AYLESBURY UNITED LADIES & GIRLS FOOTBALL CLUB

JOIN OUR WEBSITE: http://www.aylesburyunitedladiesgirlsfc.co.uk

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @AULGFC

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AULGFC

Aylesbury United Ladies & Girls Football Club Season 2019 / 2020 Club Officials – Management Committee Chairperson James Byrne Vice Chairperson Paul Timms General Club Secretary Catriona Cameron Senior Club Welfare Officer Mark Rogers Treasurer Jason Savage Membership Secretary Alison Kemp Player Council Coordinator Becky Belardo Minutes Secretary Bethan Cameron

Club Officials – Volunteer Non-Committee Additional Needs Coordinator Debs Hewes Charter Standard Coordinator Alison Kemp Equipment Coordinator Alison Kemp Events and Charity Partner Coordinator Vacant Fixtures Secretary Alison Kemp Football and Coach Development Officer Vacant Football in the Community / School & Wildcats Paul Robinson Liaison Officer Goalkeeper Development Coordinator Rob Huff Referee Coordinator Justine Riley Social Media and Press Officer Vacant Sponsorship & Grants Manager Vacant Team Parent Rep Vacant Volunteer Coordinator Vacant Website Administrator Andrew Henley

Team Managers and Coaches Wild Ducks Toby O’Callaghan, Justine Riley, Mark Swanston, Katie O’Keeffe, Heather Savage, Eve Savage and Maisie Pigram Under 9 Rob James, Antony Rowlands & Chris Mackey Under 10 Greens Ryan Wootton & Mark Swanston Under 10 Whites Debs Hewes, Darren Simpson & Angie Lunnon Under 11 Greens Marcus White, Jon White & David Wilding Under 11 Whites Arron Hogan Under 12 Greens Paul Robinson, Toby O’Callaghan & Roger Taylor Under 12 Whites Jon Bishop & Charlie Carlile Under 13 Greens James Byrne & Matt Pigram Under 13 Whites Rob Huff, Jonathan Mudd & Justine Riley Under 15 Marc Bolland, Nathan Kemp & Charlie Bolland Ladies First Team Bethan Cameron and Debs Hewes Ladies Social Football Sarah Madden-Connor & Lucy Hobley

Season Review from the Chairperson

On the pitch The season kicked off in September with the club fielding 11 teams in different local leagues and social ladies football, which is the most we have had in our history and makes us the biggest all-female football club in Bucks. As the season was cut short, there will be no celebrations of teams winning cups or league titles. Success of a grassroots football team and club is measured in development and enjoyment though and I know that we have excelled at that this season.

All the Managers and Coaches listed at the bottom of Page 2 are the reason that the girls enjoy their time with the club so much. Everyone listed there is a volunteer with full-time jobs, families and other commitments outside of their team. The amount of time they spend planning training sessions, chasing up player availability, filling in post- match reports and worrying about their players is phenomenal. I hope that their efforts are recognised by parents and players at their team’s end of season presentations. A massive thank you to all the managers and coaches from me, as without them we would not have a club.

Off the pitch September also saw us travel to to cheer on Reading Women in their first home game of the new Women’s Super League season against Manchester City Women – as a Sister Club for Reading Women we provided mascots and flag bearers. Gracie Kendall and Isla O’Callaghan were the two lucky girls picked to be mascots and they were paraded in front of the home and away fans by Queensley, the Reading Women mascot, before walking out on to the pitch with the Reading players. September also saw us launch Wild Ducks girls-only football training for 5-11 year old’s, this went on to grow beyond our wildest dreams with 25 players attending some weeks before lockdown

In October, we provided mascots and flag bearers for the Aylesbury United men’s first team. Wild Ducks continued to grow and one of our U15s, Katie O’Keeffe, was selected to represent the English Schools’ Football Association U15 South East squad.

November saw the club take two coach loads of excited girls and their families (165 in total) to a sold-out to watch the Lionesses take on Germany. Despite the scoreline, the girls had a wonderful time in what was the first visit to the stadium for many of them. We also had the first meeting of the newly formed Player Council which is made up of 2 players from each team. This was formed to allow the girls to shape how the club is going forward with the aim being that the Management Committee allow them to make as many decisions as possible going forward. A big thanks to all the girls on the player council for the great End of Season medals and trophies. November ended with an 80’s Fundraising Quiz to celebrate 30 years of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity, we raised £600 which was split between the charity and the club.

In December, we had our annual Christmas party which as ever, included a trip to the pantomime at Queens Park, followed by taking over the whole of Rogue Bowling. All the girls and their families had a great time

January saw the Player Council present the cheque for the money raised at the 80’s Fundraising Quiz to Florence Nightingale. The ladies and girls continued to represent the club superbly on pitches up and down Bucks, Beds, Oxon and Berks

In February, we had the excitement of local legend Ellen White return to Aylesbury as part of Manchester City Women’s #samegoals clinic. Loads of our girls went down to meet her, pose for photos and take part in a training session put on by Manchester City’s coaches

March saw unprecedented events throughout the country which saw the 2019/20 season officially cancelled with results expunged. Once it became clear that we would not be training or playing matches anytime soon, our volunteer coaches got to work on creating sessions for the girls to do at home.

