Revised 26th August

Revised 28th August and 29th August

You will see from our web site that we are starting on 1st Sept with first Saturday training on 5th Sept.

U6, U7 and U8 are now invited to attend when training starts on 5th September.

For the older age groups, it is up to the manager. Please contact them directly if you think that they have forgotten you, contact details are on SheenLions.com.

Competitive age groups (U13 and older) may be contacted by a manager directly and invited, possibly even to a pre season in August.

U12 Trials will be on Friday 11th September, details on team page.

For Development age groups (U9, U10 or U11) that train on Saturday you are invited from 12th September.

Dear Parents,

I hope this email finds you and the family all well. It was not long ago that I thought we may not even have a club to return to but with your support and loyalty here we are, and I truly thank you for that.

I would like to give you with an update as to how things are progressing before I try and take some time off. I, and several members, have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure your child can return to football as quickly and safely as possible. It is important you read ALL the information on our website so you know what to expect and what will be expected from you. There is plenty to read but 3 key points to follow are:

1. Parents are to register their child with their coach BEFORE any activity.
2. Players MUST have a named water bottle and named hand sanitiser. THEY CANNOT PARTICIPATE IF THEY DO NOT HAVE THESE.
3. Parents need to be aware that coaches will not attend to players who fall ill or incur injuries. They can only attend a player if an injury is life threatening.

Risk assessments have been presented to Richmond Council, protocols and procedures are in place as required by the Surrey Youth League and The FA. As we progress into next season we will continue to follow instructions from the government and our governing bodies.

Several training sessions were missed at the end of 2019-20 due to the Covid Lock down and so some expected expenses were not incurred. However, to help our coaches cope with the abrupt loss of some of their income, the Club decided to make some ex gratia payments to coaches in April to cushion the blow and so the training costs were not reduced pro rata as you might expect; but it does leave some money in the kitty.

The lack of activity at the end of the season and into the summer has created problems setting up the teams for the coming season, as we have not been able to trial new and existing players as we would have wanted for everyone, to place them in the most appropriate squads. The intention was to use money saved in 2019-20 to pay for extra sessions in August to give the players pre-season sessions in lieu of what was missed.

The competitive age groups have these sessions in place now. However it has proved too difficult to arrange August sessions for the Development age groups as too many people are away on holiday. The plan for these age groups now is to hold sessions during October half term in lieu of those missed. I know none of us know how things will be in mid October but, all being well, we plan on holding sessions during Monday 19th – Saturday 26th October 2021. This will give your child something to do during the half term, when usual options might not be available, and also give some further help to our coaches with some substitute work.

Gordon will email you to register for these sessions separately, once the season has started. These additional sessions will be free for players that fully paid their 2019-20 fees. Others will have to pay. If the sessions turn out not to be feasible, due to limited numbers, then they will not go ahead and instead we will need to decide what is done as an alternative.

A few people have asked what will happen if the Pandemic causes us to lose further training sessions. To clarify, all the money that you pay for training is retained in a Trust Account that is administered by the club and only used to organise and provide football for the children. We will consider how best any surplus is dealt with at the end of the season when the final position is clear. The club does not own this money, it is held in trust for the members and is not part of the club’s books.

It is essential that there are sufficient reserves to allow the club a good chance to carry on operating, even in unexpected circumstances, and with good planning we have been able to do that. Both the club and the trust account are healthy. We have been able to commit to some of our suppliers for the 2020-21 season before we had to ask members to commit to us by paying as early as is usually necessary. However we do need next season’s fees to be paid before we can go ahead with training and match day programmes. A few people have wishfully suggested that government help will be available to us. It is not, unless we have missed something? We do not have employees to furlough nor business rate relief to claim.

Training timetables are on the website. The competitive age groups start their official training programme the week commencing Monday 31st August and the development age groups will return to training on Saturday 5th September, subject to government guidelines.

Lastly I want to wish you all a peaceful and relaxing time for the remainder of the summer. Hopefully I will see everyone back in September.

Keep well.

regards
Sarah Street
Club Secretary
Sheen Lions F.C.

As we have already let you know measures agreed between the English FA and the UK Government on 17th July do allow a restart of Grass Roots football but of course there are new procedures necessary.

Timing Of Restart

In normal times Sheen Lions has very little activity from late July until the end of August and this seems likely to be the case even now. Sarah has been talking to Coaches and Managers about the feasibility of starting training earlier than usual (in August) but in almost all age groups the numbers are not sufficient as people are away on holiday. The sudden change in travel advice for Spain at the weekend may change this, but it might make it worse not better if players have a period of self isolation following their holiday.

