CROSFIELDS JFC CHARTER STANDARD COMMUNITY CLUB

• We, as a club, believe that we exist for our 600+ players, who play football for fun and enjoyment. We measure success not by matches won or trophies gained, but by our size, the few children who leave our club, and most importantly, by the development of all players. This guides everything that we do. We do this, as volunteers, by working in partnership with parents and local schools.

• In Feb 2011, we were proud to be awarded the highest accolade of FA Charter Standard Community Club. (FA three-star accreditation)

Crosfields has more teams and players with a broader age range than ever before: We have our first Open Age team, who gained promotion in their first season. At the other end of the spectrum, we have U5 players and U6 players who spend an hour developing FUNdamental football skills in a friendly, enjoyable, supportive environment. Between these extremes, we have 14 mixed mini-soccer teams and nine 11-a-side boy's teams. We have recently expanded our female section, catering for girls from U7 to open age. 

Some players don't feel ready to commit to a league place and are accommodated on a training-only basis - but fully involved in the club. A number of our older players choose to act as Junior Coaches or as mini-soccer referees, and this is something we want to encourage in the future. 

At Crosfields JFC, we pride ourselves on developing all players and, to this end, have very high coach-player ratios, typically 1:5 at mini-soccer and 1:8 at 11-a-side. Everyone involved in our club is a volunteer. Our Child Welfare Officer ensures that all coaches are DBS checked. We currently have over 50 coaches with a FA Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Football, including six female coaches. We encourage coaches to engage in development and are proud that we have over ten coaches who have completed the new FA Youth Award Module 1 - specifically for coaching 5-11 year-olds. Some have completed Level 2 and Module 2 courses. We have a coach who has completed the FA Mentoring Adults course. All coaches can access our "ethos" and "Top Ten Tips" for coaching. 

We hold Soccer-Parent Meetings in the summer and ensure that families are aware of our club ethos and the behaviour that we expect from everyone at training and on match days in line with the FA RESPECT agenda. Parent representatives monitor this and act as a bridge between parents and coaches. Our compliance committee are not afraid to enforce our rules and uphold our ethos. 

We have partnerships with Great Sankey High School and St Gregory's Catholic High School to ensure that we have high-quality training facilities and pitches for match days. We have carefully managed our finances so that without raising subscriptions, we have in 12 months renewed all playing kits and replaced the old training kit. We draw children from a wide area (over 20 Primary schools) because of our reputation. Many of these attended our primary school's soccer tournament in the summer.