With regret and due to unforeseen circumstances we have been forced to cancel the planned additional Wednesday night session with immediate effect.
The ongoing rain has played a part in this decision, as we don't have the use of any alternative indoor areas at the Football Club on a Wednesday night and obviously the safety and welfare of all players is our first consideration.
As you are aware, the Youth Department is required to provide additional coaching time to players in line with the EPPP guidelines. Following the recent parents' meeting and a review of our plans regards the additional coaching time for U12-U14s we have listened to parents' observations regarding the Day Release Programme and we now propose to offer additional coaching time to these age groups during the day time, and NOT on a Wednesday evening. Plus, the football club is very conscious of the huge commitment parents make in terms of time/travel and fuel costs and we do recognise that the additional Wednesday evening could and would be a further drain on many people's stretched resources, for just an additional one hour of coaching each week.
Providing a day time resource would be a far more appropriate solution both in terms of the players' learning environment, their coaching time, and more importantly their safety and welfare. We are now reviewing our daily staffing and will issue a recommendation shortly as to which day we suggest is most appropriate. Furthermore, following additional parents' comments regarding our communication with schools, we will prepare a full proposal outlining the structure of sessions and benefits to players prior to sessions beginning.
Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you in the short term but we are sure you will agree the Academy is working hard to provide everyone with the very best quality and cost-effective product, to keep in line with the new EPPP guidelines, and most importantly to maintain its standards of welfare and best practise at all times.
