Huge game for Sholing on Tuesday night as we face Slough Town in the replay of the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round. Boatmen came from 2 down on Saturday away at Slough (who play in a division, 3 levels above Sholing and on a 3G pitch) to make it 2-2. We will still be underdogs in the replay, so need a big noisy crowd at the Universal Stadium to get behind the lads. All our players are Southampton boys (ok, we have one lad from Pompey, but it's actually alright). So please come down if you can. Admission is just £5 for Adults, £4 for Over 60's, £3 12-16 and Free for U12's (with an adult). Ground is on Portsmouth Road between Sholing & Old Netley. Free parking at the ground, or more parking available in Ashley Crescent 200 yards away (near Veals & Vauxhall garage). Also a heads up that on Saturday (29th), its FREE Admission to all for our home game v AFC Portchester. 3pm kick off. Plus lots of events for the family starting at Noon outside the turnstiles. please log in to view this image
After what I was told this morning, I wouldn’t attend if you paid me. My niece’s son was a member of the recently discontinued under 10 team, at Sholing FC. She paid £20, that she can ill afford, for a club football shirt for her son to wear, whilst representing the team, and despite the fact that the team has now been discontinued, the club will not refund her money for an unused shirt, that she would not have bought had she known what was about to happen. Shameful. Even more shameful, in the current era, and given the recent high profile court cases, was that the under 10’s team coach was not even CRB checked. I am not saying that he is a *****phile, as he isn’t, BUT he could have been, and the check should be a standard procedure. And he wasn’t even a qualified coach either. What is undeniable is that he is a man prone to violence, with three convictions for GBH, and is currently doing time at her Majesty’s pleasure for assault. Shabby little club.
Firstly, I don't think a public forum is the place for making those kind of statements. The Youth Section is run separately from the first team and has over 20 different teams, the vast majority of which carry on season after season as they progress through the age groups. I am not aware of an U10 side that folded, or of the incident you mention. As far as I know, all our coaches are CRB checked, because the FA have just completed their audit of that to meet its charter standard.
St Badger it sounds like your niece has had a very bad experience and I feel very sorry for her and her son. I would be very surprised if a club like Sholing doesn’t have all the right procedures in place for coaches in terms of CRB checks etc. I’d hope this was an oversight rather than a pattern and it’s something I’ve seen happen before. I would guess this is more a reflection of the individual coach rather than the club (let’s hope so). Why don’t you PM Sholing and see if he/she can help you get to the right people @SholingFC - I’m sure that this is a one-off, as I expect a club like yours to be spot on, although mistakes can happen. I would say though, that whether the youth set up is run separately or not, they carry your name and represent your club. If I was in your shoes, I’d be asking someone to look into this and see if the club can re-emburse the players and families for the shirts. You can collect them all in and use them for next season’s under 10s. It’s important you keep your reputation strong locally. Perhaps you could pm Badger and help his niece speak to the right people. I’m sure Badger is a decent man and is feeling sore over what’s happened to his family. A wrong that can be righted. It’s never too late to do something and relair the damage. You don’t want that bad experience being shared further. It’s sad when the kids are the ones who lose out. Good luck in the replay. I love the magic of the early FA Cup rounds and some of my favourite games I played were in those early rounds
I am sure, if you check, you will discover the truth is as I have stated. In fact the club received many, many complaints about the coach for his abusive language, from the touchline, setting a very poor example for impressionable young lads. Something else you can confirm by checking. If the Youth Section is run as a separate entity to the first team, why, after a big tournament that drew in many youth teams, and raised a lot of money, has it been alleged that the first team manager demanded that ALL proceeds of the tournament went to the first team, and none to the youth teams that were participating in the tournament?
And by the way, CRB has been replaced by DBS, the Disclosure and Barring Service. I would be astonished if Sholing FC didn’t make all their youth coaches undergo this, although I can only commiserate with Badger’s niece and her experience.
I try to be decent, but I do get incensed when young people are exploited or exposed to potential harm. I have worked in the care industry and have a heightened awareness of the need for looking out for vulnerable people. Having said that, I am not as incensed as my sister and brother in law, my niece’s parents, who are already advocating the use of Facebook and the local press, to bring attention to the potential harm of using non DBS checked coaches. They are holding fire on that, for the time being. You’re right when you say it can be rectified, but only if the club want to rectify it. The request for a refund has thus far been met with a blanket “We don’t do that” kind of response, which isn’t helpful. £20 might not be much for some people, but for a single parent, it is a massive amount to be out of pocket for. I would imagine that a refund, and an apology, would make things right. On a positive note, the lad has since found another club where he has been LOANED a home and an away kit, plus training gear, which is how I thought it always was. In all my years of playing, at a low level, Saturday and Sunday League football, I was never expected to provide my own shirt, as it was provided by the club. All I paid was weekly subs, so I find it odd that kids are being asked to buy their own shirt. Maybe things have changed, at some clubs?
