Contents 4 MD’s Letter A couple of volunteering awards 7 A Guide To Writing Match Reports Charlie Rowe, a young sports writer, gives us his take on what makes a good match report 11 Sports First Aid This month Sophie continues giving us basic sport first aid, this time focussing on shock 13 Cricket Coaching With Andrew Beaven Awards - ask yourself who of your players should get them and why 16 Colin Smith Colin’s back at Wembley - it’s alright for some, eh? 20 Competition: Search For An Asian Football Star A new competition that does what it says on the tin!
21 The Secret Non-League Footballer Jamie Vardy’s (the young Leicester striker who terrorised Manchester United last month) story from TSFNL’s perspective 24 Grassroots News Kids play areas, floods, and partnerships with local firms that may not earn money but will increase your visibility in your community 26 Grassroot Photos A nice photo of Mike Gatting courtesy of Leverstock Green CC 31 Rock n’ (Toilet) Roll Football An interesting way for your clubs to make some extra cash 34 Twitter Directory 35 Club Security 38 Sponsor A Local Club
Grassroot Media Contacts Twitter @grassrootmedia Facebook.com/grassrootmedia Office telephone number 0800 8 20 21 22 or 01992 27 44 27 Mathew Court’s email address mcourt@grassrootmedia.com No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without permission.
The MD’s Letter Hello and welcome to October’s magazine. This issue is a little smaller than usual as some of the columnists are away this month, including David Harrison, but I hope you still find the mag useful, including Charlie Rowe’s guide to writing match reports.
A while ago Colin Smith wrote a piece in here on rewarding volunteers, and this month I’ve seen two interesting ways you can do this. First off is the BBC’s Unsung Hero Award, which is given out at their Sports Personality Of The Year event. I’ve had a look at the entry (as I’m entering someone) and it all looks simple enough, although it seems you have to have the permission of the nominee before entering, which to me kind of doesn’t feel right. But anyway, it looks like a good award. Also I’ve seen the Daily Mirror is starting a Pride of Sport award following on from the success of their Pride of Britain one. I’ve not had a chance to have a look at the entry form yet but I have one or two people in mind for this as well. You can find more about both awards here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/get-inspired/27037119 http://www.prideofsportawards.co.uk/ Have a good month,
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Mat Court
Struggling to tweet live match updates from a mobile phone? The Match Minutes FC app helps insert hashtags, match time, score and player names. Fast, professional-looking match commentary during the game, clean records for writing match reports after the game. Available at http://matchminutesfc.com/the-app.html
A Guide To Writing Match Reports I caught up with Charlie Rowe, a young sports writer on what he think should go in to a match report - you can contact Charlie on charlierowe1988@hotmail.com
Reports on your team’s matches are a great way to engage with fans and motivate players. To write an effective report it is important to have a structure and keep the reader interested. This guide will give you a few pointers about what to include in your match reports. Fail To Prepare, Prepare To Fail Researching the other team is an important attribute to your report. These are the types of questions you could ask in advance of the match itself: 1. Are the opposition on a winning or losing streak? 2. Is there anything notable about their recent results? 3. Have they made any personnel changes recently - i.e. a star striker who has scored a lot
recently, or a new batsman in the runs. 4. What was your team’s last result against this opposition? 5. Do you have a good/poor record against this side historically? Starting your match report with a bit of background information gives the reader some insight and paints a picture if you like. Here is an example for you: “Monk was happier to have secured three points rather than masterminding a first ever league win at Old Trafford.” Reported by BBC 16th August 2014 By including “first ever league win at Old Trafford” the writer has added some researched information into the report.
