Secretaries and Coaches Update - February 09

I hope you have had a good return to football since the Christmas break. I know the weather has made activity, especially matches, far from predictable but hopefully most of your members have kept up to date with any last minute changes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who are responsible for completing match paperwork as your efforts in keeping up with the requirements of postponement reporting has saved us much needed funds through fine avoidance (each non-completed match postponement accrues a £25 fine the the Club). This season to date we have had no valid fines (we have had three which we have successfully challenged), which is a great achievement given the challenges we have faced during this bad weather. Thanks and keep up the good work.

Hopefully the weather will clear somewhat for us as we move toward spring and with luck match activity will become more predictable. I know this is important to the League as many Clubs are now well behind with their match schedule which will likely cause fixture bottle-necks as the League try to meet their rule to finish all competitions before the 2nd week of May.

February is going to be exciting for Derry Hill as in the middle of the month we will learn whether we have been successful in reaching our Clubhouse funding goal of £300,000.

Everything has so far gone to plan and we currently have £120,000 committed to our project subject to us finding the remaining £180,000 before March. I know this sounds a large shortfall but we are extremely hopeful about the success of our £180,000 bid to the Football Foundation which is due to go to panel shortly.

Finally please take a look at the topics below. There are some important pieces of information to convey. As always if you have any questions, concerns or queries please get in touch.

I do hope you are all enjoying your involvement in our Club. Thank you for all the time and energy which you put in.



WCFCA Coaching Session
Derry Hill United is a member club of the WCFCA. All DHUFC coaches are welcome and encouraged to attend the next coaching session which is scheduled to take place at Stanley Park, Chippenham on Tuesday 3rd February (7pm - 9pm).

Working With Teams
I recently sent out an invitation which offered coaches the opportunity to attend this excellent course. It is being held at The Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon and takes place over two evenings, 24th February and 3rd March (6.30pm - 9.30pm). See my previous mail for further details. Contact our Club Volunteer Coordinator, Wendy Oxenham, by February 6th to reserve your place.

Club/Pitch Closure
Club Calendar
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 February
The Club will be closed, and all pitches at BSG and Springfields will be unavailable for use. I know some of you have League fixtures this weekend but would encourage you to postpone these due to the school holiday, this is especially true for those who are scheduled to have home games - our pitches really could do with a short break.

Coaching Qualifications
In order that we meet our obligations to the FA we have to validate and prove to the authorities that each of our coaches has the appropriate qualifications to meet their role within the Club. More about this later in a separate mail but in the meantime this is just early notification that we will be asking for copies of your current coaching, emergency aid and child protection workshop certificates. If you have chance over the next few weeks hunt them down and put them aside ready for our collection and compilation.

Kit Orders
Can I ask that you pass on the following message to your squad.
Just one week before the deadline on this term's kit order. Please ensure you have all your orders to our kit coordinator, Catherine Saville, by Saturday 7th February. This will be your last chance to get hold of Club kit before the end of season so please ensure you get your order in by the deadline. Orders received after the deadline will not be submitted until the next kit order at the end of the season.