Leading Offaly soccer club issues appeal for volunteers to cope with demand

KILLEIGH School Boys/Girls Soccer Club has issued an open letter to parents of the club's youngsters asking for more volunteers to train teams.

The club says unfortunately, they find themselves in a situation where they must consider putting a limit on the number of children in certain age groups, purely based on the number of volunteers/coaches available.

This is something the club is trying to avoid, but feel it is necessary for the benefit and protection of players and coaches to highlight the issue at an early stage.

The full content of the open letter is a follows:

“Killeigh School Boys/Girls Soccer Club registered over 350 kids last year.

We had teams from u9 to u16 in boys and from u11 to U18 in girls.

We are an inclusive club; and try to provide football for every child who wants to try our sport, and have tried never to refuse any child a place. Like other clubs, our club is growing, making it one of the biggest underage clubs in the Midlands School Boys/Girls league.

However, over the last couple of years we have seen a decline in people offering to volunteer/coach in our club.

This is having a direct impact on the number of teams we can enter into the Midlands School Boys/Girls league. Unfortunately, this led us having to close registration last season and we were unable to offer a place for children to play football.

This is a direct appeal to all parents of our players, your kids, and friends of our club to come along and volunteer in the club. We understand that this can be daunting for some, but we can reassure everyone that we will guide you along the way and give you all the support necessary. We also understand that life is busy. It is busy for us too. The more people that get involved, the more the work can be shared amongst everyone.

Think of any of our teams that have only two or sometimes only one coach. Imagine if it was three or four. How better balanced that would be for all the coaches who are trying to juggle life and work commitments. More importantly, how much better would it be for your children? All the coaches at our club started the same way and all will say it’s a rewarding experience filled with more highs than lows, but always with fun.

Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a situation where the club must consider putting a limit on the number of children in certain age groups, purely based on the number of volunteers/coaches available.

This is something we are trying to avoid, but feel it is necessary for the benefit and protection of players and coaches to highlight the issue at an early stage.

If you have, any free time and can help our club, please contact any coach, club official or send a message through our Facebook page. After all, “It’s all about the kids”.

Yours in sport,

Executive Committee.

Killeigh School Boys/Girls Soccer Club