Well, I've been away since Friday. As regular readers know, my son plays football for the Watling FC under 10 team. We were "on tour" at Butlins in Bognor Regis for the Spring festival of football. The tournament is a 7 a side tournament. Watling FC played six games (drew 2, Lost 4). There are a whole host of clubs from far and wide. Watling FC approach to the tournament is to give the boys a great weekend. The value of team building and developing friendships far outweighs the benefits of performing well in the competition, nice though that would be. Our club has an ethos where everyone gets a game and we try not to leave anyone behind. It is fair to say that there are far more competetive clubs around, but for our team, we are trying to get the boys to enjoy football and develop their skill levels. We also have high expectations for behaviour and team spirit. I'm pleased to report that the whole tournament was played in great spirit. It is fair to say that many of the teams approached the competition more seriously than our team. Every team has it's ethos and ours works for us.
The best thing for me was seeing a diverse group of boys of all sizes, creeds, colours getting on, playing together and enjoying themselves. It also gives parents a chance to get to know each other. Normally we might pass each other and swap a few pleasantries, over the course of the weekend, we have plenty of opportunity to get to know each other better. I happen to believe that football can be a strong force for the good. It helps us to get on. Having watched our boys develop over the last three years together has been a real joy. If you have a child in a youth football team, I'd thoroughly recommend that you check out the festival of football website. The football side of it is well run, the facilities at Butlins were superb and we all felt genuinely sorry when it was time to come home.
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