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If the game has an above average attendance why not include this into the report? An example of this; “They took a 25th-minute lead through Patrick Agyemang in front of a leaguerecord 18,000 strong crowd at Fratton Park.” Reported by ITV 3rd August 2013. Have A Plan Take notes throughout the game and at the end piece together your report. An average match report is around 600 words for a Premier League match. For an early stage capital cup game the report will only really be 200 words. You’ll probably want to be somewhere in between these. It is important to highlight the key areas to a game to make the report as actionpacked as possible. BBC reporter Sonali Shah advises; “for example, if you were talking about Man City v Man Utd in April 2012, you probably wouldn't say "...well in the first minute, Man Utd had a corner and then in the third minute Gael Clichy over hit his cross..." Sport Writer William McCoy recommends writing the report in order of importance. He quotes “Write the story in the order of importance, rather than
chronologically. If a player scores a highlight-style goal in overtime, this fact should be at the beginning of your report, not the end.” While the match is fresh in your mind try to get the report written. Filter out all the irrelevant details that you may have noted and stick to the action. Photo’s Adding photos to the report will give the report a bit of colour as well as lure people in through the visual element. The photo could be of the star player who scored on the day or even an action shot of two players going up for a header, or a cartwheeling off stump. A picture paints a thousand words! Other visuals include things such as form guides for your club and the league table. Useful as break out boxes in your report to give extra, but relevant, information. If you have a player who is breaking records why not include a side bar of their stats? An example from the official Premier League website on the next page is something you could use. It gives clear information to the reader how the club has been getting on if they’ve been away or haven’t been keeping
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up to date with all the goings on at the club over the past week.
Quotes Getting quotes isn’t about proving you were at the game. It is about getting insight from the players, and this is something that can be done at all levels. In fact it’s easier at club level as you don’t necessarily have to do it there and then, you can ask the players for their thoughts on the game by email or text after the match if you don’t catch them there and then. Make sure you prepare some ideas before speaking with players or the manager. If a team had lost the previous 5 games, ask the manager “how important was it to stop the losing streak?” How about a photo of you asking
the player a question? Makes the club seem a lot more professional, if you want to make the club look more professional. Getting good quotes adds flavour to the report. Finishing up You should finish up the report by summarising the performance. For example if your team wins 4-0 you could finish the report off like this: “After this impressive attacking performance, ***** FC will want to push this momentum into next week’s fixture away at ****.” Use this last section to let fans know when the next match is, as well as events the club is hosting, as they’ll be likely to remember it.
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Sports First Aid
Sophie Hoskins from Physical Sports First Aid continues her column on Sports First Aid. See more at www.physical-sports.co.uk
Basic First Aid Advice Part Two: Recognising And Treating Shock In the second part of our series of basic first aid guides we’re going to outline how to recognise and treat shock. Please note that this advice is no substitute for first aid training and courses are widely available. Shock is a serious, life-threatening condition caused by a failure in the circulatory system. When a person is in shock, their vital organs are deprived of oxygen. If the condition isn’t treated quickly, the organs could be damaged permanently, or it could even lead to death.
The most common cause of shock is severe blood loss, but it can also result from other causes of fluid loss including dehydration from vomiting. Shock can also occur when the heart has been damaged by a heart problem, such a heart attack, and is unable to pump an adequate supply of blood around the body. If you’re giving first aid to a person who has had a serious injury or illness, remember to look for the signs and symptoms of shock, which include:
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• bluish lips • pale, cool, clammy skin • hyperventilation (rapid or deep breathing), or very shallow breathing • feeling and confused or faint • feeling nauseas and possibly vomiting • rapid, weak pulse • yawning • sighing If you suspect the casualty is in shock, there a number of steps you should take to try to manage the condition until medical help arrives: • Immediately all 999 or 112 to ask for an ambulance as soon as possible. • If the casualty is conscious and there are no signs that there has been an injury to the head, neck, spine, or legs, then you can move the person into the shock position. The casualty first lies on their back and then you place something under their feet to raise and support their legs about 12 inches above the level of their head. If raising the legs is too painful, or it could potentially cause further harm, then keep the person lying flat on their back. • When the person is in the shock position you can then treat any
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external bleeding, or other obvious injuries. The casualty should be kept warm by covering them with a blanket or coat. You can also help to make them more comfortable by loosening any tight clothing or their belt. Give the person lots of comfort and reassurance. It’s important not to give the casualty anything to eat or drink, even if they complain of thirst. If the casualty vomits, drools, or bleeds from their mouth then either turn the person’s head to the side, or roll them onto their side, to prevent choking. If an injury to the spine is suspected and they are at risk of choking, then the casualty can be turned onto their side, but they should only be moved by the ‘log roll’ method. http://www.wikihow.com/Logroll -an-Injured-Person-During-FirstAid Regularly check that the casualty is breathing normally and that they are able to respond to you. If they stop breathing normally and are no longer responsive you will need to start CPR immediately.
