over again and made many mistakes, and that is why I succeed because Ive learnt from each one (Michael Jordan) In addition, being a member gives you access to all our social events, communications and social networks such as our weekly newsletter and Facebook group, so you are always kept up to date and informed about what is going on! We also look to obtain sponsorship for every team that allows us to provide additional items of kit for the players such as team tracksuits etc. and we offer flexible ways to pay, allowing for subscriptions to be paid in 6 monthly instalments if that is preferred, and for anyone with genuine financial hardship we will always be happy to discuss other options and reduced subscription fees... All you have to worry about are boots and shin-pads, and we may be able to help out with those if needed!

Still Not Convinced? Lets face it, we are talking about your most precious possessions here (your children!) so you cant take any risks we know that and we understand that, which is why we run our club the way we do (the right way!) and apply the ethos, philosophies and policies that we have to guarantee that your child is always in safe, friendly and fun environment and treated equally and fairly So if you are researching other clubs, please do consider the key points covered with those clubs! The only failure in life is the failure to try (George Bernard Shaw) To assist you, here are some further reference points that we would encourage you to review; Our website (www.ravensyouthfc.co.uk) and more specifically all our club rules and policy documents (www.ravensyouthfc.co.uk/club/Documents)www.ravensyouthfc.co.ukwww.ravensyouthfc.co.uk/club/Documents The FAs website (www.thefa.com) and again more specifically the pages dedicated to youth football (www.thefa.com/my-football/player/youth-football)www.thefa.comwww.thefa.com/my-football/player/youth-football The Essex FAs website (www.essexfa.com)www.essexfa.com And if you have any questions or want to discuss anything in more detail, we are always happy for you to come a meet us anytime; our coaches and club officials, our players, and our parents! If you want to contact us, please give us a ring on: 07824885255 / 01245256878 or send us an email to: [email protected]@talktalk.net We cant wait to meet you!