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Understanding Sheen Lions

What Does Sheen Lions Do?

Sheen Lions is an FA Charter Standard Football Club affiliated to Surrey County F.A. and playing Sunday League football in the Surrey Youth League. Our aim is to provide top level coaching for local children and young people and to prepare them to play competitive football throughout the season from U5 – U18.

How Do We Do It

Sheen Lions is a registered charity it is run by unpaid volunteers. We rely entirely on parents paying fees so we can pay for what we do. No one is employed or paid to run Sheen Lions, the volunteers are almost all parents of our present and past players.  If your child joins Sheen Lions you should certainly consider what you can do to help.

Coaching

Sheen Lions F.C. has an established panel of coaches.They are all DBS checked and hold current FA coaching qualifications, typically FA level 2 or higher.

From U6 until under U11 our squads train at Palewell on Saturday mornings for 90 minutes.

From U12s upwards training is moved to midweek, due to the players school commitments. We have the use of possibly the best facility in the area, Rosslyn Park. Players train under floodlights on a 4g surface. Sessions are 90 minutes. Our U10s & U11s have an extra session mid week (see training schedule) at certain times of the year. The club expects players to sign up to this.

Our current coaching schedule can be seen on SheenLions.com.

Team Management

Most of the older age group teams are co-managed by a coach with the assistance of club appointed parents. Younger age groups are run by club appointed volunteer parents. One parent leading, the other assisting.

A parent appointed by the club as a manager becomes an official of the club and has to meet the criteria set out by the FA as part of the Charter Standard. This includes training in Emergency Aid, Safeguarding Children and holding a valid DBS certificate. The club also expects managers to take their Level 1 coaching badge.

The manager, in consultation with their appointed coach, will make all football related decisions concerning their squad.

Playing

Our U5s, U6s and U7s do not play League football. However the club does try and arrange some friendlies for them during the season.

Our U8 squads start training in September. Typically they start League football either after the October half term or after Christmas break. This is entirely dependent on parents volunteering to be managers of the teams.

From U9s upwards our teams play a full season of Sunday League football in the Surrey Youth League including League Cup competitions. In addition, the U12s and up are entered into the Surrey FA County Cup competition.

Our League matches are on Sundays. Matches can be home or away and generally kick off between 10:00 and 14:00, though it is unusual for a match to kick off later than 12:00. Journeys to away matches are rarely more than 40 minutes. Our HOME ground is Palewell Common.

Football through to U11s is designated as Development Football. The League’s intention is to be flexible with these younger age groups through the season and to match teams at a similar stage of development rather than to fix teams into divisions at the start of the season. Teams play traditional matches against other teams and some round robin tournaments during the season. Results must not be published but the League does consider the results to assess the playing standard of teams so as to match future opponents. Development football players can move freely between our squads for matches. Players are expected to attend any fixture that they are asked to play. This helps us monitor progression and ability. We expect parents to support this.

Selection

Membership DOES NOT guarantee selection for matches. We strive for large numbers of players in all the age groups that play development football as we know we will lose players each season as player’s priorities and commitments change. This can have a huge impact on squad numbers, particularly as we can lose up to a third of our U11s as they move up to U12s. Having a large number of players at U11s puts the club in the position that when the drop off happens, we are still able to progress to U12s competitive football, and field two squads, with players that can continue to commit to the club and Sunday League football.

Our Home

Sheen Lions plays all its home matches on Sundays at Palewell Common where we rent pitches from the LBRUT. We have one 5v5, three 7v7, one 9v9 and three 11v11 pitches. Until U11 our teams also train at Palewell on Saturdays.

From U12 onward our teams train at the Rosslyn Park.

When Should You Join

As a club we will always welcome any player that wants to trial however, we do have our limitations. We would love to be able to provide football to everyone that is keen to play for the club but inevitably some age groups may be at capacity and we would be unable to offer a place.

In the 2019-20 season Sheen Lions had nearly 400 players and fielded 23 teams. We are one of the largest clubs in the Surrey Youth League.

For detailed information on joining and contact information please read our How To Join page.

How Much Does It Cost

To join Sheen Lions you have to pay a Membership Fee and contribute into the Training Kitty that we hold in trust for you to pay all the necessary expenses on your behalf.

The fees payable also cover the cost of matches (could be 20) but membership does not guarantee selection for matches.

Involving Parents

We are happy for parents to attend and support on match days. Parents can encourage the players but never criticise or coach them, nor may you criticise match officials whatever you think of their decisions. At football matches you must watch from behind the RESPECT barriers. At training you can watch from a distance.

In joining Sheen Lions, a Charter Standard club, you will be signing up to the club’s rules, regulations, protocols and codes and also those of the Surrey Youth League and Surrey County F.A.

Parents are required to get their children to their training sessions and matches ON TIME. Latecomers can and will be excluded. Parents are also required to collect their children on time.

Please look at our Volunteering At Sheen Lions page to see how you can help.

KIT

The wearing of Sheen Lions designated training kit is mandatory and can be purchased through our shop on our website. The wearing of the club’s rain jacket or showerproof jacket is mandatory when arriving at league matches.

Match day shirts are given out to players on loan. They remain the property of Sheen Lions and are to be returned to the club should you leave or when requested. Players are given match day shorts and socks. These are for the player to keep.