Please visit our website www.physical-sports.co.uk for more first aid help.
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Andrew Beaven
This month Andrew Beaven, Coach at Oakfield Parkonians Cricket Club in Barkingside, Essex gives us his thoughts on end of season awards.
And The Award Winners Are... But Would They All Deserve A Triple-A Rating? With the cricket season just drawing to a close, a lot of clubs will be thinking about end-ofseason awards. Most runs and wickets, maybe "best junior in a senior team", perhaps even "best Club man". A quick look at the averages usually suffices for most of the awards, but some of the others are inevitably more subjective. What do you look for from a "Club man", for example?
Does the award go to the player who always turns up early, to open up the changing rooms and help his team-mates with pre-match warm-up? Someone who enthusiastically supports every
social event? Or is it the consolation prize for the player who almost wins the batting and fielding awards but comes up just short in both categories?
I think it is more important than that. "Club man" awards should go to the club member who best represents the qualities you want to encourage at the Club. Is it important that you win more games than you lose, to maintain (or challenge for) Premier League status? Reward the scrappers, who keep up an end while the star bats win the games for you, or who chase lost causes to the boundary and save just a couple of runs a game.
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Do you need run successful social events to bring funds into the Club? Are you hoping to be recognised as the local "academy" Club, bringing on young players? Whatever matters most to your Club, that will define your question. And can you develop and reward good behaviours, not (only) successful outcomes?
“... can you develop and reward good behaviours, not (only) successful outcomes?...� Priorities will change and of course, most clubs will be aiming for more than one of the above. TripleA Rating - what do you measure? I do quite a bit of coaching with mixed groups of young players, from 5 years old and upwards. Some already have the makings of good cricketers, others are still coming to terms with the basics of the game, so it can be difficult to judge potential.
skills, we also try to encourage the players to display the types of behaviour that we are looking for from young players, and from our senior players. I am toying with a (very basic) quantitative rating system, to sit alongside any written assessments of player performance and potential. The three criteria I rank on are: 1. Achievement - how well the skill was performed 2. Application - did the player try to perform the drills 3. Attitude - a catch-all for behaviour, interaction with other players and coaches etc.
Achievement + Application + Attitude = Triple-A Rating
So as much as we coach cricketing
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I have chosen the three criteria to encourage the behaviours that I think are important for young cricketers. They must have (or develop) some aptitude for the game (but obviously I don't expect them all to be hitting cover drives and bowling Yorkers from day 1); they need to be "trainable" i.e. they will work at their lessons, with the understanding that improvement can be achieved through appropriate practice; finally, that they understand that cricket is a team game, and a social game, and that most of us will need to get on with our team mates, the opposition, and officials.
rated either above expectation, as expected, or below expectation only tagging exceptions.
“... I plan to use this more as an aide memoire than a ranking scheme this winter...�
This is all perhaps all a little too theoretical, and whether the experiment will survive the autumn I don't know!
I plan to use this more as an aide memoire than a ranking scheme this winter, although it possibly could be adapted to serve as the latter, by introducing a more formal scoring system. For example, players might be ranked against the criteria using a very simple three-point scoring system, with each scored out of 3, so performance against the scale is
Scores can then be modified depending on the main aim of the programme performance, personal development, or "social". If you think that success is 90% perspiration, then multiply your "application" scores by 9; if you value social skills in your young players over current playing ability, then factor this in to your final calculation. Putting it into practice
But the exercise of defining the success factors for young (and not so young) players is useful, I hope, for coaches and Club committees, as it helps to crystallise attitudes Club "philosophy". What skills do you want your young players to develop? And how do you want your senior players to behave? What will your Club Man of the Year look like in 2015?
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Colin Smith Colin Smith from Elvington & Tilmanstone Colliery Welfare Cricket Club continues his monthly column with more tips for our clubs.
