Lee Rangers Newsletter (volume 1 Issue 1)

LEE RANGERS YOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB

Lee Rangers Newsletter V O L U M E

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Welcome!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Parent’s Meeting

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Events

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Calendar The FA Respect Campaign

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Volunteer Coaches Needed

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Fundraising Night Out

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Become A Parent Member

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Our Beloved

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Sponsors

Welcome to the first Lee Rangers Newsletter. I have been asked by my fellow committee members to be the Parent Liaison and Communications Officer for the club this season. What a grand title! What it really means is that the club needs someone dedicated to ensuring a twoway flow of information between club and parents (including guardians, carers, grandparents and all you other lovely people that bring your kids to matches on cold winter’s mornings). This Newsletter is a first step towards this goal. Additionally, I hope to get to at least one match or training session for every team this season, at which time I will be speaking to you to get your ideas on what you like and don’t

like about the club, and to get your ideas for our continuous improvement. I will also take the opportunity to share with you the latest updates from the club and also

[email protected]

If you do not have email access, please pass on your message to your team manager whom I am sure will get your message to me by hook or by crook. This club is going places. It’s an exciting time to be a part of Lee Rangers. The ultimate beneficiaries of our transformation will be our children. To get more involved, please see the article in this newsletter about the recent parents meeting… and don’t forget to read the bit about becoming a Parent Member!

answer any questions you may have (if I don’t have the answer, I will find someone who does).

Superstars Postponed We were planning to have our annual Superstars event on Sunday 14th September at Lee Junior School. Unfortunately we had to cancel this event as the school’s policy insists on attendance by its Caretaker who is on long

You can also email me at any time with your ideas and feedback. My email address:

term sick leave. We wish him a speedy recovery. We will be organising a future event and as soon as this is planned all Parents and Managers will be informed. We do apologise for this unfortunate circumstance.

Yours in football, Stephen

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Parent’s Meeting

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Parent’s Meeting Lee Community Centre 4th September 2008

The Committee would like to thank all those that attended the Parent’s Meeting last month. This was a great success with a lot of twoway sharing of information and ideas. Here is a brief recap of what we covered: Club Vision – Our Chairman, Manny Martins, gave everyone an insight into his vision and dreams for our club. “Football for all” and our own ground were high on this list. Nobody can accuse this guy of thinking small! Club Growth Plans – Our Vice Chairman, Martin Lee, gave an overview of the club’s five-year plan with an emphasis on the reasons for our pursuit of FA Charter Status. In addition to the five-year

“I moved to Lee a year ago with my wife and boys… I had no idea about Lee Rangers or where to get more information”

number of expenses involved in running our club. These expenses leave us with very little surplus. Every penny counts. Parent Liaison – Yours truly took five minutes to explain the purpose of my role in the club and encouraged everyone to bring me your ideas… and not to expect me to think of everything! I hope the above has whet your appetite enough to come to the next meeting in November. Please see the Events Calendar section for more details.

Financial Update – Our Treasurer, Steve Butterworth, gave an update of the club’s financial situation and shared with everyone where your annual fees are being invested. It was interesting to learn that even though our 200+ membership fees bring in a few thousand pounds, there are an equal

Club Awareness in the Community One feedback point given in the parents meeting was that we are not doing enough to get the club’s name (and contact info) out into the community. There were some immediate ideas suggested within the meeting, such as flyers

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plan, and in response to questions from the audience, Martin clarified for the attendees why the club is so concerned about fan behaviour at matches. The fact is that due to a number incidents over the last year, Lee Rangers is not viewed in the best light by the League and if incidents continue, we will be ejected from the League. Thankfully with respect, common sense and restraint from all, we will be able to remove this perception. We all have a role to play in ensuring this happens.

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in our schools, the library, and the community centre. You may have noticed that implementation of this has already begun; flyers can now be seen at Lee Junior & Infant schools, Gomer Juniors, Bay House, Elson Infants, Lee, Stubbington

& Gosport Libraries and Gosport Council Offices. Alverstoke schools along with Grange Juniors are also planned. If you have any additional ideas regarding where we should advertise the club, please do let us know.

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Events Calendar In addition to all the matches and training, you can now look forward to these events too: Wednesday 19th November 2008 Parents/Community Meeting Lee Community Centre 8:00pm Wednesday 18th February 2009 Parents/Community Meeting Lee Community Centre 8:00pm

Wednesday 13th May 2009 Parents/Community Meeting Lee Community Centre 8:00pm

Wednesday 8th July 2009 Signing-on Evening Lee Community Centre

Wednesday 1st July 2009 Annual General Meeting Lee Community Centre 8:00pm

“It is great to now see the whole pitch and game without having to edge forward to look around people. It

The FA Respect Campaign Barriers

also makes it a lot easier for the linesman and coaches to run the lines and for the

If you have watched Match of the Day, Sky Sports, or any other program covering the professional game in England this season, you will have heard about The FA’s Respect Campaign by now. From The FA web site: “Respect is The FA's programme of activities to combat unacceptable behaviour in our game at every level - on the pitch and from the sidelines. This was the No.1 priority emerging from the biggest opinion survey to date of grassroots football in England. It was carried out in late 2007 and directly informed The FA's National Game Strategy, published in March 2008. We hope that Respect will ensure a safe, positive envi-

ronment for everyone to enjoy football”

