youth football at MTFC

[gooner]

I was told today that the club has lost all its youth sides. Martin Law, Hutch, Gerald Pearce and myself started the youth teams up 26 years ago so its with great sadness to hear this . Many people have been involved both players and parents over all those years and all would hold some very fond memories of playing youth football for the club. Its a shame the youth teams felt they needed to take such action and move away from the club and everyone involved could not have sat around a table and discussed what ever issues they have. When we started all those years ago we had problems with the senior club and 26 years on the position is the same. Somewhere along the line you would have hoped change would have happened. This post is not to portion any blame but just to say what a shame for everyone ( both youth & seniors)

[gooner]

This is a real shame to hear and to think that nothing was said earlier does seem a little underhanded. THE CLUB is what is important and people just pass through. I had my time at the club (as have many other people) and at the time it was just so important to me but when i left it still carried on without my input. People can get carried away with self importance and perhaps dont always act in the best interest of the club. This does not mean to say that a parent wanting to start up a youth side could not play as mildenhall youth and the youth section be part of the club as we did all those years ago. The club can have a youth section without Rob if it wishes cant it?

[thefriar]

Absolutely gooner.
It was made clear that any youth team that wished to continue playing under the CLUB banner would be very welcome.
Also, if there is anyone new who wishes to get involved in youth football at mtfc please contact me or the CLUB directly.

[gatherbyhens]

Cut, nose, spite, face, these words spring to mind! I think the people taking the youth section away from the club need to take a long hard look at themselves.

One of their major gripes was the fact that they did not get extensive use of the pitch. This action means that the vast majority of these players will NEVER play at Rec Way, slightly ironic!

So what is the situation with regards to the kits, equipment, balls etc? I do hope they are retained by the MTFC, after all they were purchased by MTFC and should be retained for use by future MTFC youth teams who actually want to play for the club. If they want to disband, let them raise their own funds!

Oh, and if they think they will play in the infamous amber and black they should think again. New club, new colours in my opinion!

[kopite]

Hi everyone, i thought i would register just to have my view on this maybe you think it's wrong what i'm going to say but hey i'm aloud. Firstly i have been involved in Youth football at different levels for some time including Mildenhall and I have enjoyed my time whilst I was involved. This is from my view when i was involved you never felt it was one team it was main club and Youth and over many years that has never changed. I read a comment just above about MTFC should get all the kit, balls, equipment etc who do you thinks buys it in the first place NOT the main club, all parents pay subs for the season of which they pay the main club for each player to become a member, the rest goes on pitch higher at local schools which can be £200 upwards a season, referees, kit, balls, training venue etc. Trust me it doesn't cover anything near to run a team maybe lucky if you find a sponsor. I can honestly say I out of my own pocket buy the balls, some of the kit needed for team i was involved in. The Youth gets no funding from the main team they are reliant on there own fundraising. They pay to play on the main pitch when they get to the age but for anyone who has ever watched the youth at the ground the parents also spend in the bar. For me personally my biggest worry is what happens to the Youth who have been with Mildenhall go when they get to the end of Under 16 they just get left to go somewhere else, how many as ever made it to the first team do the main team know who the up and coming Youth players are after all they could be the future.? Has all the current Youth teams left? if so why have they all agreed to go, they only want the best for the Youth players regardless of team name, so why should they be blamed for that. My question would be what could of the main team done more for the Youth.

[gatherbyhens]

Hi Kopite

1. Your comment that "you never felt it was one team" is pathetic. Please back-up this comment with some reasons.

2. I stand by my point with regards the kit etc. Any equipment you have bought personally is yours, end of. By your own admission all other equipment is raised from subs (paid to MTFC) and sponsorship of MTFC. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that make it the property of MTFC? Sorry if I'm being petty but these are the facts.