All Aboard For Wembley Stadium Again!!! For the second time in August I’ve had a trip to the iconic Wembley Stadium. This time for a VIP behind the scenes guided tour with 40 children from my club, Eythorne Rovers Youth Football club. This is the second time I have obtained funding for this tour, the first being six years ago. The funding for this inspirational trip came from my wife’s prize money for winning the FA Respect People’s Award that I spoke about last month.
So this trip to Wembley was funded by award winnings so can be called fundraising, as some awards attract cash prizes. Although to be
honest with you at the time of the nomination I didn’t know about the potential cash prize. It therefore came as a fantastic surprise and gave the children a day that they will never forget. There are not many funders who will fund a day in a lifetime but when you find one it is really special and important to take your youngsters on an aspirational day out to the home of football.
“...It came as a fantastic surprise and gave the children a day that they will never forget...” 16
I can thoroughly recommend the tour and our tour guide, Ansley, was brilliant and made it really special for our boys and girls.
Above: the changing rooms. Below: the royal box.
The tour included the press room, the changing rooms, the dugouts, pitch-side and the Royal Box. It also included pictures with the actual FA Cup and the Wembley Suite. This represented deja vu for the missus and me as we had dined in the Wembley Suite just two weeks earlier for her award presentation at the Community Shield game. Weird seeing it empty though.
A film crew had attended one of our training sessions and made a film about the club and specifically Jackie just a week prior to the award ceremony. What was really special for the boys and girls was that we could actually show them the TVs in the Wembley Suite where their film was shown just prior to Jackie receiving her award from Greg Dyke, Chairman FA. This is a real VIP area and I think the kids could really feel how special the atmosphere was. It certainly brought back great memories for us. As I said this is the second time we have done the tour and all I can say is our previous team who are all now 18 years old went on to win nine major trophies in their time at our club. I cannot definitively say but I believe the Wembley trip helped inspire them on the pitch as they are our most successful team of all time. Although we are a small village club we have been established for 30 years so it is some feat. Without giving to much away part of the tour includes lining up as two teams in the tunnel before the sound of a match day crowd is piped in, and the doors are flung open for you to march out onto the pitch. Hairs on back of neck did stand up. Personally it is my favourite part of the tour.
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A few tips if you are planning a similar trip is • Don’t forget to ask for a group discount. Most large organizations will give discounts. After all there was fifty one customers. • Plan your day well. We included three coach pick up points and enough time for a wonder around the Wembley Designer Outlet which also has an impressive children’s play area. Something for everybody. • Always include travel as part of your trip. We always use coach travel with a toilet, which is a necessity with children and some older generation on board. • Allow enough time for lunch and a bit of leisure time in your itinerary. Most coach companies will not allow you to eat on board so identifying a suitable picnic area in advance is a good idea. • Make sure all unaccompanied children are chaperoned by an adult. We don’t want to lose anyone. The two hour coach trip on the way home allowed me enough time to complete an on line application for a new youth football kit.
A scheme sponsored by McDonalds for our under 13s – check it out it is an easy application and guarantees you a new kit for
the next four seasons providing you are a Charter Standard registered club (details and link below). It made me think what a fantastic supporter of English football McDonalds are, and made me smile when I realized that some of our boys and girls had eaten a McDonald’s meal at a close by outlet to Wembley Stadium that day. You could call this a WIN WIN WIN. That’s a first, maybe. Finally I would like to say that this trip represented a month in my life I will never forget when I got to touch the Community Shield and the FA Cup in the Royal Box. As some company once said “I’m loving it.” McDonalds free kit scheme: www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/Sp ort/Football.html or just google McDonalds free kit scheme. News update on Simon Jasinski at Bosham FC, and funders next month. I’m also working on a very famous ex professional England international footballer doing a Q&A session with us – WATCH THIS SPACE. Colin Smith
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Search For An Asian Football Star During the month we found out about a new programme to find a new Asian Football Star, hosted at various five a side centres across the country.