Lee Rangers Youth Football Club is supporting this campaign wholeheartedly and we encourage everyone involved in the club to embrace this initiative. You can find more information about The FA Respect Campaign at http:// www.thefa.com/TheFA/ Respect/ Many of you will have noticed that we now have the new FA Respect Campaign Barriers at most of our home matches. It is encouraging to have already received some good comments from referees and opponents who attended our first home games this season. Lee Rangers is leading the way here and we are sure many other clubs

will follow suit. We all love to cheer our teams on and I know personally how difficult it is to keep myself back from the lines in the dying seconds of a game when we’re one goal down! But this is a serious business and the FA is very clear about what is expected of teams and fans. If one of us were to cross the line it can get the club into some serious issues with the league, regardless of intent. So please support The FA’s Respect Campaign and help ensure our matches are a joy to watch for many years to come.

players to take their throw in’s”

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Volunteer Coaches Needed Do you have children between the ages of six and eight that would like to play in Lee Rangers colours?! Do you fancy yourself as the next Harry Redknapp or Sir Alex Ferguson?! If so, you are just the person we need to get our new U8 or U7 teams started.

It Could Be YOU!

Currently there are no teams at this level, even though we know there are children keen to join out there. We are looking for passionate helpers who would enjoy helping children develop their football and social skills.

You will be given FA Coaching and will attend additional courses such as Emergency Aid Sports Injuries & Safeguarding Children. You will also benefit from the support and assistance of our highly qualified Head Coach - a Development Officer with the FA. We also supply all your kit (except boots and shin guards). This commitment from the Club will we hope result in the continued training and development of all our players as per our Development Plan. You will need to give a

minimum of one weekend morning per week to cover training sessions and/or matches, plus occasional weekends to attend the courses mentioned. You will also need the patience of Job! Coaches do not need to have children at the club, so please pass this Newsletter on to any friends you think will relish this opportunity. Coaches are rewarded with the satisfaction of forever having a special place in the hearts and memories of a lot of children.

LEE RANGERS Lee Rangers are going to have a night out at the Dogs at the Portsmouth Greyhound Stadium on Friday 24th October. We are looking to book 100 tickets, so will be done on a first come first served basis. If anyone is interested please let your team manager know or contact Dave Orpin 02392556460 or Adrian Dykes 02392552498 Under 14a Manager and Coach. Cost to be arranged but will not be too much. Transport to the dogs will be arranged. Tickets are already selling FAST! LEE

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Become a Parent Member... Go on… You know you want to...

For the bargain price of £2 per year, you too can rub shoulders with the elite of the football world… No, not Steven Gerrard or Gary Linekar… I’m talking about U11A League & Cup Winning Manager Liam Taylor, UllB Fair Play Award

Winning Manager Angela Lewis, U17 Cup Finalist Manager Mark Vincent, and other glowing football personalities. If this prospect leaves you weak at the knees you can always come and sit with me in the naughty kids corner for a swift pint (real ale please).

cost £2 per year and for that you get to vote on key club decisions, take up committee posts, and attend key meetings that affect the running of the club and its future direction. To become a Parent Member, please contact Jeanette Orpin ([email protected])

Seriously though, we would love to have more Parent Members in the club. It does

Do We Have Your Latest Contact Info? While information is regularly updated on our web site, we do sometimes want to get important communications into your hands quickly. For this reason, it is very important that we have your latest contact information on file at all times. This information will never be used for non-Lee Rangers business.

While email is our preferred method of communication due to cost and speed, we realise not everyone has this facility. Please send any changes to your contact information to Jeanette Orpin for Youth Soccer at [email protected]

Feedback I hope you have enjoyed reading our first club newsletter. We are planning to release these quarterly and would warmly welcome your feedback for this edition and your suggestions for future editions. Let me know at [email protected]

In addition to this Newsletter, please visit our informationpacked web site www.leerangers.com as often as you can to get the latest updates in the world of Lee Rangers Youth Football Club.

or to Glenn Broadway for Mini Soccer at [email protected]. You can also call Glenn on 07917 403040. If you are not sure what we currently have on file, send it anyway and we will doublecheck it.

“Lee Rangers Youth Football club will not use your personal information for anything except club business. Never ever! We won’t sell it, trade it, advertise it… We wont even laugh at your photographs… Okay, we may laugh at your photographs, but your personal details are safe with us… We promise!”

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Lee Rangers Youth Football Club The home of youth football in Lee-on-the-Solent

Contact Us Your team manager is always your first point of contact. In addition to your manager, feel free to contact these lovely folks for anything else regarding Lee Rangers Youth Football Club: Jeanette Orpin [email protected] Glenn Broadway [email protected] 07917 403040 More contact details are available on the web site.

Committee Chairman Manny Martins Vice Chairman Martin Lee Treasurer Steve Butterworth Head Coach Steve Stone Youth Secretary Jeanette Orpin Mini Soccer Secretary Glenn Broadway Club Secretary Michelle Gillies Child Protection Officer Fiona Todd Child Protection Officer Angela Lewis Fundraising Adrian Dykes Social Events Organiser Dave Orpin Communications Stephen Moss

We’re on the web: www.leerangers.com

Thank You to our Sponsors