3. I think you'll find there are a number of parents who are upset with regards the disbandment.

4. I for one played for MTFC reserves when I was 17 along with probably a further 5 or 6 my age all from MTFC youth. If you are good enough you have always been given a chance. If you have been on the forum and around the club recently you will know that a major factor in the withdrawal of the reserve team was youth team players refusing to play and wanting to play elsewhere, not vice-versa!

The questions that I would love to ask the parents are 1. What more could "the main club" have done? And 2. What will be different now they are a different entity?

[kopite]

Well sorry if I can't have my own views. As I did say above what the youth teams raise through subs doesn't cover the costs at all it's the parents who run tea stalls and do raffles that make the difference so if you want the equipment back why doesn't someone ask the teams and get the parents consent to have them back. My views are from my time at the club in the past. When I say it's not like one club that's my view and i'm allowed it. Can i ask if any of the main team committee ever watch the youth play at any of the schools, help them purchase equipment when needed. All Youth teams find there own sponsor for there own team.
Was it not last season or the season before a Youth team that had started from U9's and got to U16 had to form U17's as Mildenhall Utd as the main team didn't want an U17 team?
Has any of the parents thought why they can't start a team up and see if the boy's want to play?
Also i see this thread started 31st May so why hasn't nothing been said before.
Gooner has mentioned similar points to me before mtfc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talkfromrecway&action=display&thread=1471&page=2
if anything it has got people discussing the matter

[gatherbyhens]

I have to stress that my views are exactly that, mine, and in no way on behalf of MTFC or the committee etc. I am merely expressing my own opinion as are you. I am a former player who has been involved with the club literally since I could walk.

Do you actually realise how much time and effort the committee put in to running the club as a whole? I think they can be excused for not being able to watch every youth match, as they are probably manning the bar, washing the kit or spending time with their families! Let me flip it, how many of the any of the youth team and their parents actually come and support and watch the first team play? It is a two-way street. I know for a fact the former youth secretary went to watch the youth teams play.

I would appreciate an answer to my questions though. What more could "the main club" have done? And what will change now they are a new entity?

[gooner]

This is an age old topic and the problems the youth have goes right back to when we first started the youth section up over 20 years ago. The issue of kit ownership is not an issue i think the club would really want to take up as it would be being petty in MY OPINION. Going back to when we started the youth so that i can talk from experience we raised our own money and financed ourselves giving the club any surplus at the end of the season. This did not sit well with the seniors but that was the way it was. People gave time and money to the kids and they had the benifits of that. If the club organised a fund raising event we supported it and money raised went to the club ( it was also considerd to be our club as well ). If we organised a fund raising event then it went to the junior section. All ages would take part in the fund raising even if it meant their particular age group did not benifit on that occasion. If people would have just sat around a table and listed what they required from being part of mildenhall town football club ie as a junior team and as a senior team i am sure this situation would never have arisen. Alot of common ground would have been acknowledged as to where both sides would like to see the club go. Of course there would have also been issues but none that could not have been sorted out with give and take from both sides. There was an us and them situation when we started the youths up but it was easier then because Hutch Martin Gerald and myself were also part of the senior side as well which helped when there was a problem and it was give and take from both sides i have to say. This forum is a great platform for people to come on here and express their feelings without a face to face confrontation where emotions can run high. I would encourage managers players parents club members to join this thread and unload their thoughts because without anyone getting upset all the cards would be on the table and only good can come of it. Sometimes people feel agrieved at a situation without the understanding of why something is done in a certain way. What i can assure everyone is the youth teams have always been a valued part of the club and the people that are involved in the sides also were always proud to represent MTFC.

[fish]

I have played for MTFC at just about every junior level and also the first team, reserves and A team and it was a large part of my life due to my Dad being a youth team manager and committee member. Back then we went to watch just about every home game (1st or reserves) and he was involved in working behind the bar etc. Even at the age of 11 I always felt part of the club and so did my whole family as everyone one of us got involved, we were all there for fund raisers and the youth section regularly used the club house for events.

It is easy to look back now and point fingers in both directions as to why it isn't like that now, it is also easy to put on rose tinted glasses on how wonderful it was and how everyone got along, i think most did though?

