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from GrassRoots Magazine June Issue 8

This Months Content

Great KitAid Road Trip

In this KitAid's 25th Anniversary year, local KitAid Volunteer Barrie Neal has taken up the challenge to visit 25 football grounds across Essex, where he is to photograph the KitAid banner.

Undertaking the KitAid challenge Barrie is collecting funds for KitAid's work at a JustGiving site https://www.justgiving.com/page/roadtrip-essex1677775751739 which provides more details. Updates on the progress being made is also being provided on a dedicated twitter account at EssexRoadTrip2023 @Trip2023E .

Great support has already come from visits so far to Broomfield FC, Springfield FC, Wilvale Rangers FC and Runwell Sports FC.

Runwell Sporting FC have also gone the 'extra mile' providing pitch side advertising (using their own KitAid banner) and made a massively appreciated and much needed financial donation direct to KitAid too.

Can Barrie visit your ground and photograph the KitAid banner ?

If you are interested in Barrie adding your ground to the Essex KitAid Road Trip please let him know so that he can schedule it into the list of 25 grounds to be visited this year. He will just want to agree a time that he could photograph the banner at your ground. His JustGiving site is also open if you are able to make any financial donation to his KitAid fundraising effort: https://www.justgiving.com/page/roadtrip-essex1677775751739

Kit Collection And Donations

The focus of KitAid's work, is of course the collection of unwanted football kit & equipment and its distribution to areas of the world where the game is loved, but participation is held back by lack of access to kit & equipment.

Most recent collection and distribution totals show just how close the charity is to reaching the magic 1 million items of kit & equipment shared and spreading smiles for the love of the game.

6,080 items donated in April

43,215 items donated in 2023

977,112 items donated since 1998

22,888 items to go until the 1 million.

Do you have any unwanted

kit to donate ?

Our clubs across Essex, with schools and local people, have been providing kit donations for many years now - but the 25th Anniversary year is extra special. If you anticipate having any unwanted kit or equipment this year you might consider contacting local KitAid volunteer Barrie on barrie.2014@yahoo.co.uk

Mayland Village FC have had pictures back of their own substantial kit donation, which is now spreading smiles for the love of the game in a rural village in Zimbabwe:

Local referee around Basildon area

Charlie Forrest TEL: 07377999847

All youth sides are £20 a game

And over 18's are £40 a game

Happy and willing to commute to surrounding areas

CLICK HERE: For my Facebook page 'FFR’ (Forrest footballing referee’)

IF YOU ARE A REFEREE AND WOULD LIKE TO ADVERTISE PLEASE CALL 07752 178637, OR EMAIL: grassrootsmag@btinternet

The grassroots boys met up with Simon & Mark to ask them some questions about their newly released book THE ACCIDENTAL MANAGER. It’s a book all about the ups and downs of Youth Grassroots Management warts & all!!

Q: What made you write the book in the first place?

A: My last season I'd experienced absolute roller coaster of ups and downs doing it. It had a real impact on my mental health along the way, there were times when I didn't want to do it, but I did it anyway because of the kids and it ended so well and I realised there was a story to be told. Both my own personal story, but we really must raise awareness of some of these issues in football.

And I would agree on this. We've been involved. We were part of the problem. Make no mistake, we've not in any way made ourselves out to be Saints. We’ve behaved in ways that we probably shouldn't have done.

Q: Do you think Kids football is improving with all the Respect initiatives?

A: I went to a match only this year and it was worse than when I was involved, so I think more has to be done to raise awareness of what children are having to go through every Sunday because it's not fair, due to the way parents and coaches conduct themselves.

A lot of adults involved are not really making the experience as good as it should be for the kids, I saw a lot of bad things going on within the clubs and leagues and it goes back to the volunteer thing. Yeah, I get that, we're all volunteers. We all deserve respect, but that shouldn't give us a licence to conduct ourselves in the wrong way.

I was trying to find something that I could read to do with grassroots football that may help me but most books for grassroots were all pretty much about coaching.

Q: Has there been any interaction from the FA? Have they seen this is, has anyone contacted?

A: No. We've got some decent contacts, we connected to Billericay Town and the guys there have been most helpful. A big thankyou to Nicky, who does the photos. He took the photo for the front cover, he runs the press and put us in touch with a lot of people. I also know a couple of the explayers one of which is Ricky Modeste to who's a friend of mine, he helped us with the book and also wrote the foreword which was great”

But no, we haven't had any direct contact with any leagues. I tried contacting one of the grassroots associations a while back to see if we could get work together, for some support. And it was made very clear to me that they weren't in any way Interested. I was even accused of wanting free advertising, which isn't what we're trying to do at all.

Q: What was your inspiration?

A: The thing that gave me the idea was I found a book called “Junior Football – it’s not a man’s game.” It is about this exact subject, and it was written by a guy called Steve O’Donoghue who's a really nice guy from Manchester. It’s a great read and it's very much along the same lines as what we're doing. We also thought our own journey was interesting and it was important to raise awareness of the problems in the junior game

Q: What makes your book different to other football books?

A: There are 1000’s of books telling you about how you should do things, but none of them tell you how you shouldn’t do something. There are no guidelines for that. Lots of books tell you how to set up drills and the logistics of football coaching, but none of them cover the important bits. How you deal with children, how you conduct yourself, how parents should conduct themselves around children playing football. Think how parents conduct themselves at other sports like gymnastics, swimming and tennis when they sit there quietly and watch and let the coach just coach.

Q: Who's your target audience?

A: I think anybody involved in junior football, dads who have got kids in football and obviously other managers. I guarantee there will be a story in the book that will relate to you, someone you know, even something you have witnessed, the frustrations dealing with a league or a club or even a parent. In the book there is a part about parents, where we describe 5 types of Parents. I defy anybody in any team to say that I have not got one of the 5. I’d love to meet that person. I'd like to go and watch that team play.

Q: How long did it take for you to write it?

A: I started in early 2020 soon after I stepped down from junior football, but then during Covid and business pressures, not much happened for two years. Mark got involved in early 2022 and we really pushed on and the first draft was done by end of last year

Q: What will people enjoy about the book?

Just me personally, I think the honesty that we've tried to get across and how we were part of the problem at times. You quickly become so consumed with it that you do become part of the problem. I didn't realise some of the times I would behave in such a way. My wife would be over the other side of the pitch, she’d say afterwards, “oh, you shouldn't have done that” and I would think she’s right. I shouldn't behave like that, but in the moment it's how football grabs you. Whether you’re down Southend watching it in the terraces, or in the London stadium watching the mighty West Ham. You can get so engrossed; you get lost in the moment. But when you are standing in the terraces, the professional players probably can't hear what you're saying.

Q: What’s next?

Well, if this goes well, we've got some ideas in the background. We thought that we'd like to follow up with maybe another book, or maybe some form of documentary. But yeah, we both feel quite strongly about continuing to raise awareness.

We would like to thanks to Simon & Mark, great guys and really trying to raise awareness of the uncomfortable truth of junior football. We wish them every success with their book THE ACCIDENTAL MANAGER.