Free Football For Asian Stars Of Tomorrow Young Asian footballers have the opportunity to play at Powerleague centres across the country for free in the new Search For An Asian Football Star (SFAAFS) competition. The nationwide initiative – backed by global finance firm TradeNext will see more than 500 young Asian boys and girls take to the pitches in a bid to be crowned SFAAFS champion. The free training sessions will be led by FA-qualified coaching staff and the winner will receive a great prize – a week at the ‘TradeNext FootballCV academy’ and a day’s training at St George’s Park, the FA’s home of football excellence. Search For An Asian Football Star launched on Saturday September
27 and the free sessions will continue at Powerleague centres in Birmingham, London Docklands and Manchester Central throughout October. Each player who enters will receive a FREE TradeNext Search For An Asian Football Star footy goodie bag. As an added bonus all players that pre-register will be awarded a free one year FootballCV membership worth £35 when they arrive at their trial. For more Search For An Asian Football Star information, and to register your youngster, please visit the TradeNext Sport site: www.tradenextsport.com/promotio ns/search-for-an-asian-football-star www.twitter.com/TradeNextSport www.footballcv.com
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The Secret Non-League Footballer Each month we print an article from the excellent Secret Footballer website – you can see more at www.thesecretfootballer.com
Jamie Vardy’s Fabulous Fairy Tale The Sheffield-born striker exemplified every non-league player’s dreams of playing in the Premier League and scoring a goal, the result of seasons of hard work and desire.
It is almost a year since I wrote about the lucky breaks that a minority of English players have needed when moving from nonleague football to the very top of the English game.
Now, we have the fairy tale of them all after Jamie Vardy made his first Premier League start – for Leicester City – only four years after playing for non-league Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Northern Premier League.
On Sunday, the 27-year-old demonstrated his passion for the game, his raw pace and aggression tormenting the Manchester United defence. Vardy announced his name to the footballing world with his tenacious play, which saw him run endlessly throughout the game. He ran United ragged. Jamie played a part in three goals and scored another in the 5-3 win and it came as no surprise that he
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was given a standing ovation from the home crowd when he came off towards the end of the game.
“...“It has not been an easy journey,” Vardy admitted afterwards...” “It has not been an easy journey,” Vardy admitted afterwards. Indeed. He has experienced some difficulties off the pitch and was close to packing it in 18 months ago. Nevertheless, he will now look forward with a great deal of optimism, largely due to a voracious hunger for the game that sets him apart from many of his peers. Having written before about nonleague players who have had good breaks, it gives me great pleasure to talk about Vardy. He tore up the Conference with Fleetwood Town during the 2011-12 season.
“... He tore up the Conference with Fleetwood Town during the 2011-12 season...”
I remember him giving me a torrid afternoon and when you experience that, you don’t forget the player’s name. I knew from that day that Jamie would go on to play at a higher level.
“...I knew from that day that Jamie would go on to play at a higher level...” Vardy was the first seven-figure player in non-league history, when he completed his £1 million move from Blue Square Bet Premier champions Fleetwood to Leicester in 2012. He was well known in the nonleague game after shooting through the ranks from the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League to FC Halifax Town.
“...Vardy was the first seven-figure player in non-league history...” What I like about this lad is not only has he gone from non-league to the Championship to the Premier but, also, he was released by Sheffield Wednesday as a youngster.
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer
So he has gone to the lower leagues to learn his trade and then worked his way back up. I’ve heard a few funny stories about him from a few mates of mine who have played with him. He’s a proper Yorkshire lad who doesn’t take any messing around and quite clearly expresses this when he plays.
“...He nutmegged me, beat another player and stuck the ball in the top corner from 25 yards...” I won’t forget that day I played against him – when he nutmegged me, beat another player and stuck the ball in the top corner from 25 yards. Thanks, Jamie… Needless to say, I wasn’t too impressed and tried to get him back in a 50-50 later in the game. But with his blistering pace, he made it look 80-20 in his favour.
“...You have to admire players like Vardy...” You have to admire players like Vardy. He has worked tremendously hard at his game and proved that he can score goals at increasingly higher levels. It is something I have strived towards for a number of years and, without being deluded, I feel I have been unlucky not to be given the chance.
