Mainland Juniors (please play nice)

Copied off the Christchurch United FC facebook page - was posted earlier today.

Dear players and parents of Christchurch United FC,

Christchurch United footballers from the Under 13 and Under 14 squads have a unique opportunity to experience the spiritual home of football when two squads will visit Brazil from September 29 to October 13.

The 15-day adventure has been organised by GOL Brazil, an experienced football management group in Brazil, in association with Christchurch United Football Club, and will include training camps, matches and tournaments in Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.

In Belo Horizonte, the teams will stay in quality accommodation at the academy of Cruzeiro FC, the four-time champions of Brazil and two-times champions of South America. During their stay at the famous Cruzeiro academy, the players will train with the club’s academy coaches, play against the local age-group peers and compete in a local tournament.

The teams will also attend a live Cruzeiro league match at the 67,000-seat Mineirao Stadium (TBC), if their home fixtures fall within those weeks, and visit the headquarters of the Brazilian football association in Terosopolis.

After their week in Belo Horizonte, the teams will move to Rio de Janeiro where they will compete in more matches at the home of the world-famous Flamengo club in the heart of the city.

The schedule will include plenty of moments to give the young bodies a rest and visit the famous landmarks of Copacabana, the Christ the Redeemer statue and the Maracanã Stadium, the venue of the 2014 World Cup final.

This unique opportunity has been created through the contacts of Christchurch United’s Brazilian head coach Fernando Lambert who is passionate about sharing his native country’s love for the beautiful game with young talents in Canterbury.

The Brazilian camp will cost $4270 to attend and covers accommodation, meals, playing outfits, Brazilian coaches, full time tour guides, field rentals, tournament fees, beach football sessions, transport in Brazil, admission to a Cruzeiro National League match (TBC), excursions to the Copacabana, Christ the Redeemer and the Maracana Stadium and much, much more. The fee does not include international airfares which will be around $1600 depending on the exchange rate.

Many New Zealand clubs and schools will charge similar or larger fees for sports trips that only interact with amateur clubs or school teams, while Goal Brazil offers Canterbury players a world-class experience, with professional coaches, at two of the biggest clubs in South America.

The 15-day trip includes:
- Lodging at quality hotels and Cruzeiro Academy
- Five-star bus transfer from cities
- Mini bus transfer in each city
- Breakfast, lunch OR dinner daily
- Two special Brazilian cuisine dinners
- GOL Brazil tour kit
- Training sessions in Belo Horizonte
- Seminar with Brazilian ex-professional player
- Tactical assessments
- Three friendly matches in Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro
- Tournament at the Cruzeiro Academy in Belo Horizonte
- Tournament in Rio de Janeiro
- Tickets to Christ the Redeemer
- Visit to the Copacabana
- Beach Football Clinic in Rio de Janeiro
- Tickets to Sugar Loaf mountain
- Ticket and transfer to National League match of Cruzeiro FC at - Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte (TBC)
- Tickets for tour of the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro
- Two English-speaking guides during the whole tour
- Laundry (training and playing uniforms only)
- Certificate of participation
- Photo memento
- Much, much more…

To enable Christchurch United and GOL Brazil to start planning and preparing for this adventure, parents need to give an indication of interest by January 31 2018 and email [email protected] . You will then be invited to a live video presentation on February 10th 2018 with the GOL Brazil management team where you can ask more questions.

NOTE: The Tour is open for Christchurch United FC players only at the moment.

Kind regards,

Fernando Lambert
Technical Director
Christchurch United Football Club-

Looks wicked! Minor correction that the spiritual home of football is South New Brighton. Other than that it sounds amazeballs.

Waimak now refusing to answer questions on FB, only direct emails...(as per email from them yesterday)

Interesting. Right from the start I thought Selwyn's sub post was well worded. And yep MR Dougie Rydal you didn't see it. Premier under 13 &14's will be the second most expensive so far behind CHCH united. Also their skill centre will make it dearer than waimaks with sub added in for same producth as I read it.

Maybe the members of various clubs have left it to long to put there hand up. Clubs like ctfc and halswell seem to get number to volunteer so why can't rest. I know that waimak have posted emails for volunteers as I worked with a member a few years back but know according to Facebook page people have lost the memory to enhance their story

Oh and that Facebook page is the best comedy you will see. 3-4 members loading guns and others shooting them.

Oh and haters can have a shot t me but I out and will go back to reading the forum only

Must have missed it mate, can't see it on their subs list. Did think it was strange as other clubs have all put theirs up. Their 13th grade side was rubbish last year, regularly beaten into double figures (or close to it) to nil, so crossed my mind they might put their energies elsewhere

Dougie I find really disappointing that you are bagging your own club on this forum and the clubs facebook yet you haven't really done your homework to establish the alternatives. Would be really interested to know if you have kids involved in the club and if so have you registered them . Appreciate an honest answer so everyone knows where you stand.

