| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. 16:05 - Aug 2 with 4042 views | sparks |
It is bloody difficult to run a small village club. The admin burden on a couple of people, who also end up painting the white lines, fund raising, coaching, managing, spending weekends and evenings on courses etc, is just painful and they do nothing to make it simpler or easier.
This season, apparently we need to add every single player we have not only with the usual tedious physical copies of signed forms, by the end of August (i.e. before kids are back from holidays and actually re-start training) but also add them all onto the clunky and hopelessly user-iunfriendly FA system. Just for good measure, all the previous club info setup on that system under "mini" football has to be arbitrarily changed to the "youth" football tab this year, despite not changing age groups. So it will all need re- entering.
My U10s manager needs to do a coaching course, but it got extended to 3 cojnsecutive weekends (with evenings in between), which just isnt practical for a working family man. Not possible to do it in chunks- has to be consecutive. He tried to get on the other courses he needs and they are block booked by the local big sports clubs who just churn 6 or 7 older teenagers through the courses each term (not content with hoovering up all the best players form the smaller clubs).
Add to this the need to have the club formally affiliated with the local FA by the end of June, but the utter failure to deal with requests by our welfar officer for verification of his documents- meaning his CRC has not yet been renewed, preventing affiliation taking place. They appear not to be remotely interested in helping or making things easier, or suggesting how we can sort things out from the difficult situation we are now in. I suspect we face being unable to take part in the league this season, at least initially, as a result.
I intend ot make this my last season. It has absolutely nothing to do with the coaching and managing, and everything to do with the admin and bureaucracy. And then they wonder why the UK has so many fewer qualified grass roots coaches than other succesful nations.
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:11 - Aug 2 with 3995 views | Plums |
I feel your pain. I have just taken over as chair of a large junior club and our secretary has spent an hour of each day of his holiday getting players registered. The roll out of Whole Game has been a shambles yet apparently deadlines are king.
My CRC expired last week. The FA told me afterwards rather than a week or month prior. When I suggested a reminder might help, their reply was it’s your responsibility. The full time admin staff of the FA regularly fail to understand that the people they are dealing with are volunteers.
Don’t get me started on the stupidity of their refereeing course timing... |  |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:13 - Aug 2 with 3985 views | sparks |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:11 - Aug 2 by Plums |
I feel your pain. I have just taken over as chair of a large junior club and our secretary has spent an hour of each day of his holiday getting players registered. The roll out of Whole Game has been a shambles yet apparently deadlines are king.
My CRC expired last week. The FA told me afterwards rather than a week or month prior. When I suggested a reminder might help, their reply was it’s your responsibility. The full time admin staff of the FA regularly fail to understand that the people they are dealing with are volunteers.
Don’t get me started on the stupidity of their refereeing course timing... |
That is precisely the point. They are PAID to help us, but take the view that we are effectively minions under their control, who are required to comply with their rules as if it were our full time jobs.
The woman at the FA suggested our welfare office goes to the Glastonbury offices of Somerset FA tomorrow to get his documents verified. He works for a living. In Bristol... [Post edited 2 Aug 2018 16:13]
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| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:21 - Aug 2 with 3937 views | connorscontract |
That really sucks, and I'm sorry to hear it. The Cameron govt wanted to make a virtue out of The Big Society and Volunteerism, but the level of bureaucracy that gets thrown at anyone who wants to get on with doing what they actually want to do is so often the downfall.
The FA in particular have no excuse. They have huge amounts of money available and, as you say, trumpet the grass roots line. But the officers they employ then justify their jobs by increasing the administrative burden on people like you.
This won't change until the FA hierarchy are challenged on it. Can I suggest you send the above as an email to one of the serious sports journalists at a heavyweight paper, offering to be interviewed and for them to seek answers from the FA?
It might get somewhere, or it might just be cathartic feeling that you have spoken out. |  | | |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:22 - Aug 2 with 3939 views | Plums |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:13 - Aug 2 by sparks |
That is precisely the point. They are PAID to help us, but take the view that we are effectively minions under their control, who are required to comply with their rules as if it were our full time jobs.