“... you will only know if you can make that step up if you are given the opportunity....” I have been dedicated and worked tirelessly at improving my game and making myself better but you will only know if you can make that step up if you are given the opportunity. With the silly wage demands from the top-flight players, it should only encourage clubs and managers to take a punt on players further down the footballing pyramid.
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague Facebook: /TSFootballer
Grassroots News A Couple Of Ideas For You, Including One That I Need Your Help With Toddlers Play Area A couple of you noticed I was on BBC Radio 5Live a couple of weekends ago wearing my Hertford Town FC hat on. I was talking about an idea I’ve had for a pitchside toddlers play area. I won’t bore you with the details but will instead refer you to a piece on the HTFC website here.
What I am after is for you to spare a minute or two and give me your feedback as to whether you think it is a good idea or not by completing the survey in the news story. Or you can just click here to be taken straight to the survey.
I think it’s a good idea, but then again I would, but I’m struggling for people not connected with the club to engage with it, which is the whole point of doing it. If you can fill it in I would really appreciate it. I’ll then keep you up to date with how I get on and if/when it goes ahead will hopefully come up with a guide to help make it easier for your club to do the same (if it works of course). Flood Prevention I received notification last week that my application for £5,000 of
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flood prevention money has been approved by the council/environment agency.
watch or get involved with football, and that our membership/fan base probably fits their target audience.
The idea behind the grant is that it gives clubs the chance to protect themselves from future flooding. I’m not sure if it’s available to clubs that haven’t been affected previously, or if it’s available nationwide (I think it is but I’m not sure) but if you think you’re at risk of floods in the future and could do with £5k to spend on defending yourselves it could be worth calling up your council.
So I dropped them an email and we’ve ended up doing a deal. Not for any money, but sharing resources to promote each other.
I think it’s also open for residential buildings too.
They’ve also given us a discount for monthly membership and we are giving them a place to put leaflets out at the clubs, a pitchside banner and a big poster by the entrance of our ground.
There is also a fund open to help cover some of the costs of flooding too that you may not have been able to claim back on your insurance (lost revenue etc.), again get in touch with your local council if you were hit earlier in the year. Gym Offer For Hertford Town FC I was having a think while the missus was out one night about potential local firms that we don’t talk to as a club, and I thought of gyms.
My thinking was that they are generally used by local people, of the right age range to come and
They have given us use of two large poster frames in their site, one in the gents changing rooms (which we’ll use to promote the senior team) and one in the ladies (to promote our youth team and ladies team).
Of course you might not be able to offer as much, or might be able to offer more, but I thought I’d let you know about it as while there’s no money changing hands there’s a definite win for both parties. Things to think about could be free gym sessions for your squad to be used when you can’t train outdoors, promoting each other on social media, perhaps a raffle prize of a month’s gym membership. I’ll let you know how ours goes.
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Grassroot Photos If you have a photo you would like to share with the grassroots world then please email mcourt@grassrootmedia.com.
Left: Mike Gatting opens Leverstock Green’s new clubhouse
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Rock n’ (Toilet) Roll Football I catch up with the people behind a new way of generating income for grassroots clubs of all types: FairPlay Fundraising.
As you know by now I’m always on the look out for new ways for you to either make or save money, and this month I’ve found one you may not have heard of before: selling toilet paper. Before you turn the page, hear me out on this one as it’s a better idea than I originally thought at first glance, and I think a better idea than some of you are thinking right now. And I also think it could work perfectly with kids involved. After all, who doesn’t like buying stuff from kids eh? FairPlay Fundraising is basing itself around toilet paper as it’s one of the things that everyone needs. The nuts and bolts of it are that you sell bags of 40 toilet rolls for £20 to your ‘customers’ and then pay £15 to FairPlay, meaning £5 profit.
Price-wise it roughly stacks up against supermarkets, but you have the added selling point that sales help support the club. Can the local supermarket say that? And also it means the customer doesn’t have to lug bulky toilet rolls home from the shops. An initial concern of mine was that clubs had to pay up front, but this isn’t the case; you only pay once you get the money from your customer, which makes it no risk, something you all know I like. The founder of FairPlay Fundraising, Thomas Kollen, says: “The idea of selling toilet paper may sound a bit wacky at first, but it is the perfect product. You have the widest possible market. Your product is constantly in demand. Some people may already have toilet paper, but they can still buy from you as it does not perish or go
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out of date. And it saves them from running out in the near future. Suddenly running out of toilet paper is the worst!”
trophy (you could even get these from Grassroot Trophies, although other trophy companies are available ha ha).
