Chairman Chat NOVEMBER

Hello everyone.

A slightly delayed Chairman Chat this month as I wanted to highlight the last two weekends within this edition as I know going into the festive period things become a little more hectic behind the scenes and if seasons gone by have shown me, a lot happens as we gear up for Xmas.

When I surprisingly became Chairman in September last year there was an insistence from our members throughout the age groups to have more transparency from our committee. One of the consequences of this however is there is very little left for me to tell you monthly as we update regularly via our social media platforms what is happening throughout the club.

I'll spend this month not giving to much information on the future but rather trying to give the thinking behind some of the things we've already achieved and currently are involved in.

During the October half term holiday, 30 of our amazing players and 16 coaches and parents walked through Shirehampton to help clear the roads around our site. 

Where We Went - Nibley Road, Dursley Road, Hung Road Station Road, Shirehampton Train Station, High Street, The Parade, The Green, Health Centre,The Church, The Lane (High St -Penbroke Rd), Bradley Crecent, Penbroke Road, Walton Road, Waverley Road, Springfield Ave, Northleach Walk, Riverside Close, Cerney Lane, Burford Close, Evenlode Gardens, Winchcombe Grove, Kimble Garden, Stroud Road, Churchdown Walk, Charbury Walk, Woodwell Road, Lamplighters Marsh, The Portway (Woodwell Rd - Hung Rd)

On Sunday morning Port of Bristol YFC were represented at the local cenotaph by players, coaches and committee members, laying a wreath to pay our respects to those who have fallen from our armed forces.

Thank you to Beau's Boutiques for making our beautiful wreath. 

Since my last post on this subject in September, I have heard so many rumours in regards to what is happening, what has happened and how we as a football club has spent over £100,000...absolute rubbish, I wish we had that much to spend on the children.

To set the record straight the issue at the time that meant me doing alot of the work in the end, had to be tiptoed around due to its sensitive nature. I still can't highlight to much on this subject as it involved the then new groundsman that took over from long serving Mike Fisher, but since this a further development has arose.

The decision made in April, by the committee in conjunction with the POB Sports & Community Hub's support was to benefit local people as well as our club. Unfortunately, no matter what good we do in the community there are a small number of people who don't want the football club or the POB Sports & Community Hub in the area. They create lies and continuous problems because they want a 'dated' members club that the council won't allow anymore on site.

There was one complaint made to Bristol City Council that has haulted our timeline and ironically possibly changed our plan for the better. This 'stoppage' has created a possible bigger development in the near future than what is/was taking place during the summer.

We have great support locally with MPs, local residents and schools as well as the County FA and B.C.C. with all these not just wanting the football club to succeed but more importantly the site. What this means is we will continue to be a cornerstone in the community, providing much needed health, well-being and social inclusion in an area of need. The only frustrating thing in this set back is the area is now green and would of been completed for games to be played there...it effects local kids in the short term, but we are here for generations to come.

This came into play in August but had been in development since July 2021. The thought process behind this technology and the relevance to Port of Bristol Youth FC was we needed something that enabled us to centralise parent excess to payments, club shop and personal information but also allowed us to run more fluently.

The club has grown to such a size that we had to have something that would allow the volunteers who manage the day to day running, spend less time on admin, simplifying the workload and ensure best practice. As with anything new there have been teething problems, these have been resolved and the software is bedded in.

Another decision that we were proud to make was being able to freeze monthly subs again this season. With all the rising costs we hope this helps you as parents.

If you have had any issues surrounding Love Admin please drop Jason Lock a WhatsApp or a text message and he will get back to you when on the computer as soon as he can.

With the World Cup this month we are raising money for the the park fund at the POB Sports & Community Hub...we are asking for just a £1 donation to get involved.

Anyone can do one kick up, just take part. We want our parents, coaches and of course our players to get involved and it would be great to get a collective video of as many of our players doing it, showing how many kick ups  they can do, but also collectively as a club.

Here is my little Jacob's attempt. 

Wow, what a weekend and a different feel around the games I attended that I was lucky enough to be involved in last week.

There were so many positive comments coming from the coaches, parents and most importantly the players that maybe the FA are on to something with this. Parents, firstly well done you led by example and didn't let yourselves or Port of Bristol YFC down and please let this continue during matches by letting the coaches coach as more of these weekends are planned by the Football Association .

That being said I fully understand the logic behind coaches not communicating as so many struggle to control their emotions which is creating many challenges for leagues up and down the country.

The highlight for me was one of my U11 players, who was sub at the time, prompting me to tell him what I wanted to get across to my team. He continued to question me and said, "Tell me and I'll tell them, as I'm allowed to talk".

It truly is amazing how their minds work and how they do break down information to bend the rules.

2022 World Cup
As a football club we want to get as many of our players and their families down using the facilities at the POB Sports & Community Hub during the tournament. Every game will be shown and as a football club we will be in attendance doing things for the children.

We are very lucky to have an amazing building so lets support it as a family. Keep an eye open for events.

Our Christmas Party is being held Friday 9th December. More information will be send out over the next week via your Facebook groups.