Pumpherston-united.co.uk

Pumpherston United FC

Established 2005

As there are various activities happening around the club we thought we would issue a note to keep everyone up to date.

We do try to speak to you at the games but sometimes people can be missed out.

Firstly, welcome to any new children, parents and guardians who have joined the club this season.

At the end of the newsletter I have included the names and telephone numbers of some of the officials and coaches of the club. Please contact any of these people if you need to discuss anything.

The soccer school is now training at Pumpherston school during the winter months.

Arrangement and timings for the teams are as follows:

Under 14’s –

Under 12’s

Under 11’s

As you are probably aware there has been a great deal of work done on the kick pitch this year. The kick pitch has been leased from Pumpherston Juniors for our training but we need to bring it up to a useable standard.

Throughout this year volunteers particularly Kevin our chairman with some help from Jimmy and Charles the Under 14’s coaches have been spending their weekends down there basically reconstructing the pitch. This has saved a huge amount of money.

We do now however need to put a surface on the park and this will cost money. We are presently drafting letters to go out to businesses asking for sponsorship of an advertising board. These boards will enclose the pitch. If any of you know of any businesses who would be interested in sponsoring the club please let us know.

The reason we need to get this in operation is that the cost of training facilities for the winter months is excessive. For example to hire the kick pitch at Pumpherston school costs us £17.20 per hour. Based on our current training programme this would cost the club approx £130 per week.

Over and above this, unlike some other clubs we also pay for the use of the park for games and training at Pumpherston at an hourly cost of £14.

You will understand now where the majority of the children’s subscriptions go.

Davie Charles , a parent of one of our Under 14 players is in the process of setting up a website for the club. It is still in the early stages of development but once up and running it is hoped that everyone can keep themselves updated with club events through the site. If anyone has any team photos available then let one of the committee know and Davie can include these on the website.

Attached to this newsletter is a note of all the things that the club will be involved in over the next couple of months.

In particular the festival at Ayr will be a great weekend for the children based on the experiences of the current Under 14 team who were there in 2006.

Not only do they have the tournament to enjoy but there is also ample free time for the children to use all the facilities at the park.

One thing that has not been included in the forthcoming events is the Race Night. This will hopefully be organised for February/March time this year. This is where we try to generate as much money as possible so that we do not have to continually organise events throughout the year. Again, your support for this will be greatly appreciated.

As promised a list of contact is included below:

Committee

Chairperson: Kevin McGuigan

Secretary: Gill MacKay

Treasurer: Fiona Johnston

Child Protection Officers: Sandra McGuigan / Bridget Scott

Committee Members:

Norrie MacKay, Dianne Nisbet, (Under 14’s)

Bridget Scott, Donna Logan, Evelyn (Under 12’s)

Jill Lloyd, Nancy Miller (Under 10’s)

Regular committee meetings are held throughout the year so if there is anything you wish to raise then please speak to any of the above.

Our AGM is held in June and any parent/guardian can attend and can volunteer to be a member of the committee. The date of this will be notified to you.

Coaches

Under 14‘s: Jimmy Johnston

Charles Nisbet

Campbell Burns

Under 12’s: Kevin McGuigan

Under 10’s: John Lloyd

Gavin Russell

The soccer school is usually taken by Jimmy, Kevin, John and Gavin.

If anyone is interested in helping with the coaching please speak to one of the above. You don’t need to be able to commit yourself every week but especially with the soccer school; it would be useful to have 2 or 3 helpers. Some of our coaches are training up to 3 nights a week as well as having the games at the weekend, so any help would be much appreciated.

We would just like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents/guardians for the contribution they have given to the club so far and also for making sure that their children are at training and games on time and smartly kitted out.

If you would like any further information on any of the above or would like to help in any way please telephone any of the committee members or coaches above.