As we all know, children can be very critical but usually with a degree of honesty.
Pitchside at the club's end of season World Cup Tournament last Spring, three under-10 players had turned their attention from matches involving their mates to watch a match on the next pitch involving some younger members of the Thames Ditton Schools Football Club. One remarked disparagingly, but accurately, that they were all chasing the ball in one corner of the pitch; his friend retorted, "Well, we used to do the same!" A discussion ensued. They had, they thought, come a very long way footballwise in 6 years since starting school.
Thames Ditton Infant and Junior Schools have now played host to weekend football for around 15 years since a group of highly motivated parents decided to form a Saturday morning football club. Thames Ditton Schools Football Club (‘TDSFC'), as it then became known, has gone the ‘extra mile' in trying to ensure that it achieves some noteworthy progress each season to build upon those modest beginnings. The most coveted recent achievement has been the elevation of the Club to FA Charter Standard Club Status, a Football Association kitemark of best practice. With around 200 current members and teams which have over the years competed strongly in their chosen County/District Leagues and various tournaments the Club has developed a profile and reputation of which players and officials can be justifiably proud.
One thing that is shared by all - players and coaches alike - is a passion for the Club, a willingness to participate fully and the desire to uphold certain values, based upon a Club Code of Conduct, which players will be able to apply also to their daily lives. In terms of football, the Club is keen to see that enjoyment of the sport is always high on the agenda and the large number of players is testimony to this.
None of this could have been achieved without the help and support of Thames Ditton Infant and Junior Schools, which have happily accommodated TDSFC's needs at weekends. The Club has been the first choice club for most pupils at the Junior School wishing to play football competitively up to age-11 and the interaction with the school is important. A number of players play for the Club as well as playing in school teams. Michelle Riley, a Year 6 teacher at the Junior School and a high-level player herself, has given invaluable help to both girls and boys with in-school coaching and matches. That contribution has been recognised by Colet's Health and Fitness Cub, which has sponsored a school team, and TDSFC has benefited from the reinforced enthusiasm which this has brought. Kingston Grammar School, despite demand from elsewhere, has reached agreement with TDSFC enabling the Club to enjoy use of some excellent facilities over several years. The Club often basks in the reflected glory of comments from opposing sides about the unparalleled backdrop of Hampton Court Palace for junior football!
We have also had assistance from Chelsea Football Club in coaching one year group on Saturday mornings as part of their Football in the Community Programme and both Wimbledon and Southampton Football Clubs have kindly offered reduced admission prices, enabling the Club to run Days Out to watch football and to help foster the feeling of togetherness and community which already prevail in the Club and in the Thames Ditton community at large.
Another quotation to finish, and one which exemplifies just why parents/coaches/helpers are so committed, was from a Year 5 boy who said to a coach, "You've taught me all I know about football".
It doesn't get more satisfying than that.