The woman at the FA suggested our welfare office goes to the Glastonbury offices of Somerset FA tomorrow to get his documents verified. He works for a living. In Bristol... [Post edited 2 Aug 2018 16:13]
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That’s ludicrous. Some of the FA player and coach development is excellent but their increasing compliance culture is driving people away. | |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:26 - Aug 2 with 3908 views | FrimleyBlue |
Also increasing their administration charges for cards.
At step 6. No longer 3 going up
Only 1. Maybe 2 but only 2 in 9 of 19 leagues.
The FA are killing grassroots [Post edited 2 Aug 2018 16:28]
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:47 - Aug 2 with 3829 views | homer_123 |
Not forgetting the fact that Clubs like yours are mine are voluntarily run...the amount of time parents, helpers, coaches, club people devote send somewhat lost on the FA. |  |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 17:53 - Aug 2 with 3741 views | sparks |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:47 - Aug 2 by homer_123 |
Not forgetting the fact that Clubs like yours are mine are voluntarily run...the amount of time parents, helpers, coaches, club people devote send somewhat lost on the FA. |
I made the mistake of relaxing after the end of the season and our presentation day (with all the organisation that required- not to mention the outlay which I haven't had back yet) rather than getting straight back into the admin. | |
| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 17:57 - Aug 2 with 3725 views | sparks |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 17:53 - Aug 2 by sparks |
I made the mistake of relaxing after the end of the season and our presentation day (with all the organisation that required- not to mention the outlay which I haven't had back yet) rather than getting straight back into the admin. |
Have had a to and fro this afternoon. Got a further potential document verifier, nearish. My welfare officer is looking at whether he can drive down in time tomorrow after work as well.
I thanked the FA for providing further details / options (why they didnt do so earlier is beyond me). I asked whether it was the case that our non-affiliation is currently preventing the local league from getting official sanction (as they indicated as such) and whether we were then faced with withdrawing, at least initially, so as not to cause the league administrators all sorts of difficulty. That was about 3.30, following a chain of back and forth over 30 minutes or so. I've not had the courtesy of a response... | |
| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 17:59 - Aug 2 with 3720 views | sparks |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 16:21 - Aug 2 by connorscontract |
That really sucks, and I'm sorry to hear it. The Cameron govt wanted to make a virtue out of The Big Society and Volunteerism, but the level of bureaucracy that gets thrown at anyone who wants to get on with doing what they actually want to do is so often the downfall.
The FA in particular have no excuse. They have huge amounts of money available and, as you say, trumpet the grass roots line. But the officers they employ then justify their jobs by increasing the administrative burden on people like you.
This won't change until the FA hierarchy are challenged on it. Can I suggest you send the above as an email to one of the serious sports journalists at a heavyweight paper, offering to be interviewed and for them to seek answers from the FA?
It might get somewhere, or it might just be cathartic feeling that you have spoken out. |
It would just cause grief tbh. | |
| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 19:12 - Aug 2 with 3624 views | haughleyblue74 |
I feel your pain. Wholegame system is a total nightmare |  | | |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 18:20 - Aug 13 with 3447 views | sparks |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 19:12 - Aug 2 by haughleyblue74 |
I feel your pain. Wholegame system is a total nightmare |
It appears that I am an idiot, and that the FA are worse than I thought...
As to the latter, they eventually came up with a solution to our issue. A solution they could have put in place to start with had they chosen to- but didnt. Wasted hours and hours of my time, and that of others.