I have one child who left Waimak to play at Nomads last year and one other likely to continue playing for Waimak this year. 

I mentioned on the FB page that my biggest gripe was the club stating on one hand that very few members turned up to the AGM, and then on the other stating that the members there voted in the fee increases, but I don't know why when circulating the email advising of the clubs AGM and the documents, there wasn't a sentence something like 'Please turn up to this AGM, we are proposing MASSIVE fee increases of 100-500%' - if you'd done that you may have seen a larger number turn up and who knows maybe some good ideas could have come from those members.

I don't doubt you have some major issues, the salaries being the biggest issue I guess (as I know from experience these are hard to fund from Gaming Machine Trusts), but I;m sure you're not alone on that front around CHC, as each club now seems to have FDO's etc,  but I have spent 20 years on the board of a major cricket club in CHC, so have half a clue. However the number of members you have dwarfs most cricket clubs, so that brings its own challenges I'm sure.

I find it more disappointing that the whole scenario has played out in full view for everyone to see. The replies from management varied from "look how great this is" (despite the bulk of the comments being negative) to "this is what we are doing you have other options of clubs including Amberley". Now it seems that instead of a collective reply of "thank you for your feedback we have made some changes" its resorted to a personal attack on one person, even though there are almost 200 posts on the topics.

Perhaps a course of Social Media 101 is in order? 

We are thrilled to announce our 2018 CTFC Academy Team coaches.

13th Grade Academy team - Tony Gumley - Tony is a Senior Level 2 qualified coach with terrific experience in the Canterbury region. He has been a regular coach in the previous Mainland Football run FTC, coaching talented players in a number of different age groups over the last few years. Tonys vast knowledge in talent development will be valuable to our 13th grade players this year.

14th Grade Academy team - Aaron Clapham - Aaron is a Senior Level 2, Youth Level 3 and junior Level 3 coach and is currently on the OFC B license course, he is also a New Zealand Football qualified coach educator. Aaron brings extensive playing experience from his time with the All Whites and Canterbury United and a strong talent development focus having founded and run the CTFC Academy.

Club License- We have re-submitted our youth license application ahead of our 31st January deadline and are currently awaiting assessment. We feel strongly that we have fulfilled the criteria as requested and will keep you informed as we hear more.

Full trial details are on our websitewww.ctfc.co.nz

Mass board resignations at Waimak, four Board members including the Chairman and two of the paid staff gone late last week

Also acknowledgment that perhaps they got things wrong, as there has been a review of the subs etc and an announcement is due by the end of today as to what has changed.

From Waimak just now re fees/subs...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In accordance with the Waimak United Football Club Constitution Article 14:2 (a) the Board notifies all members that a Special General Meeting to be held at 7pm on Wednesday 21 March 2018 (Venue to be advised). At this Special General Meeting it is proposed to adopt the revised 2018 Fee Structure (see below), Board Nominations and any Remits.

With regards to the revised fee structure for 2018 the Board is proposing the following:

• First Kicks – $95
• Fun Football – $155
• Mini Football – $155
• Development Plus - $195
• Development 9-12 Grades – $195
• Premier Youth 13 & 14 Grade – $600
• Youth Teams 13-19 Grades – $195
• Senior – $230
• Senior Social – $3,750 Team Fee

• Academy Development Plus – $80 for Football Season

Further to the above the Board would like to thank you all of you for your patience while a review of our subscriptions, finances and volunteer structure has been undertaken. We know that it has been a frustrating time and thank you for your patience. Further information will be issued over the coming weeks.

In respect of comments made on social media the Board would confirm that to lose any player from the club would be extremely disappointing and is not the Clubs position or intention in any way, shape or form. We have heard your collective voice on Social Media sites, as well as to Mainland Football and in person and as previously advised the Board has undertaken a full review.

Other than comments on fees, the main issues raised were around volunteering and the movement of some grades to a Friday Evening. In respect of volunteering we do appreciate that this and any club of this size and type is built on our volunteers and the comments in respect of the club not having any volunteers were made in a general nature and were not meant to offend our great Coaches, Managers and Referees who do an outstanding job year in and year out at all levels and we apologies for this misunderstanding. We cannot avoid the fact however that there are issues in respect of volunteering at the club with it becoming more and more difficult to man our weekly fundraisers such as the sausage sizzle and to support any raffles such as the 2017 Mainland Raffle, and events put on as specific team tournament fundraisers and such like. That money really does make a difference!

