Sunday Morning youth football - A joy to behold, so don't make the kids play in your rubbish

This morning I was up bright and early to watch my son play in goal for Watling FC under 14's. The match was played at Cressingham Park, Burnt Oak. The opposition were Kodak FC under 14's and the competition was the League cup. The sun was shining gloriously and the pitch looked immaculate. The match featured some excellent football from both sides. Kodak shot to an early lead, and were 3-0 up before Watling pulled one back just before half time. Watling had been unlucky, hitting the woodwork twice. After the break it was a different story with Watling turning the game around to lead 5-3, before Kodak pinched a late goal. Final score 5-4.

The Harrow and District Youth League features some excellent teams and generally the games are played in good spirits. Todays game was no exception. Kodak are known for being a good team and being well run. Football at this level is a totally different proposition to the Premiership. You don't see players rolling around on the floor, seemingly on deaths door, only to be miraculously cured by the sight of the referee brandishing a card at the opposition. The players don't have Ferrari's and WAG's (well they are only 13!). They play because they love football and want to get better at the game. Watling have recruited some new coaches this season. This has made a big difference to the side. The boys have been energised and are training really well. 

I happen to believe that youth football is a vital part of growing up and is essential in teaching boys team spirit and discipline. The same is true of cricket, rugby, hockey and all of the other team sports that are played in the Borough. It is absolutely vital that we all do everything we can to encourage the growth and health of such clubs. In Watling the boys come from a huge range of diverse ethnic and social backgrounds. The coaches work to bring all of the boys together into one team, with a common aim. My own son takes the team seriously. He voluntarily had an early night as he wanted to be on top form. They are currently training twice a week and playing on a Sunday. For boys of this age, this burns off energy that would otherwise be unfocused. 

We are lucky to have decent parks and nice facilities in Barnet and London generally. Sadly we have lost many pitches and clubs, especially at adult level. This is not a positive development. Football keeps people fit and active. It is a skill best developed in youth. I am 51 and I play twice a week at Powerleague (Mill Hill). The advent of centres like Powerleague, where old fat blokes like myself can play under floodlights after work is a positive development, but we need to build a love of the game in players when they are young.

I love watching my sons team in rain or shine. Days like today are glorious, but the bad times are also precious. I'd urge anyone who has youngsters to get them playing a sport. I have always told my children that if you play a team sport (especially football) or play a musical instrument, you can live anywhere in the world and make friends. 

There was one small blot on the experience. As the boys were warming up,  I took our dogs for a walk around Cressingham Park (which is a lovely park). In one corner, a selfish inconsiderate local resident had dumped a load of rubbish and waste. Why are people so selfish as to not care for their surroundings and neighbours. There is another dog walker, who lives around the corner, who said that a couple of residents have been caught previously and fined heavily. I'd urge anyone who sees their neighbours flytipping to report them to Barnet Council. It costs our money to clean this mess up. I don't want my kids to have to play in other peoples rubbish. I have no sympathy with anyone who is so selfish as to mess up our community assets.  My message to everyone is clean up your mess. 

Watling Boys Club - A question for Matthew Offord

PMQs 3 Nov 2010 Matthew Offord hon gent from Barnet Bugle on Vimeo.

First off, many thanks to Dan Hope for posting this clip. Whatever you may think of Dan, he's one of the few Barnet Tories not to skulk in the shadows.

Anyway on to the clip of Matthew Offord at PMQ's. I have extremely mixed feelings about this intervention. Firstly I fully agree that we need clubs like "The Watling Club" (to give it it's proper name) or "Watling Boys Club" (to use the old name). I applaud Offord for raising the subject and he's right to raise it.

Before we get too carried away with all of this, lets consider the actual history of Watling Boys Club and why the building is shut. The club was supposed to move to Burnt Oak leisure centre. An upstairs area was designated for the club. Sadly the Council (of which Matthew Offord was Deputy leader) reneged on the deal. As  result, Watling Club, which used to be a premier football and boxing club, found it virtually impossible to function. Wheras before it provided an outlet for the energies of local boys from one of the poorer parts of Barnet, it slowly started to die. Spurs great Steve Perryman was one of the graduates from the Watling Football team. The team was still a force, but there was no infrastructure to support youth football.