At the moment you must assume that training will start on your first normal training day after 1st September, so for U6 to U11 that will be Saturday 5th September. Maybe some of the older age groups might manage some sessions earlier, you will hear from your Manager or from the Club if that is to happen.

People waiting to trial will be invited to the first training session to do so.

League competition is due to start on 12th September. We have not yet heard from the League as to whether they will start on that date because they have not decided. They will need confirmation from Clubs that they will be ready and more certainty on the number of teams entered. We are still in a process to do that and other clubs will be the same. Your responses on some of the points below affect what we can tell the League.

Training Kit

Members that need to order new training kit please note that there has been a change of brand. You need to read http://sheenlions.com/sheen-lions-training-kit-brand-change/. Players can continue to wear their existing kit but going forward new and replacements garments will be be from JOMA. At the time of writing the new kit is not yet available for sale on the KS Teamwear website. We require you to wear the official kit at training but until you can get hold of it you can of course attend training anyway!

Notice of Additional Measure During Pandemic

We have now put in place our additional measures that we need to bring in to allow your football activity to resume as safely as possible following the FA Guidance.

You must read our notice about this, it is very important that you understand and are agreeing to the additional risks of continued participation. If you decide that you are unable to accept these changes then you will need to let us know (registrations@sheenlions.org) that you wish to end your membership as you will no longer be able to participate. If we do not hear from you we will take this as confirmation that you have read, accepted and will comply with all rules and protocols notified here.

Payment

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. Normally we collect the necessary contributions as people register for the new season but this summer we deferred payment as we did not have any certainty as to when Grass Roots football would be allowed to resume. Now that we have a reasonable certainty of starting as normal we now need to collect the fees. During this week Members will receive an email asking for payment of their contribution. People waiting to trial do not pay.

Please deal with this matter promptly. If you have a difficulty with payment please be proactive and explain it to us.

• U11, I will send you another notice about fees before your request to pay.
• U12, following the trial last Saturday, I will not be able to send you payment requests until I hear what decisions have been made.
  

Following the message in our notice “Changes To Your Agreement With Sheen Lions July 2020” we have now decided on the addition measures we need to bring in to allow your football activity to resume as safely as possible following the FA Guidance (GUIDELINES FOR THE RETURN OF OUTDOOR COMPETITIVE GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL).

You may view the current version of the measures in our Member’s Info section Additional Measures During Covid-19 Pandemic. Players and Parents must read Covid-19 Measures For Parents and Players.

In particular please note that “On arrival at the event the player must not approach any other person until they have reported to their manager for registration and confirmation of self check.“

The FA Guidelines are concentrated on measures to mitigate the risks leading to a Covid-19 outbreak around this activity. They do not eliminate these risks.

• We expect that the risk of transmission will be significantly reduced by following these measures over the risk if the activity takes place without these measures but we do not know what that risk is.
• The impact if a risk occurs (i.e. the virus is transmitted between participants at a Sheen Lions event) depends on individual circumstances and it is left to you to decide if you wish to take the risk given the mitigation in place.

There is another risk in participation apart from the risk of infection. You may be told by the NHS Test and Trace service that you have “been in contact with a person who has coronavirus” as a result of Sheen Lions activity. Remember that this includes matches against teams from other Clubs but note than Sheen Lions only plays teams from Clubs that, like us will be following the FA Guidelines.

If you decide that you are unable to accept these changes then you will need to let us know (registrations@sheenlions.org) that you wish to end your membership as you will no longer be able to participate. If we do not hear from you we will take this as confirmation that you have read, accepted and will comply with all rules and protocols notified here.

Nike is no longer supplying items suitable for grass root clubs and Sheen Lions will specify training kit from JOMA from now on.

Players can continue to wear their existing kit but going forward new and replacements garments will be be from JOMA.

Kit must be purchased from KS Teamwear, they will provide the JOMA kit with Sheen Lions branding that is required.

Further details are on our “Kit Shop” page.

It is becoming almost certain that we will not be able to run our Summer Soccer Six for 2020. This removes a good opportunity for younger players to try Sheen Lions and decide if they wish to join the Club for the next season.

Our older age groups are also unable to trial players.