Further information will follow in respect of the programmes on offer, but all games will be played on a Saturday with Friday evening football having been removed from our 2018 programme. However, it is the Boards intention to revisit this later in the year with full consultation with the Membership!

In respect of the 2018 Volunteering Scheme, some of this has remained in place but if a position for which you have already applied for now no longer exists we will be in contact with you to discuss options.

In closing I know from talking to people that there is a belief within the Membership that we are looking to become an elitist club. We are still a young united club (9 years old) with history in both Rangiora, Kaiapoi and the surrounding regions and yes there are aspirations to grow the club and offer opportunities for players at an elite level. But this will not be at the cost of other members. The object of Waimak United remains the same: To foster, promote and administer the game of association football at all levels in the North Canterbury region. It is the Boards belief that the social part of the club is as important as our development and senior offerings. Without all of the above there is no pathway to strive to the next level or to continue to enjoy the beautiful game in a more social setting.

In the essence of transparency, times will be tough over the coming year and we are not always going to get things 100% right, however the Board has listened and we hope you believe we have heard what you have said. We are at a crossroads experienced by anything which grows at the rate the club has over the last 9 years, some of the growth has been natural, whist some has been imposed by migration into the region through necessity. As a club we all need to now pull together to bring back the united community feel. Doing this is not a job the Board can do alone we need the input and assistance of all members and their families, no matter how small.

Thank you again for your patience

In recent days Cashmere Technical and Ferrymead Bays have reported on their facebook pages that they both have been successful in gaining club and youth licences.

Youth 17s tournament in Auckland this weekend. Good to see teams from Mainlandd playing; Cash Tech, Bays, Waimak, Coastal. Good luck to all

Selwyn also in attendance

Waimak and Cash Tech in the girls tou

Waimak win girls

Results that The Press should have covered.

What an absolute mess the Saturday Youth (16 - 19) has become. Some clubs targrting U17 others U19. Surely the success of the midweek schools shows the merit of having just a Premier youth 18 and under with divisions below.

It's called going around in circles.

Eventually anyone with a brain gets spat out, those that are left can't think straight and voila, you have fools masquerading as leaders simply because they can live in a vortex! Aparently it's a skill that few have so we are supposed to sit back and marvel at it :)

So Mainland appoint well qualified coaches to take their teams at the NAGS (National age group tournaments ) in January. I understand that they didn't seek any input from these well qualified people when naming the recent FTC camp participants. Also appears to have been no consultation with WPL coaches in the girls group. If players at FTC level are even playing WPL then they must have some potential. We need to have a balanced view of players in this space to make sure we are not destroying the potential that exists.    

There needs to be some explanation of how this selection process is taking place. We are too few in numbers to lose any opportunity.

Hi, can anyone give me a sound answer to the following, as I have spoken to parents from my son's team and from opposition

Why did the lovely people who guide and direct the beautiful game currently, decided to 2 days out from the season start instruct the clubs with teams in the 13th & 14th grade premier divisions to play these 2 divisions only on reduced sized fields. The anger I have collated around this decision are bullitin pointed below:

- almost all of not all fields had been laid out and mark to normal parameters of senior fields, and goalposts placed in ground.

-players now play on feilds marked by cones causing players to have little knowledge of boundaries, and many debatable touch line decisions. 

-Many keepers also have little knowledge of the boundaries of the goalbox

-the 14's played last year. On full-size pitches. Many of the players,, parents and coaches see this as a backward step. Believing it should have started organically at  13's and gone up yearly.

-why if it's so required are the other divisions in these grades not required to do the same. SURELY it's more important to have the lower grades putting pressure on premier teams to continue having the best at the top.

-the current setup with cones is detracting from the experience for the players. They don't see A-league or EPL clubs playing matches on feilds marked with cones.

-why. (and I realise it was tabled as an option earlier) was it decided as a requirement 2 days out from season start. I know.many of the people at mainland who are paid, but why do they make such late decisions which effect the club volunteers who are far more organised. Obviously volunteers are far more organised due to lack of free hours

-i know for a fact, there are players looking at other options next year. And parents are not happy after forming out big dollars for the programme

-perhaps they will reduce the player.numbers  10 aside

And we all know that in 5 years time it will all be changed.

I wonder what the players of the past see in the changes. I'm sure the would be impressed with the skill and speed of the new game. But the governance I'm sure they wouldn't be so enthusiastic

Some good questions, but rather then ask parents of your sons team perhaps ask your sons club instead. If they have the same concerns they would have already asked and got the answers from the lovely people who guide and direct the beautiful game currently. 

NZF have been told by someone overseas that kids need more time with the ball. So the smaller pitch.

IMO what kids need is playing more football away from coaching and do it with the kids at school and in your street.

This is competitive with the age peers. Playing with older kids from the same area or in the school yard and at every breaktime gets you a better touch and feel for tha ball and the game.