My initial thought was how sad it is that the club has disbanded in this way to leave just one team but this isn't a MTFC isolated problem and what effect will it really have? Football from this level and up has moved on from 20 years ago, as much as we would like it o be, it is not the fun community project that it used to be.

Football has turned into a results business at every level where money is concerned and this hs firmly shifted the emphasis to 1st teams. This is happening at far higher levels than MTFC most professional clubs now have given up on reserve level football, Ipswich and other teams now just organise friendlies instead to give players a run out as needed. Wycombe have recently disbanded their youth section and they are a professional club.

I honestly think we will see a further decline in youth football from 14+ and as more and more numbers drop out of the game, personally i think a lot of local football will be replaced by 5 aside leagues where groups of friends can play and the abilities of the players are less important.

What does all this mean? Yes youth football still has a place for 7-13 year olds but it has moved too far away from the first team and therefore if a youth section wants to be separate then let them, it will be less worry and bother and everyone can focus on their tasks at hand. If the youths want to share the club identity it is also no bother just make sure everyone knows where they stand and don't expect it to be like 20 years ago.

Village football is disappearing fast so huge youth sections churning out players every season don't need to be there, the first team will still find the players they need each year and maybe the odd one might be a local but there is no point trying to fit something that won't work.


These are my own opinions and everyone is entitled to disagree

[kopite]

Gooner i fully except your comments and made lot's of sense, as did Fish i disagree with a comment or two but fully respect what you say. Buff i was on the understanding the Youth Section pay a fee to the main club as the boy's get a card to get in the ground free and you wouldn't just give them out free. Also Youth Challenge Day yes the club let the Youth use the facilities but I bet the Bar takings do well.
Buff also respect your comments, i only commented on this thread to give my comments as when I was involved in the Youth as nobody else was maybe giving a possible reason why this may have happened.
My main reason was to get across that the Youth do fund themselves and all the equipment etc is NOT provided by the main club as was suggested.
One comment about football is a cheap sport to play is in my opinion not that true for when your in a team, the Youth have people from all kinds of backgrounds and parents who may struggle to buy Johnny boot's, travel etc, when i used to be involved it was about the boy's individually more than just the name of the team team. So shouldn't we just be happy that the boy's enjoy there football regardless of where they play.

[thefriar]

The only other point that I would like to add to Buff's post is that every Youth Team Manager and every child registered with every youth side affiliated to MTFC had a free pass to all 1st team games each season.

[kopite]

Seems like my views do get disagreed with but i'm glad people are discussing the matter this can only be a good thing.

[gatherbyhens]

Kopite

I did not suggest that MTFC "main club" write cheques out for kits and balls etc. etc. I meant that they are self funded under the banner of MTFC for the benefit and development of MTFC players. Did the youth section not have a central back account under the name of "MTFC" Youth?! Anyhow, this point is largely irrelevent as I doubt the club would ever ask for the equipment back. I was just playing devils advocate.

It just seems to me that these people are very quick to bad mouth the club without having facts to back anything up.

"when i used to be involved it was about the boy's individually more than just the name of the team team. So shouldn't we just be happy that the boy's enjoy there football regardless of where they play"

The above is exactly my point Kopite, why did the parents feel the need to change the name and where they play?

As for the challenge cup day, it took a hell of a lot of organisation, time and effort from committee members. The event was put on for the enjoyment of all the youth players and their families, not to raise a couple of quid at the bar. This is just one of the aspects that these people have taken away from the children.

I'm sorry if it appears I am having a rant, I probably am to be fair. The club means a lot to me and I just find this decision baffling!

[kopite]

I respect your comments everyones views are entitled even if peoples views differ.
When you say these people bad mouthing who as i have not wrote anything to suggest this or read it on these forums. You then said these people have taken it away from the children and then u continue to say why have the parents decided to change name of club and where they play. Who are you blaming