As a result, last seasons under 16's were the last team to come through. They were Harrow and District under 16 league champions last year -

http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk/LeagueTab.cfm?TblName=Matches&DivisionID=10324&LeagueCode=HYFL2009

Many of these boys have gone on to well established non league clubs. It looked for all the world as if the club would die last May. A group of local parents then approached the club in 2008 to see if they could help form and under 8 team. This was successfully established and we now have under 10, 9 & 8 teams up and running. I know all this as my son was one of the boys in that under 8 team. It is abundantly clear to anyone who has been involved that there is a huge need for the team. I regularly drive 4 of the boys to away matches, as do other parents.

What help have we had from the Council? Very little. We have no clubhouse, we use the Burnt Oak leisure centre as do many other clubs on a similar basis, boys turn up and they go home again. It's all very well for the Matthew Offords of this world to ask questions at PMQ's. How much better would it have been if he'd given the club some help when he was at the Council and actually in a position to change things.

As with many youth football teams, they run on the goodwill of parents, who go out of their way to make sure things happen. Sadly clubs often fold when a hard working parent moves, gets ill or loses interest. In his answer, Mr Cameron said that he'd set up a new £100 million fund to support clubs like Watling. I immediately thought "hang on, that is less than the turnover of a middle ranking premiership club" with maybe 40 people on the staff. Not quite so impressive when you look at it like that. Of course it's a start and in this climate it's £100 million more than it could be. If it is properly directed, it could make a big difference.

Barnet has an atrocious record of supporting football. Watling FC isn't the only club to have problems with the Council. Barnet FC have been rebuffed in favour of Saracens Rugby Club, despite having a far stronger association with Barnet. Hendon Town FC have been forced out of their ground as have Edgware Town FC.
Local Conservatives even put out an election leaflet in Mill Hill criticising Kentish Town FC, who play at Chase Lodge for planning to put up a clubhouse for a hundred or so people. Why is a 10,000 seat stadium fine for Rugby, but not for Football?

Anyway at the start of this blog, I said I had a question for Mr Offord. It's this - How much of Mr Camerons £100,000,000 will be winging it's way to "The Watling Club" and when can we see some decent facilities for the boys my son plays football with every week.

The Festival of football

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.

Community Sports Facilities in Barnet

Ok, first I'll nail my flag to the mast. My daughter is a member of the Barnet Copthall Swimming club Senior squad. She's national age group champion at 1500 metres and silver medal holder at 800 metres. This involves one or two lengthy sessions in the pool every day of the week except Saturday.

My son plays football for Watling FC Under 10 A team. You could say I have an interest to declare in community sports facilities. How do I rate Barnets community Sports facilities? Well lets have look at Swimming. Despite being the second largest borough in London and despite having one of Londons most successful swimming squads, there isn't a 50 metre community pool in Barnet. This means all of our swimmers are at a competetive disadvantage. There is only one high diving board, at Crystal Palace. Our coaches do a fantastic jobs, but how much more could they do with proper facilities. How many local youngsters would take up the sport if the facilities were better?

As to football. Again, there isn't a club I'd rather my son played for than Watling FC. Their home ground is Burnt Oak Leisure Centre. It isn't a bad facility, but there is a chronic shortage of funds, a chronic shortage of pitches and a chronic shortage council interest. I recently attended a recording of BBC Radio 4's any questions. One of the panellists said "I can't stand football". Sitting three rows in front of me was the deputy Mayor of Barnet, Hugh Rayner. His response to this statement. He clapped and cheered wildly. Last year, at a Hendon Area Residents forum meeting, I asked why the grass pitches at the Burnt Oak Leisure centre weren't being properly maintained. Hugh Rayner stood up and said that the Leisure Centre was superb and he hadn't seen any problems. I then asked if he'd actually been round the back to look at the pitch. He responded "Er, No". Everyone laughed.

The sad truth is that it's not funny. As you may know, I am standing for the Lib Dems in Mill Hill ward in the Council elections. If you have any constructive suggestions as to how sports facilities in the London Borough of Barnet could be improved, please EMAIL ME BY CLICKING HERE. We are in the process of drawing up our manifesto and any I promise that I will argue passionately to ensure that our young people get a better deal from the Council in regards to sports provision.