As I quoted. Opposition as well.

But also 4 coaches so far have questioned it and they believe the clubs have no opportunity to question the decision. Remember those trusted to run the game take little interest in what the stakeholders think.(40 years experience of this)

Mate there is far too much money and effort being spent on centralised admin and management of the game. Silos and dictatorships exist where support and information would be more welcome. The current model of overseeing the game sucks. The decisions around how the game should be taught are made by well meaning employees because the volunteer administrators lack real experience and knowledge of whats best for the game and therefore sell out to the corporate drum beaters. Passion gets overridden by KPI's and the format becomes everyman's experimental playground. Quite simply football like anything else is a numbers game, unfortunately the current crop of administrators are only interested in numbers with $ signs attached to them.

So the players experience doesn't matter?

I'm not against smaller pitches as such but the way it's implemented on only 2 premier grades and not lower divisions of same age. Plus the late enforcement notice to clubs, yes it was on the radar but 32/3 days out is another joke from our administrators. Every year there seems a drama or change, possibly 4 yes ago it would have been fine as no one had made sure council had make the feilds.

You need to watch one of these coned fields and the confusion it creates. The word sideline I believe let's itself to a line not cones every 10 to15 metres. I suppose most on this forum have children past this age so really don't care. 

At least the halfway is a line

I agree with some of this. I did have a smirk when I read about the changes to the field sizes etc. Certainly not because it was three days out from the start etc, but because it’s just more bloody complications added to the world’s simplest game. Once we all had lines, now it’s cones...

Soon it will be back to four jerseys and no out lines...

There is science behind it probably. But mostly it seems to be justification of position via the introduction of something new and confusing that only the top dogs understand. 

Bullshark baffles brains! If nobody knows for sure which way is better, then nobody can really act one way or the other. Divide and conquer! 

Might even be more about happy parents having their kids in what is perceived to be elite level sessions/teams rather than “just at club A” with the rest of them. 

On balance, bloody frustrating!   

Nothing wrong with the theory behind establishing better coaching and competition. Plenty of world wide research on this. Playing on quality surfaces and appropriate size pitches in a good environment also important if we are to progress our sport. Unfortunately we do not have appropriately marked quality surfaces. This is a challenge that the clubs who are committed to this current program, along with the federation will have to address if it is to succeed. Grounds marked to minimum senior dimensions should be fine for 13 / 14's (as well as over 45's). I am not a fan of some of this program but, it is what it is, and if the current powers that be are committed to it, we should see some progress in availability of appropriate grounds for next year. 

Very good school 1st 11 match at yaldhurst tonight. Burnside 5 V Lincoln 0. Quite a contrast to the match on the other pitch

Come out to Foster Park Fred. You may be pleasantly surprised. 

I was out there recently and very impressed. Unfortunately it is a bit more challenging for those in the city where quality surfaces are a premium and when available are generally marked to full senior size. It would also appear the Selwyn Council give more attention to their playing surfaces. Well done Selwyn.

SDC is fantastic to deal with, but let's be clear that SUFC pays for ALL linemarking and owns the portable goals around the district.

No-one stopping town clubs doing the same, even if it is on lesser quality pitches. (let's hope for a dry-ish winter, from a cost and quality point of view)  

Watched a game today between Selwyn 13th v Future Pride Development.  The Quality of football between both sides was excellent, but I have to commend the work that Annalie and co have done with the FPD team.  Some great work across the field and some excellent talent coming through.  

I normally don't watch a lot of Girls/Womens games as they used to be slow and boring - but todays game has turned that around for me - the future is bright!  (Result Selwyn 1 FPD 2)

Have you noticed that Coastal and Tech are playing the older [mid 20s like NZ Ferns Captain] age female players in the U17s Div1 boys grade when the FPL has a bye?

Why? 

Would the clubs and Mainland be happy for one the girls U18s teams to start an MPL player, think not.

It has been done for a few years now. Identified quality NZ female reps have played in under ** grade football since at least 2013. My son had Lily Alfield as his goalie in the 15th grade and then played against Annalie Longo in the U19 last year. It is seen as keeping the top women in competitive football to make them sharper, fitter and stronger. 

We all know that boys are better than girls and this is one way to help out our female players to become better footballers. 

Silly analogy with the U18 girls playing an MPL player, that's not what it is about. 

#equality  #metoo

Both teams played each other yesterday and nobody looked out of place. Coastal bench looked a bit war weary though...?

Some Dunedin club teams also. Not alot but in some age groups, ie U16 boys had a Green Island team + an Otago rep team.

Few Dunedin clubs at u10 at Foster Park. Green Island, Dunedin Tech. FC Nelson also had a team.