As to the former, we have had loads of enquiries from younger kids (U8s and U7 ages) about whether they can join this year. No one has stepped forward to help running sessions for them. Not even a parent of that age group- who would simply have to help / supervise on a Sunday morning with sessions that I figrued out, equipment we provide etc etc. And yet, I am seriously thinking of running the sessions myself. Which probably gets me deeper into the whole thing rather than on my way out as I would really wish... | |
| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 18:33 - Aug 13 with 3420 views | warkthisway |
Totally agree with you - Sunday football is in crisis due to the red tape and costs needed to run a club these days - very sad - did you know that if a coloured copy team sheat of all the players playing that day with photos of each player–isn’t handed over to the ref before the game -it has to be abandoned! -ok so all go home now because I ran out of ink!!-/ you couldn’t make it up - and you get fined if you make a mistake submitting the score or can’t provide a Lino 😂 | |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 18:44 - Aug 13 with 3389 views | RoyKeanesDog |
Have you only just found this out? Sounds like poor planning a bit to me. |  |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 18:44 - Aug 13 with 3389 views | sparks |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 18:33 - Aug 13 by warkthisway |
Totally agree with you - Sunday football is in crisis due to the red tape and costs needed to run a club these days - very sad - did you know that if a coloured copy team sheat of all the players playing that day with photos of each player–isn’t handed over to the ref before the game -it has to be abandoned! -ok so all go home now because I ran out of ink!!-/ you couldn’t make it up - and you get fined if you make a mistake submitting the score or can’t provide a Lino 😂 |
I genuinely wonder whether they want small clubs and teams involved. Its like the EPPP nonsense. They want the best players in academies run professionally and everyone else is a nuisance or a liability. | |
| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 18:45 - Aug 13 with 3388 views | good_at_COD |
Sounds like a real mess. The sooner they sell Wembley and start pouring the cash into grassroots football the better, then all our problems will be over. Hopefully... | |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 19:25 - Aug 13 with 3342 views | warkthisway |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 18:45 - Aug 13 by good_at_COD |
Sounds like a real mess. The sooner they sell Wembley and start pouring the cash into grassroots football the better, then all our problems will be over. Hopefully... |
Just full of jobs worths running the local FA - more interested In p.c than getting lads playing football - don’t know if chucking money at it will help at all I’m afraid !! | |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 20:26 - Aug 13 with 3257 views | judespiveyg |
Me and my mates are considering starting entering our own Sunday league side this year as many of us played for the Framlingham youth teams but as only I am now in the u18 side, we thought we'd put a side together for a laugh. I've read online and we can definitely get the funds together for league entry, pitch rent and kits. However, having read this post, I'm wondering if it's worth the time and money for us to have this team as we're effectively running it ourselves other than potentially one of our dads who has the coaching badges.
Obviously it's no where near the size of your club as it will be just the singular team, but is it too much effort to run a team ourselves, given the issues you have just described? |  |
| I survived Ipswich 0-0 Burton |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 20:28 - Aug 13 with 3252 views | sparks |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 20:26 - Aug 13 by judespiveyg |
Me and my mates are considering starting entering our own Sunday league side this year as many of us played for the Framlingham youth teams but as only I am now in the u18 side, we thought we'd put a side together for a laugh. I've read online and we can definitely get the funds together for league entry, pitch rent and kits. However, having read this post, I'm wondering if it's worth the time and money for us to have this team as we're effectively running it ourselves other than potentially one of our dads who has the coaching badges.
Obviously it's no where near the size of your club as it will be just the singular team, but is it too much effort to run a team ourselves, given the issues you have just described? |
I only run two teams- and would like to have a third but cant get a volunteer to offer an hour of time on term time sundays...
Its much less hassle if you are not running youth football. | |
| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 20:31 - Aug 13 with 3240 views | judespiveyg |
| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 20:28 - Aug 13 by sparks |
I only run two teams- and would like to have a third but cant get a volunteer to offer an hour of time on term time sundays...
Its much less hassle if you are not running youth football. |
Thanks for the info, I'll bear it in mind. | |
| I survived Ipswich 0-0 Burton |
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| So much for supporting grass roots- the FA really depress me. on 21:42 - Aug 13 with 3178 views | Binner |
Good luck to you and the many like you, Mr Sparks, and thank you for all of the work you do for the benefit of the many.
I have a nephew who is currently jumping through the same hoops in Hampshire. |  |
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