We recorded the girls doing the weekly clap for NHS and Carers in April. Many of the teams also recorded videos of them doing kick-ups with toilet rolls. Later in April, we took part in the #TwoPointSixChallenge for Wheelpower which saw loads of the girls and their families complete a series of challenges at home. In total, we managed to raise £779 for Wheelpower which was a great effort from everyone involved

May saw the girls taking part in the #7millionkeepieuppiechallenge for #CovidHeroes – In total we donated a mammoth 132,698 keepie uppies and £132.70 towards Imogen’s target (which is still the highest amount done by any club to my knowledge!). Some of our girls and coaches also featured on the big screen at Wembley Stadium as a compilation of clips recorded were played as part of #FootballsStayingHome. The club’s fundraising efforts were featured in an article and podcast by Women’s Football Supporters, as well as in the Aylesbury Town Matters magazine

June saw us being able to slowly start training sessions again following social distancing rules. Sessions are not the same as they were before, but the girls are all following the rules and our excellent volunteer coaches are going above and beyond to deliver sessions each week.

Other volunteers As with our coaches, all the Management Committee (listed at the top of Page 2) and other Volunteer roles are carried out by volunteers. A lot of the jobs they do happen behind the scenes but are vital to the club providing facilities and equipment for the teams to train and play matches. A massive thank you to you all from me as I know how much work you all do voluntarily to help this club continue to grow.

Thank you and goodbye As at the end of every season, we say goodbye to some of the volunteers who are unfortunately stepping down from their role(s) within the club. These are, in no particular order: • Marie Johnson took over as Senior Club Welfare Officer last summer. Unfortunately, due to family circumstances, she had to step down (a massive thank you is due here to Mark Rogers who stepped in at short notice to fulfill this vital position to allow the club to run). Hopefully Marie will be able to rejoin the Management Committee again in the future as she was a real asset during the short time she was with us • Bethan Cameron has been with the club for 15 years now and is unfortunately stepping down from her roles as Ladies First Team Manager and Minutes Secretary to spend more time with her family. Bethan is very passionate about female football and the club and is always willing to help other teams with coaching and get involved with club events. I am hoping that, after we have given her 1-year off for good behavior, she returns to take on an U8s team for us in the future, or volunteer to coach with Wild Ducks • Becky Belardo was instrumental in the early success of the Player Council. She took on the new Player Council Coordinator role with real passion and worked hard to make this a success. The Player Council was always going to take a season or two to be productive, and Becky has put in a lot of the groundwork to allow us to grow this next season and beyond • Toby O’Callaghan is stepping down as Lead Coach with Wild Ducks (although thankfully continuing to coach the U12 Greens so this is not goodbye as such). Toby is great with the youngsters and his patience, passion and sense of humour have been instrumental in Wild Ducks growing beyond our expectations • Jason Savage has officially been Treasurer for the last 4 seasons and works hard to ensure that we are able to provide football to so many girls for as cheap as possible. It is Jason’s work in his unofficial roles that has done so much to make us more than just a football club. These include (but not limited to) Events and Charity Partner Coordinator (organising the Christmas Party, Trips to Wembley for Lionesses and Ladies FA Cup Finals, 80’s Fundraising Quiz), Social Media and Press Officer (building up the club’s social media profile to attract new players and grants), plus Sponsorship and Grants Manager (has obtained thousands of pounds in grants which allow us to keep our membership fees low). There are too many things that Jason has done to list them all here, but his passion and boundless energy will be sorely missed and has left a giant duck sized hole in our club!

Getting involved The club is run entirely by volunteers. All the people you see listed on page 2 give up their time freely because of their passion for female football. Every year the club is growing which means more players, more teams and therefore more volunteers needed to make this happen. The good news is that we have volunteers for all the roles we are required to have so the club is able to continue providing football for the 2020/21 season. However, for the club to continue growing and to provide the players with more than just football matches, it would be great if anyone out there is willing to volunteer for the following roles (click on roles you are interested in as they are a link to the role description on the website): • Events and Charity Partner Coordinator • Social Media and Press Officer • Sponsorship & Grants Manager • Team Parent Rep (1 per team) • Volunteer Coordinator

All these roles can be done from home (except for the Team Parent Rep), all you need is a bit of spare time each week / month and access to a computer. They will not require you to attend regular meetings, and any that you do attend will be done over Zoom at a time that is convenient to you. Thankfully we can fill these roles after the AGM as they do not sit on the Management Committee so do not officially need voting in. If anyone is interested, then please speak to me or your team’s manager

Lastly thank you to all of the players, parents, managers, coaches and committee members for being part of this great club

Hope to see you all when we are allowed

James Byrne Chairperson