If you are interested in joining our Club then email your child’s name and date of birth to registrations@sheenlions.org. We will add you to our contact list (Data Protection Privacy Notice) and invite you to come as soon as we can.

You should also read Trialling At Sheen Lions.

Please note that Sheen Lions does not pro-rata fees. Full fees are required until at least the New Year from any new member.

Parents,

As I’m sure most of you know by now, we lost our training facility at the Bank of England Sports Centre in April. Whilst negotiations continue with finding a new owner we had to find an alternative location for our mid week training. In anticipation of this happening, last year we approached Rosslyn Park as a possible new venue. I am delighted to announce that Sheen Lions F.C. will use Rosslyn Park, with its 4g pitch, for our mid week training for U12s – U18s. next season. Players and coaches alike will no doubt be delighted. This is a fantastic facility which we are extremely fortunate to have secured.

It is important that as a club we make the very best use of the time we have booked there. Training days will be much the same as always although some times may change. Some players may have to come to training directly from school, so it will be important for them to remember to take their club training kit and correct footwear with them to school on their training day. They will also need to bring their own refreshment.

Having spoken to the managers and coaches earlier this year, we know there is a big demand in this age group for extra training. Therefore, the club will also be extending its training programme to include a mid week session for the U11s from next season. We have wanted to do this for a while now, but did not have the right facility to expand. Now we do. This is in addition to Saturday morning training. It is not an alternative. Players registering with the club will be expected to sign up for this and attend. There will be an extra cost, much the same as paying an outside source as many of you do already, so you need to be sure that this is something you can commit to before registering.

This extra training will benefit those players that are serious about progressing into competitive football through the age groups with Sheen Lions, continuing to work with our excellent coaches rather than with outside sources. It will give the coaches and managers further opportunities to see the talent we have and to get to know the players more, which will help greatly with making decisions regarding match play selection. Looking at the long term, it will also be very useful when making the very important decisions regarding players moving into competitive football at U12s. when squads are merged. We may extend this to other younger age groups in time.

Full details of dates to be advised.

Stay safe and hopefully the players will be back playing in September.

Regards
Sarah Street
Club Secretary – Sheen Lions F.C.

Parents

I hope you and your families are safe and well during these strange and difficult times.

As you know, we are all in limbo regarding grassroots football and as such have no idea at all when we will be able to start again. However, in the hope that the children & young people will get playing again next season, we must try and lay the foundations for that.

I have already entered our teams with the League so they in turn can start work on putting divisions and fixtures together. They are also opening the League player registration process. So, in order for us to know whether we can field the teams I have entered, I need to know everyone’s intention for next season. Therefore, Gordon will be sending out invitations to register as usual over the next week or so. Depending on your response I will be able to gauge whether all the teams I am hoping to field will in fact be viable. By that I mean good squad numbers to support fielding a team regularly. It should be noted that as a Sunday League football club we expect our players to be available for possible match selection, therefore players involved with other activities on Sundays should not register. This does not apply to U6 – U9s.

At this stage we only need to see how many of the existing players register, with us and in turn the League. As we are unable to trial, players will be moved up an age group in their existing squads. However, it should be noted that some players may be moved across to different squads once we’re up and running and those trials and decisions can take place. It may also prove to be necessary to merge teams into one squad if player numbers are not sufficient. History tells us that this is highly likely with the U12s, as players move schools and some cannot commit to the club. Also, the U11s will need to commit to mid week training. If not enough players are able to do that then, once again, we may have to merge squads. Players who are registered as Cubs can register as such again. Once we know our numbers we can look and see what opportunities there might be for these groups when training /trialling starts.

Fees will be deferred until such time as it is known when training and the season will start. We will follow the guidelines given by the government and our governing bodies, the FA and the Surrey Youth League, regarding starting up again. Once those all important starting dates are known, fees will be required to be paid with immediate effect so that the club can progress with providing football for the players. If too many players do not make that financial commitment then we may have to consider folding teams.  Apologies if this sounds heavy handed but, without the financial support from fees being paid. we cannot provide the whole footballing experience that we do.

There will be no reduction in fees for late joiners before January.
Fees may be reduced after that at the club’s discretion.

Please check your emails regularly for that important email from our Registration Secretary, Gordon Campbell, and respond by Monday 8th June at the latest.

If you decide not to register with Sheen Lions, it would be helpful to know, so please decline the invitation when you receive it.

Thank you everyone for your patience and understanding . Stay safe, and hopefully I’ll see the players back in September.

Regards

Sarah Street