As a club you choose your sales strategy, who does what, how often you approach people, if you have someone set up to deal with repeat orders and other digging out new business, you’re the bosses.
This is how you get started: • One person from the club/team (over 18), goes to the FairPlay Fundraising website and registers as the main contact for the club. • Download the Fundraising Starter Pack at the bottom of the “How it works” page containing an order form to print and distribute (or just email) to your members/sellers.
Thomas recommends you contact your toilet roll customers three or four times a year and goes on to say: “People never stop using toilet paper. By selling rolls once a quarter the same people who bought last time would buy again.” Ideas on who to target: • Parents and grandparents • Close family friends • Extended family • Other family such as aunts and uncles • Colleagues/parents’ colleagues • Friends’ parents • Close nieghbours • People further up/down the street • Surrounding neighbourhood If I were doing it I would suggest running a competition among the youth section of your club where the child that sells the most bags each quarter gets a small/cheap
Then it is up to everyone to get as many orders as possible. FairPlay Fundraising has not given a restricted time frame for this, but you might want to limit it to 2 weeks… just to set a date for when the order forms must be returned. When you receive all the orders, log in to your account on their website and place the collective order. FairPlay Fundraising will then deliver the collective order to the address you choose. This could be the club house or someone's private address (if they have a large drive way). It is important that the contact is available on the phone on the day of delivery in case the driver needs to get in touch.
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On the day of delivery you should organise so that all the participants/their parents meet up to collect the bags according to their own orders. Each player will then distribute their own bags and collect the money. An invoice will be emailed to the contact on the day of delivery which is payable within 10 days - giving everyone plenty of time to distribute and collect money. Simply pay the amount on the invoice and keep the rest. FairPlay also have a few offers/campaigns going on that allows you to raise even more money: • If you place the collective order before 01/11/14, use the code FPLAYBOOST20 at checkout and your profits will increase by 20%. • If you like their Facebook page and share the “Exclusive campaign” post you will receive an additional 5 bags free of charge that you can sell on an keep the whole amount. That means an additional £100 pounds towards your fundraising goal. (Valid for first order over 100 bags) • FairPlay Fundraising also has a great referral program. Everyone who has fundraised
with them can refer other clubs/teams. When they place their first order (minimum of 100 bags) your team/club will receive £100. Refer 5 clubs and receive £500! (Make sure they mention their name when they register on the website - they will be asked how they discovered the business) You can find out more about the scheme by going to www.fairplayfundraising.com where you can find contact details if you have any questions. Or just email them here. You can also find them on Twitter @fp_fundraising
Happy fundraising!
Note: Grassroot Media did not receive a fee for this article, we just thought you would want to hear about it...
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Twitter Directory Birmingham County FA: @birminghamfa Bosham FC: @boshamfc Bronze CC: @bronzecc Clifton CC: @cliftoncricket Clifton CC ground: @cliftonccdevt Crawley Down Gatwick Football Club: @officialcdgfc Epping CC: @eppingcc Gateshead Fell CC: @gatesheadfellcc Hailsham Cricket Club: @hailshamcc Lodway CC: @lodwaycc Marsden CC: @cuckooscricket Old Parkonians Association: @oldparks Old Parkonians FC: @oldparksfc Parkfield Amateur AFC: @parkfieldafc Rotherfield FC: @rfc1983 South Loughton CC: @southloughtoncc Southgate Compton CC: @sccricketclub Stapleton CC: @stapletoncc Steeple Langford CC: @steeplelangford Sussex County FA: @sussexcountyfa Thaxted CC: @thaxtedcc Tynedale CC: @tynedalecc Westinghouse CC: @westinghousecc Whickham CC: @whickhamcc Winterbourne CC: @winterbournecc Woodnesborough FC: @woodiesfc Worlington CC: @worlingtoncc Worthing CC: @worthingcc Worthing FC @worthing_fc
List your club’s Twitter account in here so everyone else can get following you. Only those clubs that are members of the network like yours are allowed on this list. To get listed just drop Mat a note at mcourt@grassrootmedia .com or on Twitter @grassrootmedia Grassroot Media recommends: @birminghamfa @fvhtweets @sussexcountyfa @meadonscricket @4grants @chance2shine @vscricketsn
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Club Security After searching for a while I’ve found a company that offers not too expensive safes - the idea is that safes inside changing rooms could prevent a lot of thefts.
Has Your Club Been Victim Of Valuables Theft? Players know they should take as much care of their valuables as possible, but sometimes people forget leaving wallets and car keys in trouser pockets, not locking the changing room door, or leaving the valuables bag near the pitch within easy reach of passers by.
“...I’ve played in a few games where things have gone missing from changing rooms...” I've played in at least a few games where people have had things stolen from inside the changing room and I reckon it's a common occurrence across the country.
I've even read stories during 2014's cricket pre-season of players turning up for a trial, claiming to have to leave early and then making off with a player's car and several wallets. While we can't do much about that form of crime from here at Grassroot Towers, we think we have come up with something that could help with the issue of opportunistic thieves going in to changing rooms while the game is on looking for something that isn't theirs... Safes...
“I’ve never seen a safe at a club I’ve played at and I wondered why...” 35
I've played at many football and cricket clubs and never seen a safe and I'm not sure why as it seems a relatively simple thing to install to prevent crime.
From the research I've done it seems as though the price is good on what they are offering.
“...As with everything, shop around, perhaps on your local high street, to compare prices...”
“...Maybe it's because keys get lost, maybe it's because it's expensive, as I said I don't know. ...” Maybe it's because keys get lost, maybe it's because it's expensive, as I said I don't know. But, if it's the latter then I've found a company that is willing to help reduce the cost of small safes for clubs to put up in their changing rooms: Simply Safes (you've guessed it, they specialise in safes). They've got together a special deal to get more safes inside club changing rooms - and by the way we aren't making any money out of this, we're promoting them because it's a good idea and I think it’s a good deal that we have negotiated for you. Each month we'll be running an ad for them, this month’s is on the next page, so don't worry about keeping hold of this so that you've got their details.
But of course it’s always a good idea to shop around, perhaps on your local high street, to compare prices. They come with everything you need to put them on the wall, the only thing you'll have to worry about is making sure the keys are kept safe! (Although if you lose them Simply Safes can supply replacements on models). Keep Safe... Actually while I’ve got you, if you are thinking of getting some safes but don’t like these ones advertised, whatever you do don’t get a digital hotel-style safe, they are incredibly easy to break in to; I’ve done it. Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies...
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Use grassrootmedia.com to showcase your sponsorship opportunities A quick update on an idea I’ve had to help you sell sponsorship and advertising in your clubs to local firms. I’ve imaginatively called it ‘Sponsor A Local Club’...
Just another quick reminder on the “Sponsor A Local Club” page on the website we launched last month. We’ve got a few opportunities up on there but space for plenty more. What we’re trying to do is build up a portfolio of sponsorable opportunities that businesses can have a look through and hopefully find something they want to buy. I’ve no idea if it’s going to work but it feels like a good idea. I don’t want Grassroot Media to make anything out of it and all we’ll do is effectively put the idea in the shop window and then market the shop window. You guys will still need to talk directly with the companies that show an interest but my plan is that if we can get plenty of ideas on there I can go to organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and other small business organisations and try to
get them spreading the among their members.
word
So if you want to get your club listed up on there just drop me a line with what you want (try to keep it as short/punchy as possible) and one or two images and we’ll get you listed. We’ll never charge for it and will never look to take a cut of anything you end up selling off the back of it - that’s not what this is about. Instead it’s about promoting the fact that small businesses can really benefit from getting involved commercially with the one of the most important hubs of their local community, their sports clubs. If you’ve got any questions/comments/concerns please give me a shout in the usual way, you can see the page itself here: http://www.grassrootmedia.com/s ponsor-a-local-club
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